Neat XviD Trick For config.xml

[BTJustice]

I came across a neat XviD trick. Instead of setting the quality as a set number such as -qscale 5 it appears you can get better quality by not using -qscale at all. Also file size stays relatively the same.

For example, the default XviD configuration in GBPVR's config.xml is...

Code:

[b]<Conversion name="XviD" cmd="-y -i {SOURCE_FILE} -f avi -ab 224k -ac 2 -acodec mp3 -deinterlace -vcodec xvid -qscale 5 -vtag XVID {DEST_FILE}" targetExtension=".avi" />[/b]

For recorded TV, the following settings yield great looking video. A few things to note...

1. Instead of using -qscale, I am using -qmin and -qmax which gives the video a variable rate of -q instead of a set value throughout.
   
2. The bit rate for the .MP3 audio can be lowered without any noticeable difference other than smaller file sizes. I am using 128 audio bitrate with 44,100 audio sampling rate instead of 224/48,000.
   
3. -threads auto is added so multi-core CPUs can encode faster.
   

So here is the code I am using now for XviD in config.xml...

Code:

[b]<Conversion name="XviD" cmd="-y -i {SOURCE_FILE} -ab 128k -ac 2 -acodec mp3 -ar 44100 -deinterlace -f avi -qmin 3 -qmax 5 -vcodec xvid -vtag XVID {DEST_FILE}" targetExtension=".avi" />[/b]

A recent 1 hour recording changed from a 2.38 GB .MPG file to a 544 MB XviD .AVI file.

If you don't want to lose the default XviD settings in config.xml, use this code instead...

Code:

[b]<Conversion name="New XviD" cmd="-y -i {SOURCE_FILE} -ab 128k -ac 2 -acodec mp3 -ar 44100 -deinterlace -f avi -qmin 3 -qmax 5 -vcodec xvid -vtag XVID {DEST_FILE}" targetExtension=".avi" />[/b]

Be sure to open the CONFIG program for GBPVR and change the PROCESSING tab type to New XviD.

Give it a try!!!

If you want to do 2-pass XviD encoding with FFmpeg for better quality, check this post out...

http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?p=327755