What are the best xvid settings to use

Clement Saggers · 05-24-2008, 01:56 PM

Hi, I'm having a little trouble with xvid. Lots of people have said it's great, even better than DVD quality. But I can't get good quality unless I use really high bitrates (>5000kps!) I've seen things that other people do at simular resolutions to what I use, and they look really good even tho there only using about 900kps. If I use a bitrate like that it just looks "watery", with more "artifacts".

I'm using Ulead Video studio 10 to record and edit, and when I export I use the ffdshow encoder, along with the xvid codec. Could someone out there tell me the ideal xvid settings for the frame size and rate I use (720x576 at 25 fps), without going into all that quantization and I frame and P frame jazz? (which I don't understand at all). Ideally I'm trying to do a 20 - 25 minute video in under 150 megs without too much loss.

**zuluclayman** · 05-24-2008, 06:57 PM

When I want video compression I export (from Premiere Elements) at a high quality avi setting - uncompressed if I want really hi quality - then use Auto Gordian Knot, AGK, (freeware available at http://www.autogk.me.uk/) to compress using the xvid codec. With AGK you can choose your settings based on target size in MB, presets (CD size etc) or percentage quality. I use percentage quality at about 50-60 percent and find that it substantially decreases file size without too much degradation of image quality. Leave the audio settings alone at default in AGK - audio doesn't take up much file size anyways and its better to have good audio.
I find I get better results doing this - smaller file sizes with better image quality - than I do if I use the Xvid or DivX codec from within Premiere.
Hope this helps

05-24-2008, 01:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
Clement Saggers Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Newmarket, England Posts: 37 OS: Windows XP SP2, Windows XP64 & Windows 2000	What are the best xvid settings to use Hi, I'm having a little trouble with xvid. Lots of people have said it's great, even better than DVD quality. But I can't get good quality unless I use really high bitrates (>5000kps!) I've seen things that other people do at simular resolutions to what I use, and they look really good even tho there only using about 900kps. If I use a bitrate like that it just looks "watery", with more "artifacts". I'm using Ulead Video studio 10 to record and edit, and when I export I use the ffdshow encoder, along with the xvid codec. Could someone out there tell me the ideal xvid settings for the frame size and rate I use (720x576 at 25 fps), without going into all that quantization and I frame and P frame jazz? (which I don't understand at all). Ideally I'm trying to do a 20 - 25 minute video in under 150 megs without too much loss.

05-24-2008, 06:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
zuluclayman Design Team Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 269 OS: Windows Vista Home Premium My System	Re: What are the best xvid settings to use When I want video compression I export (from Premiere Elements) at a high quality avi setting - uncompressed if I want really hi quality - then use Auto Gordian Knot, AGK, (freeware available at http://www.autogk.me.uk/) to compress using the xvid codec. With AGK you can choose your settings based on target size in MB, presets (CD size etc) or percentage quality. I use percentage quality at about 50-60 percent and find that it substantially decreases file size without too much degradation of image quality. Leave the audio settings alone at default in AGK - audio doesn't take up much file size anyways and its better to have good audio. I find I get better results doing this - smaller file sizes with better image quality - than I do if I use the Xvid or DivX codec from within Premiere. Hope this helps