Xvid compression

[J_K_M_A_N]

So how do you guys compress your movies to xvid? I have been using AutoGK but I am wanting to know how much compression you use. I have tried to go with 1 gig and with 75%. Both are only OK but not really good. I don't want to take more than 2 gig per movie. How big are your movie files when done on average? And how is the quality.

J_K_M_A_N

[ChadTower]

End file sizes are all completely dependent on what you are compressing.  Can we assume you're talking about a DVD movie that can range anywhere from 2g up to 8g on average?

[Ed_McCarron]

I squish ~1.5 hour movies down to 1G with AGK, to stream to my XBOX.  That way the kids don't kill the DVDs.

Quality is better than my TIVO, so I'm happy.

[ChadTower]

I just googled AGK and came back with nothing relevant to this... what does that stand for?  I am just setting up the Xbox streaming issue for us now.

[Ed_McCarron]

Auto Gordian Knot.

http://www.autogk.me.uk/

[ChadTower]

Thanks.  The AGK search I did mostly led here.   

[J_K_M_A_N]

End file sizes are all completely dependent on what you are compressing.  Can we assume you're talking about a DVD movie that can range anywhere from 2g up to 8g on average?

Yes, DVD movies. Sorry. Forgot to mention that.

I did a test with Green Mile since it is a big one. It is about 7 gig uncompressed. So I did a 1 gig and a 75% compression. The 75% came out to be 1.9 gig. I am going to go home and check the quality on the xbox and the big screen. I was just curious if you guys set a % or a size limit. And if you used AutoGK or something else. Any more comments are appreciated.

Thanks.

J_K_M_A_N

[ChadTower]

I don't use anything but do have experience with video compression and the like, so what I say is based on that rather than DivX or AutoGK specifically.

The first big factor is going to be stuff like special features, which audio portions you keep, and to a small extent subtitles.

Are you just going with the usual full movie, 5.1 and 2 channel stereo?  Does DivX support DVD menu style functionality for including the special features or is it straight video/audio?

[J_K_M_A_N]

Actually, I was just going to rip the movie itself with the default audio file. We don't watch the extras much and we never use the subtitles so I let those go. I am not as concerned with audio as I am with video. I have a 50" tv and I want it to look at least pretty good. Sometimes I rip the extras seperatly. Like if I rip a TV show dvd. I rip all the episodes seperate and the extras seperate. So my main concern is video I guess. Again, just curious if you guys go with a size limit or compression % limit.

I am about to check out my two tests. I will let you know what I think of them.

J_K_M_A_N

[ChadTower]

No, I don't generally do that.  But keep in mind that the player you use is about as important as the compression quality.  One could easily assume that they would play it all back the same but they don't.

My recommendation is go with a % limit.  You'll get much better consistency that way as it will compress all source at roughly the same rate.

[J_K_M_A_N]

No, I don't generally do that.  But keep in mind that the player you use is about as important as the compression quality.  One could easily assume that they would play it all back the same but they don't.

My recommendation is go with a % limit.  You'll get much better consistency that way as it will compress all source at roughly the same rate.

That is kinda my thought. I just have to figure out a good compression amount. I am using xbmc to play them. Best program ever!

Thanks for the help.

J_K_M_A_N

[ChadTower]

Keep in mind XBMC has built in upconversion... not sure yet if it applies to DivX but if you're connecting that to an HD capable TV that is worth considering.

[J_K_M_A_N]

I always run XBMC in 1080i and make it use the best available resolution. Some things actually come pretty close to HD. Did you get it up and running yet?

J_K_M_A_N

[boykster]

Once I moved to 42" (plasma) and larger (85" 720p projector) I've not been happy with any compression on DVD's.  I just rip removing special features and menus (main movie only) and playback using ZoomPlayer / Nvidia Purevideo codec + FFDshow on my HTPC with an Xseries radeon via component video output (at 720p). 

Looks good to me 

[ChadTower]

I always run XBMC in 1080i and make it use the best available resolution. Some things actually come pretty close to HD. Did you get it up and running yet?

I keep reading that the Xbox just doesn't have enough memory for 1080i, despite having the software for it.  What is your experience?  Most reports say it ends up dropping frames and/or just bombing out on some stuff.

[J_K_M_A_N]

I always run XBMC in 1080i and make it use the best available resolution. Some things actually come pretty close to HD. Did you get it up and running yet?

I keep reading that the Xbox just doesn't have enough memory for 1080i, despite having the software for it.  What is your experience?  Most reports say it ends up dropping frames and/or just bombing out on some stuff.

Funny you should ask. This is the first movie I have ripped and converted to xvid. If I leave it in dvd file format it seems to work fine but it won't play the xvid file at 1080i. If I lower it to 720p it plays fine. Again, if I leave it in regular dvd file format, it works in 1080i. Kind of a bummer. I would rather run them all at 1080i but I have had to force mine to 720p.

On a brighter note, I have the 1.0 gig file of the green mile and a 1.9 gig file and both look about the same which is pretty good. It isn't dvd quality but for a movie ripped to a computer and streamed to an xbox, it isn't too bad. I can live with it. So I think I am going to go with 70% compression and let the file sizes fall where they may. I think that will give me an average of about 1.0 to 1.4 gig files. Maybe a few under 1.0 gig.

J_K_M_A_N

[shmokes]

Once I moved to 42" (plasma) and larger (85" 720p projector) I've not been happy with any compression on DVD's.  I just rip removing special features and menus (main movie only) and playback using ZoomPlayer / Nvidia Purevideo codec + FFDshow on my HTPC with an Xseries radeon via component video output (at 720p). 

Looks good to me 

Yeah . . . not everyone has a RAID 5 box with multiple terabytes of storage space.