DVD to Mobile Profiles

Russell_S1 2008-07-12 02:05:17 UTC #1

Hi there,

I am in the process of converting some of my DVD's to Xvid format to play on an in-car DVD player to keep the kids entertained on a 14hr drive down to the south of France (and obviously back again).

I started out using the "generic.avi.xvid.mp3.xml" profile and just changing the conversion settings each time to my requirements. However, I thought I would make my own profile so that all these settings would be automatically set. I have got it working except for one setting that I can't seem to get to work.

Firstly, here is the profile:

<profile name="CarDVD.avi.xvid.mp3" version="200" device="CarDVD" tag="dvdfab" description="The profile is used to create avi(xvid + mp3) file, which can be played on NextBase Car DVD Player." >
<common>
<file format="avi" onefile_size_mb="700" number="1" />
<audio copy="0" codec="mp3" channel="2" >
<freq value="48000" list="32000,44100,48000" />
<bitrate value="192000" list="64000,96000,128000,192000,256000,320000" />
<volume percent="200" />
</audio>
<video>
<size list="" />
<subtitle mode="0" />
<encode codec="xvid" fourcc="XVID" bitrate_kbps="500" >
<mode value="real_time" list="real_time, high_quality" />
<thread set="1" value="1" />
</encode>
</video>
</common>
<acodec name="lame">
<common ver="0" layer="2" />
<attr ch_mode="0" quality="0" private="0" orignial="0" checksum="0" copyright="0" />
<vbr method="-1" max_bitrate="224000" quality="0" abr="8" />
</acodec>
<vcodec name="xvid">
<motion motion_search="5" vhq="0" qpel="0" gmc="0" chroma_me="0" />
</vcodec>
</profile>

What I want is 1-pass encoding with a fixed bitrate of 500kbps. I thought that the line "<encode codec="xvid" fourcc="XVID" bitrate_kbps="500" >" would do this but instead it comes up as 1022kbps every time.

Could someone point out what I'm doing wrong please.

Many thanks

Russell

Complication 2008-07-12 07:02:16 UTC #2

Change of the following line should give you what you want for now:

<encode codec=“xvid” fourcc=“XVID” bitrate_kbps=“500” maxbitrate_kbps=“500” >

signals 2008-07-12 07:08:04 UTC #3

Use the Archos 504/604 profile in PVP as your model. It encodes at 60 fps and the file size matches the slider perfectly. The max bitrate agrument may fix what you have, as complication suggested.

Complication 2008-07-12 07:46:11 UTC #4

I haven’t been able to figure out if this has something to do with either the codec selected, the new UI remember feature, or a combination of both. The profile settings are not the whole story however. Here is the results of selecting each profile for me (bold means the it is incorrect based on the profile):

[ul]
[li]pvp.avi.mpeg4.mp3.iriverX20.xml[/li][LIST]
[li]Profile Default: 400[/li][li]Profile Max: 512[/li][li]UI Default: [B]512[/B][/li][/ul]

[li] generic.avi.xvid.mp3.xml[/li][ul]
[li]Profile Default: 900[/li][li]Profile Max: none[/li][li]UI Default: [B]1394[/B][/li][/ul]

[li] generic.avi.xvid.audiocopy.xml[/li][ul]
[li]Profile Default: 900[/li][li]Profile Max: none[/li][li]UI Default: [B]1394[/B][/li][/ul]

[li]generic.mkv.h264.mp3[/li][ul]
[li]Profile Default: 900[/li][li]Profile Max: none[/li][li]UI Default: [B]1035[/B][/li][/ul]

[li]pvp.avi.mpeg4.mp3.Archos.504_604[/li][ul]
[li]Profile Default: 1200[/li][li]Profile Max: 4000[/li][li]UI Default: 1200[/li][/ul]

[/LIST]
[Is the ability to create an HTML table or grid here too much to ask?]

My custom profiles seem to default correctly.

Russell_S1 2008-07-12 07:51:53 UTC #5

Thanks guys, I’m just waiting for DVDFab to finish encoding a DVD and I will try your suggestions.

I have Just a couple of questions though,

Firstly, what does the “fourcc=sxvid” argument do. It always seems to be the same as the “codec=” entry. Are there any occasions when the two arguments would be different.

Secondly, and sorry if this is a daft question, but what would be the advantage of using the Archos profile and encoding at 60fps. Are we talking about the framerate (or speed) it encodes at or the framerate of the resultant video file.

Thanks one again

Russell

signals 2008-07-12 11:08:33 UTC #6

@Complication
I don’t like the “remember all” feature. Its effects are unpredictable and hard to “remember”. I think enabling it should be a user option. It can dramatically change the way the program works. I had misgivings about it when I saw it in the feature request thread.

@Russell_S
I was referring to the rate at which the conversion is performed, not the framerate of the output video. It (the Archos profile) [I]appears[/I] to use a different codec.

Complication 2008-07-12 11:41:28 UTC #7

Fourcc is the marker in the file that tells the player what type of video encoding was used. From what I’ve seen, it is really only important for the mpeg4 codec when the destination player only supports one of the subsets of mpeg4. Here is an example of when codec and fourcc are different:

<encode codec=“mpeg4” fourcc=“DIVX” bitrate_kbps=“5000”>

Russell_S1 2008-07-12 15:59:12 UTC #8

Use the Archos 504/604 profile in PVP as your model. It encodes at 60 fps and the file size matches the slider perfectly. The max bitrate agrument may fix what you have, as complication suggested.

I tried comparing the “generic.avi.xvid.mp3.xml” and the “pvp.avi.mpeg4.mp3.Archos.504_604.xml” profiles and, to be honest, found the encoding speed to be pretty much the same using the same settings. The Archos profile using the mpeg4 codec produced slightly smaller files than the xvid one but the video quality was nowhere near as good with much more mpeg compression blockiness apparent.

Complication

Your suggestion of putting in maxbitrate_kbps=“500” worked a treat. It now defaults to 500kbps every time.

Many thanks

Russell