Hi guys...looooooong time, no see! I've missed this place!

I guess you could say I used to be a "regular" on kvcd.net a couple years back, but then life stepped in and took over (work and family obligations, etc) and I didn't have much time for hobbies anymore.

Now, I've got a bit of free-time to play, and I'm interested in resurrecting my love of kvcd, but I now want to make my first attempt at creating KDVDs.

I've got DVD-RB Pro and plan on using HCEnc to encode as long as it is possible to create quality KDVD backups with menus/extras intact. This seemed like the easiest program/method for doing this.

What I'd like to know is, what are the crucial steps I need to take during the 3-step process in DVDRB to make sure I end up with KDVD-encoded parameters in my outcome?

For example, can I use the "1-pass CQVBR w/ analysis" setting, or do I need to use 2-passes with HCEnc for prediction to work with latest DVDRB Pro version? Or do I need to use CCE and RBOpt in order for filesize prediction to work properly while using KDVD parameters?

Do I need to change any min and max bitrate settings in the "hidden settings" to certain levels (perhaps 300 or 800min?) for best standalone player compatibility? Any other "hidden settings" I should change?

Should I upgrade HCEnc to latest .22 build?..I'm only using a P4 SSE2 processor, so I doubt I'd see a significant speed boost, if any. Are the other new features worth an upgrade?

I've already used the MatrixEditor to create a Notch profile and located the latest script, etc. It's the other little tips and tricks of using DVDRB that I'd appreciate knowing about. I'm not looking for a step-by-step guide for a newbie, but rather a few of the less-obvious hints I should know, if there are any.

Thanks....and happy holidays!
-d&c

I never used HCEnc with DVD-RB Pro because I'm not sure it can handle an other matrix than the default one with other encoder than CCE. But it seems to me it can, so just try : the only thing to do is to set the "Notch" Matrix for all bitrates in the settings od DVD-RB Pro and check that this is the one used in HCEnc when it is running.

I do'nt have DVD-RB Pro on my office PC, but I will give you better inforamtions later if you don't find the correct entries in the menus.

Thinks also about adding these filters in the avisynth configuration part :
The same way, I never used HCEcn because I'm not sure that the prediction included in DBD-RB is working well. But in any case, don't use the 2-pass mode. Personnaly I'm using CCE and RBOpt. But try with HCenc and let us know if it's working

Don't change anything. Min bitrate is usefull for VCD compatibility but I never saw a player to choke with min at 0 for a DVD.

DBD-RB won't use them anyway so you can stick to the version delivered with it.

DVD-RB does not deliver the Notch ? Strange. I'm quite sure I contributed to DVD-RB using kvcd.net paypal account because it was supporting the Notch. Tsss... anyway, this is a good product, so it worth the small contribution.

Let me know if you need other informations.

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated. Currently though, I'm having a real headache trying to get the Avisynth filters working in DVDRB's filter editor.

Could you tell me which version of Avisynth you are currently using with DVD-RB? I installed 2.5.7 before installing DVD-RB because I wanted to be a little more up-to-date and I had read many reports that 2.5.7 (along with v2.5.8 ) worked fine for many people with DVDRB, even though DVDRB's installer recommends and ships with v2.5.6. Maybe I should have just listened to jdobbs and used 2.5.6!

Then I tried to figure out which plugins I needed installed to get LimitedSharpenFaster() working, but for the life of me, I just can't figure it out, and it's not as though I'm an avisynth newbie or anything (granted, it has been a couple years since I've played with video). Maybe something is not working with the SSE2 versions of the .dlls for removegrain 0.9, 1.x, etc etc. with 2.5.7. Or maybe I've chosen the wrong builds of these dlls. I read some posts about LimitedSharpenFaster on doom's forum and thought I knew which dlls I needed in my plugins folder.

I came across a few old posts of yours where you gave a link to your entire plugins folder, but the link is dead. Would you kindly re-upload that zip file so I can figure out what I'm missing? Like I said in my first post, I'm using a P4, so the SSE2 versions of removegrain, etc are what I assumed would work and benefit me most, but maybe I was wrong.

Wow, I've been gone for way too long! I chose the DVDRB method because I thought it would be a piece of cake (and it should be)! Now I'm feeling new all over again.

Thanks again,
-d&c

2.5.7 is working but I had a resize problem with it once. But DVD-RB does not resize the movie so you can keep i2.57. Find all my plugins there :
http://www.kvcd.net/downloads/Avisynth_All_Plugins.rar

I do like it sometimes .

Many thanks Phil.

I think I've finally got things sorted out. I'll report how my first KDVD-RB encode goes when I have the time.

-d&c