Posted by Bill's News on 04/21/06 17:22

neworder7@hotmail.com wrote:
> I don't believe it, I have tried over 10 DVD to Xvid Converters and
> not one them can convert the files without errors to the images to a
> point I can't see the image, or using the wrong audio files (in
> German).
>
> Dose anyone have a basic and easy to use program out there they can
> recommend?
>
> The only success I have has been with ImTOO DVD Ripper, but this
> unfortanyly doesn't allow me to do Xvid. So when I have converted
> them using Dvix they look blocky when you compare it to xvid
>
> Any help would be great.

For at least the past 4 years (perhaps longer, but memory is the
second thing to go) I've been using FlaskMPEG and the xvid and mp3
(CBR) codecs. Initially I converted using a video rate of ~800 kbps,
but on a 32" or larger standard TV the image was not what I desired.
For quite a while now I've been converting at a video rate of 2 mbps
and these display very satisfactorily on a 42" 1920x1080 LCD screen.
In some cases the conversions were made using single pass, interlaced
but the majority have been dual pass, de-interlaced. I haven't used
any codec "tweaks" that would be unacceptable to the typical Divx
enabled stand-alone player.

On the way to the 2 mbps video rate I also tried 1.1 and 1.3 mbps and
those appear somewhat like washed out, old grainy movies on the
digital screen. Whereas 1.6 and 2 mbps clips are crisp, well defined,
and color faithful to the originals. None of these rates shows
pixelation (blockiness).

Flask may have a steep learning curve for some folk, but a little
knowledge goes a long way with this product and it an all in one
program, calling no other products than the codecs to perform its
task.

FlaskMPEG (http://www.flaskmpeg.net/)
Xvid (http://www.koepi.org/)
MPEG1/layer3 (http://makeashorterlink.com/?I10021FFC)
note that the "Fraunhofer Radium MP3 codec v1.263" is no longer
available free of charge, but there are several alternative codecs -
use CBR for whichever you choose.

The playback device makes a considerable difference in picture
quality. I have used a LiteOn 2001, a Philips 642, and am presently
using a Buffalo LT because the Philips can't handle the video bit rate
that I use. The LiteOn 2001 does, but it is no longer produced and I
can not speak for LiteOn's newer models.

As a Divx customer, I'm pleased to say that the 6.2.1 codec seems to
have gotten it right. Unlike 6.0, it does not interfere with other
software players and it works properly with both VDubMPEG2 and
FlaskMPEG. Its codec HiDef profile produces 3 mbps video by default -
whereas when used by its own DivxConverter, it produces video closer
to 1.5 mbps for the same profile? I've only begun to test it this
week, so I've not yet tried customizing the parameters - tho obviously
DivxC is doing do,

I suspect, had I stumbled across GK or AGK, before having found
FlaskMPEG, I might have stopped looking for good conversion software,
but it was the other way round, so I stopped with Flask as I then no
longer had the need to look for an improvement.

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