Encoding Speed

Yes, going above the the orginal sources bit rate will not help anything.

You just want to find one that keeps the quality looking good, as of course a bit lower than the original so the file will be smaller. Since thats the purpose of recoding.

The bitrate calculators are handy for hitting a certain file size.

Lets say, for example you have these requirements you want or need:
1) Use AAC 5.1 Audio at 385kbs
2) Use a MP4 Container
3) The total File size can not exceed 2GB

The bitrate calculator will help you find the maximum bitrate you can use, while still maintaining the requirements you want or need.

Set the movie length
Select Audio Codec and Bitrate (In this case AAC 385)
Select the conatiner you are going to use, in this example MP4.
Finaly, set the total size you are aiming for.

As you can see here, its telling me that if I want the File to be 2GB in size, I need to use up to a 2,146 Bitrate without exceeding that size.



Theres a bitrate calculator in MeGUI (since you already have it) in the tools menu if you would like to check it out.



As far as bit rates go, theres a point where blockiness goes away.
Further increses will help improve quality and detail in complex scenes.

But you will not be able to make the encode better than the original.

seekermeister said:

The odd thing is that DVDFab only does a single pass by default, which I never changed, and it got good results. Obviously, a single pass is quicker than two, so DVDFab is getting both speed and quality at the same time. Everything else that I have tried is always slower, and too often of less quality. The only problem with DVDFab is that it failed on a significant number of my DVDs, and I'm having to use some other ripper in it's place to finish the job.

The main advantage to a 2 pass encode is effeciency. True, it takes a bit longer.
But it works a bit like this:

In a 1 pass encode, the encoder attempts to maintain an average Bitrate, or average quality setting.
In somewhat guesses as to the best way to do this.

In a 2 pass encode, the encoder runs through the entire film, and analyses it.
It can then make a better decision as how to allocate everything.

For example, if you want a average bitrate of 1500. It may decide with a 2pass encode that:

In scene 4, I can get by with just a 1000 bit rate. Not much going on here.
But in Scene 5, It should really be around 2000.
By doing that first pass, it has a better idea of how to calculate where to increase, or lower bitrates to acieve the best results.

By the time its all said and done, the overall average bitrate will be what you set it at.



Now if you prefer the 1 pass type encode (many do) MEGUI does have that option.
It will attempt to maintain a constant quality throughout the entire film.

However, it does not take average bitrate or file size into account.
That can be controlled a little bit by the Quality setting.
Its also alot faster.

Try These settings if you want to try it like that:


In Const. Quailty settings The lower the number the Higher the Quality of the file. But also, the larger the file.

Larger numbers = less quality , smaller file sizes.

Generally, 19-21 are good areas.

20 should be fairly fast, with decent quality and file sizer.
19 a bit better, but slightly larger file size.


I only mention this because I didn't when we discussing this yetserday.
I probably should have being as you did mention you wanted it as fast as possible.

seekermeister said:

My desire is to simply equal the orignal, with the smallest file size possible, and do it as fast as possible. When you speaking of increases improving quality and detail, are you saying that about using a number greater than minimal, or greater than the source? If I'm understanding, using too high of a bitrate won't effect anything, but using too small of a number will...right?

Yes to small of a bit rate will lead to blockiness and overall poor image quality.

Generally speaking, I like to keep a DVD at 1500 at the least, up to around 2000.
It depends on the DVD itself.

Ive just found that using at least 1500 usually looks good overall, which is why I suggested starting there and then increasing it as you see fit.



But keep in mind, any encoder that uses a Const. Quality type of setting, will not allow you to adjust bit rate. It just tries to keep thing at a set Quality level, no matter how much it needs to do it with.
As I mention, increasing the Quality setting can make the files smaller though if you want them to be.

In ways this is a good thing. Because it may encode one DVD with average bitrate of say 1500, and the next one may average 1900, even though you used the same settings.
This is because thats what it decided was needed for that particular film.

Well, not exactly.
It doesnt always mean a larger file.

But, the thing is you can't have it both ways.

And by that I mean, if you are after speed, you can encode Videos quite quickly, but they will be lacking in overall Quality because of it.

If you are after quality, then you will be lacking in encoding speed because of it.



There are many other factors other than the bitrate that affect the overall quality. Although bitrate is typically considered the major one.
For example, ME Range, ME Algorithm, Subpixel Refinements, B-Frames, Lookahead ...


All of these settings set to higher values will make the encode look better, even though the bitrate itself is the same. It basically how the x264 compresses and reproduces the original image.
Unfortunately, it also takes time for the encoder to encode this way.
The good thing about it though, is that these quality gains can be achieved with the same bitrates and filesize.


It really comes down to preference, and what you think is the best balance between Quality and speed.

I do apologize if I am confusing you more than helping.
Even though I know how, Im not that great at explaining it sometimes.

I would agree, AnyDVD is certainly worth having.

I really do not use Xvid much, as I prefer the x264. It looks much better to me.

I typically stick with the H264 codec for video, and either AC3 or AAC for audio.
Conatiners are usually MP4 or MKV, depending on what it is, and the file size.