KVCD: Thank you Kwag, Sangrip, others...
 

Thank you Kwaq, Sangrip and other like yourselves
I had made VCDs before using the default VCD settings in Tmpgenc but since I started lurking in these forums and using KVCD templates my VCDs have steadly inproved.

I've spent this last week at my brother's house. He scoffed the idea of backing up DVDs and seriously doubted their quality (he prides himself on having a tremendous home entertainment system-All Sony with a 34" HD TV as the centerpiece). I decided while I was here to backup a few of his DVDs to VCD so he could watch them on his laptop during business trips. I copied:
ICE AGE
MIB
MIB2
THE SCORPIAN KING
THE CROW
All using the same parameters...he was amased at the quality when we proofed them on his HD TV even tho I always encode at 352x240.

Star Wars 2-AOTC didn't look so good since I had to kack down the CQ to 20 to get it to fit on one CD but was still very watchable.

I use your KVCD-CQ-352x240-PLUS template with the following modifications:
29.97 instead of 24
22 VBV buffer setting

I've never been able to get the file predictor formula to work accuratly for me (dunno why) and the file predictor download wouldn't work for me (the .net runtimes seem to be the issue) so all these movies had jacked-up sound since I had so much left over room.

I used the same filters for all...even I was surprised at the level of quality I am now enjoying!

Please allow me to throw down my settings for discussion:
LoadPlugin("C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\MPEG2DEC.dll")
mpeg2source("D:\ATTACK_OF_THE_CLONES_F1\VIDEO_TS\A OTC.d2v")
LoadPlugin("C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\AVISYTH\Blockbuster .dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\AVISYTH\Convolution 3d.dll")
LoadPlugin ("C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\AVISYTH\DECOMB.DLL")
Telecide(post=False)
Convolution3d (0, 3, 4, 3, 4, 2.8, 0)
Blockbuster( method="sharpen", block_size=3, luma_offset=0, luma_threshold=25, detail_min=1, detail_max=90, strength=90)
BilinearResize(320,192,0,24,720,432)
AddBorders(16,16,16,32)

"sharpen" seem to work wonders for me over "add noise" for blockbuster
and regardless of film type I always use the Decomb filter with "Telecide"...seems to me that it smooths the picture without blurring.

Once again Thanks to all that help make this forum ROCK! BTW, what's the weather like in P.R.?

Re: KWAQ FOR PRESIDENT
 

Thanks Rig :)

It's 9:30AM and it's 78 degrees F. with heavy overcast.
A little rainy today till sunday, but we can still go to the beach, as it sould be around 84 F. today 8)

Unless you have a specific reason not to ( ie your DVD player does not like them ) you really should use 24fps for encoding.

In order for that to look proper all you need to do is add the Decimate() line right after telecide(post=false). The resulting mpeg should be smaller by a few percentage points at the same quality and should play back smoother too.

my DVD player does not like 24fps....gotta be 29.97.

I'm at my brother's in NYC...got several inches of snow, cold and windy.