DVD to MPEG-4/DivX/XviD/H.264/H.265/Vorbis Theora?
 

Hi everyone,

As you all know, I ( and many of us? :) ) have always been against all DivX/XviD conversions to KVCD/KDVD, because some AVIs on the net are poorly encoded, and when re-encoded to anything else, the results are a disaster.
Lately, I have been thinking, if AVIs are properly encoded from DVD sources, and if we apply filtering (AviSynth) and the usual techniques we do here, the results will be far beyond than any one-click DVD-to-AVI programs.
So far, and specially on Macintosh machines, there are some excelent programs to do just that, like "Handbrake" and even "FFMpegX".
Also, Handbrake runs on FreeBSD and Linux.
But the reality is that none of these programs take into consideration Avisynth (Windows only) or other advanced filtering techniques.
And clearly on the horizon is H.264, which will take DivX out of the (top) picture soon, as Apple has addopted the standard for their future video applications. I also see H.265 following this trend.
As for other CODECs, there's also "Ogg Theora", which clearly beats the crap out of DivX or Xvid, and I can confirm that with some limited tests I did with ffmpeg2theora here: http://www.v2v.cc/~j/ffmpeg2theora/
The results are VERY impressive.
Now may I ask, and I repeat myself: I have always been against DivX/Xvid converisons to KVCD/KDVD. But we have never talked about DVD to MPEG-4/DivX/XviD/Theora/H264, etc., using advanced conversion tools.
Also, I have never put any efforts into any MPEG-4 matrix, because I never wanted or cared to.
But the future is very clear, specially after seeing the efforts that Apple is putting on the scene, that MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 will move to a lower priority in the next following years.

So my question is, should we start tinkering with these technologies, applying all we have learned, and start opening discussions on these topics :?:

AGAIN: This will not be AVI to KVCD/KDVD conversions, etc., but clearly DVD to >> X formats, using what we all have learned on other sites and here, and apply this to whatever we will encode.

I would like some comments on this :!:

I didn't want to post this on the regular forum, until I see some points of views from some of you.


Thanks,
-Karl

Only one comment : try filmshrink and your idea off "one-click" tools will change.

RV10 codec is really impressive and this tool is as simple to use as DVDShrink to obtain something with video + multi audio + chapters + subtitles.

I did not tryied theora but I really look towards new codec generation (h264, VP9, RV10...) and hope they will arrive soon on standalones. Because this is for me the only reason to keep MPEG2 so far.

Where's that (link) Phil :?: 8O
Edit: Never mind. Just googled it :) I think Theora is even more impressive :!:
A couple of months ago, there was a live stream from fluendo, a company in spain who is developing Theora applications, and that stream was only ~200Kbps but full screen 8O

It was really impressive. Right now, the stream is only color bass. You can view it here with VLC player: http://www.theora.org/fluendo-theoratest.pls I think Theora is a match (or better?) to H.264, but it's free :D

-Karl

I see you don't know about x264 that is the free implementation of h264 taht offers Xvid codec for instance. With GordiaKnot it is very easy to encode in x264. But it is a very young implementation for the moment IMHO.

Sure I do :)
It's free, but can't legally be used for free, because the protocol is patented :) ( But we'll use it anyway :mrgreen: )
Theora is open source, more precisely, BSD style license: http://www.theora.org/theorafaq.html#14
Just like Ogg Vorbis, which already has started to appear on many portable audio players, it's just a matter of time before some DVD manufacturers adopt it for decoding video.
They don't have to pay royalties to MPEG-LA, and anyone using x264 is bound to the same rules of encoding MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or anything else that comes out of the MPEG-LA group.

-kwag

Phil,

FilmShrink is truly amazing 8O
I just wonder why they haven't integrated ffmpeg or avcodec :idea:
As far as I see, it has all the ingredients for a complete DVD backup, but the target is only RealVideo.
So in reality, it only needs an output CODEC for MPEG-1 or MPEG-2.
I played a video I encoded last night, and RealVideo 10 is really superb :!:
Just for kicks and for comparison, what I encoded was Red Planet (my reference DVD), and the final size was 734,386KB
The quality is just awesome. :)

-Karl

Yes it is :)

Filmshrink is under GPL license, so it can be easy to reuse it to do a "one-click" DVD to KVCD tool :)

The only movie I did with it was "Anna and the King". It is 2h30 long and Divx was completly out of the race for it.

Hi,

I totally agree with Dialhot: we are doing KVCD/KDVD because you can see it in your TV, without any connected computer. And if you want to 'give' a movie to a friend (like you holidays to the beach...), the only way is mpeg2 (or mpeg1). Divx or xvid could do the trick, as a lot of cheap standalones read them.

And what about the standard China will use in a near future? If I remember well, they choose another codec, to reduce the royalties they pay each year. I think it would be the future, as they are producing almost all cheap standalone.

Salu2
Fabrice

You are talking about "enanced video disc" or "enhanced versatile disc", that uses advanced vp6 codec.
el_july talked about it some time ago in spanish forum.

Another sources:

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/archive/t-17905
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/11423

Hi Pro,

Yes, was speaking about EVD, but I just read that Taiwan had also another standard called FVD, and the codecs seem to be Windows Media Video 9 codec and WMA...

Salu2
Fabrice

I don't know nothing about that, but I know my last SAP is Windows Media enabled. Perhaps it can pley WM9 movies???

Almost all SPA are now "Windows Media Enabled" Pro. That means that they read WMA besides MP3. This has nothing to do with Video ;)

@Fabrice
EVD will never go outside China (at least for the media) because no-one in Hollywood gave an agreement to it. But players are already on the european market it you like to have something useless (or if you go often in China :-)).

FVD it even worst : as Taiwan is not even recognise by China, FPV will never go outside... taiwan ! :D

EDITFist SPA arrives mid-june in France.
http://www.gouvenelstudio.com/homecinema/evd.htm

WOW Phil, we've had SPA's here for quite a while :!:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/archives/i.../2005/04/1.jpg

Just kidding :rotf:

-Karl

I need a massage :D

Wow, I didn't know that player was waterproof!