DVD -> XViD Sneak Preview
Thrax
🐌Austin, TX Icrontian
<p align="center"><img src="http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Thrax/Banner.jpg" width="505" height="133"></p><p><strong><font size="2" face="verdana">Preliminary Legal Disclaimer:</font></strong><font size="2" face="verdana"><br>This document does not promote, condone, or otherwise legitimize piracy. All source Digital Video Discs (<em>DVD</em>s) used to portray the conversion of MPEG2 (™ Motion Picture Expert Group) have been legally purchased from licensed and authorized retailers of multimedia and electronics. The author (<em>Robert "Thrax" Hallock) </em>and the location of this tutorial's hosting (<em>www.Short-Media.com</em>) take no responsibility for the misuse of this guide, nor are they responsible in legal or nonlegal capacities for any penalties/punishments/investigations incurred. Furthermore, no part of this guide is eligible for reproduction without the express and documented consent of the author. Following this guide, or any line therein signifies that you have agreed to these terms and are operating within the defined parameters thereof. Failure to abide by its terms indicates your agreement to incur any penalties applicable in accordance with city/county/federal/state laws. This tutorial is copyrighted under the WIPO Copyright Treaties of 2002, and belongs to its original author.<br><br><strong>Introduction:<br></strong>This is version 2.0 of the DVD2XViD document I authored on 08/26/2003. Between August and July of this year (2004), there have been considerable improvements in both software and codecs. DiVX is bordering on the magical v6.0, and XViD is finally a stable non-beta codec at version 1.0.1. In addition to the development of codecs, several new and exciting pieces of encoding software have matured or debuted to the point where they are essential and powerful tools for encoding. This version of the DVD2XViD document hopes to detail these improvements so you can successfully encode your DVDs into the exciting, compact, and portable format of XViD.<br><br>The last guide essentially focused on getting acceptably high quality as quickly as possible. Using DVDx and few other external tools, the result was a decent replica with MP3 audio. In light of the new and exciting tools mentioned above, this article is divided into three distinct portions:</font></p><p><font size="2" face="verdana">1) <strong>Beginner/Quick</strong>: Uses AutoGK to automate all the processes of XViD encoding including resizing, cropping, quantization matrixes, framerate conversion, and audio muxing all from a single interface. Set and forget encoding.<br>2) <strong>Intermediate:</strong> Uses GordianKnot to automate the processes of XViD encoding. This program offers more detailed control than AutoGK, however it requires significantly more user input. The result is better quality in exchange for a sharper learning curve. <br>3) <strong>Advanced:</strong> Using AVISynth and VirtualDubMod, this section of the tutorial focuses on teaching you the frameserving language of AVISynth and how to maximize your encoding potential. This section includes detailed descriptions on post-processing, video restoration and otherwise making the best of your encode. AVISynth and VirtualDubMod is the most powerful combination on the planet for encoding procedures, but it's also mind-numbingly difficult to master.<br><br>Regardless in which portion you invest your time, the quality of your final product will be superb.</font></p><p><font size="2" face="verdana">In addition to separating encoding difficulties into three separate levels, this guide focuses on a marked expansion in MPEG4 and XViD explanation so you can begin to understand how to control the codec for yourself, for your own needs. And lastly, this guide features the introduction of the aforementioned software and codecs:<br><br><li><strong> AC3 Audio</strong> - High quality Dolby Digital 5.1 audio streams.</li><br><li><strong> XViD 1.0.1</strong> - Improving on a solid reputation, XViD 1.0.x introduces higher speeds and more precise control at the codec level.</li><br><li><strong> Matroska</strong> - A new container format. Container formats are the actual file structure which contains your encoded product. Different containers have different features. Matroska is brand new and supports DVD-like menus, chapters, and a whole slew of audio and subtitle options.</li><br><li><strong> OGM</strong> - Another new container format. This one allows the muxing of OGG audio files with MPEG4 streams, as well as a host of other features.</li><br><li><strong> Subtitles</strong> - Employing VobSub, you can now enjoy the possibility of having subtitles in your XViD encodes. Foreign languages with subs? No problem.</li></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="verdana">If I added things, that means things have also been removed:<br><br><li><strong> No more DVDx</strong> - Requires more imput than AutoGK, but has worsened results. It's outta there.