a few questions about mpg/divx

[ubamous3]

1/ in tmpgenc, if you cut or merge mpg files, does that affect the quality at all? the same question goes for virtualdub and avi files.

2/ i know to use gspot to find out which codecs to install for an avi, but what program do i use to find out which codecs for mpg? i have a network at home, and one computer can play mpg's but another one can't play some mpg's and i dont know which codecs to find to install.

3/ i downloaded some movies in svcd format which r huge files; is it possible to convert them back to divx and still retain the same quality yet will reduce the size from 3cd's to 1 cd's size?


Thanks in advance.

 

[Denexo]

1-> Cutting files will not affect the quality
2-> Gspot again. Maybe the one computer can’t play mpeg2 files because need an mpeg decoder. Installing video player software like Win DVD you be able to play mpeg2 files too.
3-> It is possible and the quality will remain as it is or will be worst, but not better.

 

[ChickenMan]

Q 1 & 2 as per Denexo above.

Q 3, use Vidomi to convert them to DivX. Have a read of the DVD to DivX tutorial but import the MPG files rather than the DVD VOB files. Do each separate MPG file then use VirtualDUB to append the 2nd and 3rd avi to the first to make one file.

 

[ubamous3]

thanks chickenman and denexo!

i'll try your instructions ; so far i have only used virtualdub and tmpgenc for cutting files and joining files im glad that cutting/joining doesnt affect qualilty.


oh, another weird thing about file size; i dl a movie in svcd format 3 CD's (it came as a bin/cue and then i used vcdgear to convert it to mpg); all 3 files together are about 2.32 gig, but when i joined them together with tmpgenc, the joined file is only about 1.7 gig! huge difference; do u have any clue why thats so??
i havnt had a chance to watch it yet but i havent deleted the individual mpg just in case

 

[ChickenMan]

When you joined the files in TMPGenc, in the Merge&Cut section did you select the Type to be MPEG2- SuperVideoCD (VBR) ?

 

[ubamous3]

When you joined the files in TMPGenc, in the Merge&Cut section did you select the Type to be MPEG2- SuperVideoCD (VBR) ?

no, im such a newbie with this kinda thing so i wouldnt have known to change any settings; i have strictly used cut and merge;usually the resulting file size does make sense but sometimes it's kinda off; i never noticed that when i cut/merge avi's with virtualdub.

Oh, chickenman, what's a better tool to convert mpg to divx? virtualdub or vidomi?your tutorial says vidomi but i just wonder if there's any difference b/w the two apps.

 

[ChickenMan]

Sorry, your getting things mixed up here.

VirtualDUB is for manipulating and saving AVI's (DivX) only.

Vidomi will ONLY convert mpeg2 files (DVD VOB files and SVCD MPG files) to an AVI (DivX) with no editing.

To convert MPEG2 (SVCD mpegs) to an AVI, use Vidomi as per the Tute or use VirtualDUBMod ( not VirtualDUB as it cant import SVVCD files, but VirtualDUBMod can)

To convert MPEG1 (VCD mpegs) to AVI's, use VirtualDUB.

 

[ubamous3]

ahhh!!! now it's very clear! im such a newbie in this video convrsion arena that my knowledge about what does what is very rudimentary; now your last instruction helps me out a lot as it narrows down to my specific situations.


Thanks a lot chickenman!

 

[ubamous3]

well, i finally made my first video conversion.

The size shrinks from 1.6 gig mpg to a 570KB avi which is great, but the quality is very poor tho! using the same player, i noticed that the quality of the picture on the avi is only at 70% of the original mpg; i see a lot of ghost pics (i heard it being called somethign vision; i forgot the actual term for it)

I followed all the same settings that are on your DVD to divx tutorial(for video options, i use divx networks two pass instead of divx 3 vbr two pass).

Now my question is : what can i do to improve the picture quality? would increasing the output size help? when i saw the 1.6 gig-> 570 KB, i knew it's too good to be true

 

[ChickenMan]

Yes abosulutely, increase it up to 710meg so it can fit onto an 80min CDR

 

[celtic_druid]

For SVCD to AVI I would run it through DVD2AVI creating a D2V and demuxing the mpa, then frameserve to VirtualDubMod with AVISynth performing cropping, resizing, etc. as required.

570KB's is incredibly small unless you mean MB's.

 

[VIPER_1069]

was thinkin that too celtic_druid thats about a 3rd of a floppy disk !? a tiny drip on a massive 700mb cdr !?

 

[ubamous3]

oh yes of course i mean MB instead of KB; mistyped there before

and chickenman, the 80 min CDR only goes up to 700 MB; if i set the limit to 710 MB, then it might not fit into 1 cd, or the real size of 80 min CDR's are 710?


But come to think of it, there's always a tradeoff;either size or quality; for a 90 minute movie, if u rip it from an original DVD and try to fit its data into just 1 80min CDR , then the quality will have to be compromised no matter what format right?

I have no dvd player or vcd player, i watch movies only on the computer and i m trying to archive them on cdr's; so ultimately im trying to achieve the maximum quality without using up unnecesary space.

 

[VIPER_1069]

if its burnt in VCD/SVCD format you can have much larger than you think files with SVCD u can go to about 820mb with no problem

 

[celtic_druid]

Depends on the CDR, some overburn more than others. You could always just burn the DivX file using mode2 form2 same as (S)VCD although not if you are planning on using AVI as the container.