Frequent Asked Questions - Additions are made at the top of this FAQ
What is the differance betwean Low- and High-Motion codec from DivX
The Low-Motion codec is based on version 4.1.00.3918 and the High-Motion codec is based on version 4.1.00.3917 of the Microsoft MPEG4 codec. As you can see the high-motion codec is a newer version and it contains less bugs then the low-motion codec. Also the internal settings are changed a little bit, the high-motion codec produces a little less quality then the low-motion codec. BUT it therefor produces a smaller bitrate and is far better for high-action-scenes (as in trailers). Another thing is that the high-motion codec seams to be more 'variable bitrate' then the low-motion codec and (when encoding low-motion-scenes) produces bitrates (far) below the set value. The speed of encoding is unnoticable affected (and a lot faster then mpeg1 or mpeg2 encoding)
I can't play your trailers, what should I do?
I have had this question from several people. It was a bigger problem with the hacked M$-codecs, I didn't exacly know how to install them. From now on, I will use the newest DivX codecs (currently version 3d). They can be easily installed and playback should be no problem anymore.
The audio part should absolutly be no problem because an MP3-decoder is automaticly installed if you install Windows. If it isn't installed then Media Player will automaticly download one.
Why do you use 96kb/s MP3 and nothing else?
Simple answer, it's the lowest bitrate which supports 48khz-stereo mp3 encoding. I use the optimized Fraunhofer codec, this codec produces high-quality mp3 sounds.
I don't use Windows Media Audio V2 (or V1) because it only supports 48khz-stereo encoding at 128kbit/s and 160kb/s. Also the codec doesn't produce high-quality sound, a lot of 'artifacts' can be heard.
I see some people on the net downsample the 48khz files to 44.1khz and then encode them. I do NOT suggest this, because you need time to do the conversion at high-quality. It is downsampling so quality is lost. If you do the reconversion fast, noise will appear and produce more 'artifacts' in the MP3 encoding.
This is also the reason why I don't use the Variable Bitrate encoding of Xing, it doesn't support 48khz-stereo encoding.
What kind of computer do I need to play them back?
I can only tell you on what my experience is on some computers, perhaps you can tell me about your pc and how it runs.
Processor - Videocard - Quality & Speed
Intel Celeron 333Mhz - ATI Rage Mobility-P - At quality 2, Full Speed
AMD K6-2 333@350Mhz - Creative Labs VooDoo Banshee - At Quality 0, about 20 fps.
How do I set the playback quality?
Startup Media Player and right-click on the movie, select Properties, click the 'Advanced' tab, double click the 'DivX MPEG-4 DVD Video Decompressor' and now make your settings.
To do this, the movie must be in STOP mode (not pause or playback!). Also, the quality level you set is directly related to the amout of CPU power requiered !!
How to reconvert VOB files to these AVI files?
This isn't easy to explain. I will try to do a general explenation that will work with most trailers (and possibly some movies). I can't tell about every exception. So, here we go:
Things you should have.
Have the VOB-File ready on your harddrive.
Have the DivX 3b Codecs installed.
Have MPEG2AVI 0.16B35 ready.
Have the Fraunhofer MP3 codec v1.063 [optimized by radium] installed.
Have VirtualDub 1.1 Build #7713
Have Filter Graph Editor Build #980902 installed correctly.
For the XXX and YYY you have to fill in the horizontal and vertical size of the movie (most movies are wide screen and have black bars on top and bottom of the image, they have to be cropped so that less pixels have to be encoded. The amout of pixels you fill in should be a multiple of 8 !!)
You can test this by giving the following command to MPEG2AVI:
MPEG2AVI -b [input vob file] -f -o6 -1 XXX YYY
Select the DivX High Motion codec when asked.
2. Use Filter Graph Editor the following way.
Select GRAPH -> INSERT FILTER
Now select the following Direct Show Filters:
1. File Source (Async), and select the input-vob-file
2. MPEG-2 Splitter
3. Cyberlink Audio Decoder
4. Wav Dest
5. File Writer, and type the output-WAV-file.
Connect them in the following way and then press the play button:
FILE SOURCE -> MPEG2 SPLITTER(AC3) -> CYBERLINK AUDIO DECODER -> WAV DEST -> FILE WRITER
3. Startup VirtualDub and do the following:
FILE -> Open Video Source, the avi-file you just created.
AUDIO -> Select WAV-Audio, the wav-file you just created.
VIDEO (Sometimes) -> Frame Rate, Select Change so that video and audio duration match
FILE -> Save AVI, the new finished avi file.
That should be it, if you have any comment or suggestions on this procedure, feel free to mail them to me: thecollector@innocent.com
Can I see more questions in this F.A.Q.?
Offcourse, send your questions to thecollector@innocent.com and I will try to answer them and put them in this F.A.Q.
Frequent Asked Questions - Additions are made at the top of this FAQ