</li><br><li><strong> MP3 Audio</strong> - Reduced the focus on this audio format, as this guide focuses on 2CD rips which begs for AC3. But as instructions for 1CD rips are included, it will be given a mention.</li><br><li><strong> Quick Log Analyzing</strong> - With DVDx the log from the first pass of the encoding section took forever, up to an hour or more. <strong>That will not happen in this guide.</strong> Logs should be quick.</li></font> <p><font size="2" face="verdana"><br><br><strong>What is XViD?:</strong><br>XViD is a video en<strong>co</strong>der/<strong>dec</strong>oder (CoDec) that operates under the MPEG-4 Part 2/ISO #14496-2 standard. Using an advanced algorithm called <em>Discrete Cosine Transformation </em>(DCT), the movement and colours in a motion picture are encoded in mathematical representations then processed by XViD with an algorithm called quantization. When DCT is performed, 8 pixel by 8 pixel blocks of the image are mathematically isolated. CDT then groups four of these 8x8 pixel groupings into what's called a <strong>macroblock</strong>. The quantization process in XViD then converts the pixels in these macroblocks to frequencies, and those macroblocks which are now represented as frequencies correspond to detail. High frequencies equate to high detail, and low frequencies equate to low detail. Once the quantization process has been performed by XViD, it loads a <em>Quantization Matrix</em> which tells XViD what frequencies to throw away. This is compression. The XViD codec itself allows the use of custom quantization matrices to provide more or less detail. Amidst this quantization process, XViD is constantly analyzing three types of frames: <br><br>1) <strong>I-Frame: </strong>Short for intra-frame, these are unique and individual frames like a still picture. These come in user-selectable intervals and the full information of these frames are encoded.<br>2) <strong>P-Frame:</strong> Short for predicted-frames, the information encoded in these frames only contains the difference in the frames prior to this type. If there's an image static between two frames, save a light changing from blue to orange, only the light changing from blue to orange will be encoded.<br>3) <strong>B-Frames: </strong>Short for bidirectional-frames, these frames reference the frame before and after it to conclude the best frame to reference, if not both of them, to get the best quality out of this frame.<br><br>And when all is said and done, quantization complete, I/P/B-Frames analyzed and encoded, XViD encoding is complete.</font><font size="2" face="verdana"><br><br>XViD itself operates inside a container format. A container format is simply a recognizable format with which audio/video and other miscellaneous features are packaged. Matroska, OGM and AVI are three of the most common MPEG-4 container formats. Based on the container format you use, your video can contain any of the follow features: AC3 audio, MP3 audio, OGG audio, multiple subtitles, multiple audio streams, DVD-like menus, chapters, and more. The features you require will determine which container format you'll need to use. A complete explanation of container formats is next.<br></font></p><p><font size="2" face="verdana"><strong>Container Formats:</strong><br>As stated above, a container format is simply a recognizable format with which audio/video and other miscellaneous features are packaged. There are many different types (.divx, .mp4, .mpeg, .avi, .mkv, .ogm) however the three popular ones currently available are:<br><br><strong>Matroska </strong>- (<em>.mkv</em>) The new kid on the block of the container formats, and the one I predict will become the premiere replacement for the AVI package somewhere down the road. It is licensed under GPL, and it uses an architectural scheme called EBML, which is a binary relative to the XML format. Its features include:<br><li> Internet streamability</li><br><li> Fast seeking in the file</li><br><li> High error recovery</li><br><li> Menus (Like DVDs)</li><br><li> Chapter entries</li><br><li> Selectable subtitle streams</li><br><li> Selectable audio streams</li><br><li> Modularly Extendable</li></font><font size="2" face="verdana"><br><br><strong>OGG Media </strong>- (<em>.ogm</em>) So new that very little is actually documented on its features. Also an open source GPLed container format (Like Matroska), it uses Xiph.org's OGG media architecture to produce a container schema that may hold XViD/DiVX/OGG Tarkin (Their planned GPL video codec) and OGG audio. Its features include:<br><li> Chapter entries</li><br><li> OGG audio support</li><br><li> Selectable subtitle streams</li><br><li> Selectable audio streams</li><br><li> (Soon) Multichannel OGG audio</li><br><li> Instantaneous file seeking</li><br></font></p><p align=center>The rest soon</p>
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Forget all the other sites trying to do this kinda article.. really.. just forget 'em.
Trust me, Thrax's ver.2 will blow them all away..
Still so much more to do.
Looks like a really complete guide
Looking forward to the .mkv info!