Help - Alternative Answer

[rav96]

Having just read the "Help" thread by timon, i realised that alot of you may not know the following!

You can play avi's on your TV not just by having to convert them to VCD but using a Dreamcast or PS2!
its soo much more better you can get more files and play time onto a CD with avi's then a VCD (esp SVCD's)

HOW?

well some nifty programmers have made Media players for these Beautiful consoles (Dreamcast has never died in my heart, still an awesome console)!

I recommend using the Dreamcast one because its alot more easier plus you dont need a Modified Console unlike that of the PS2 (has to be Chipped,swapTrick,slidecard etc)

They all support a range of Codecs

here are their sites

DCDIVX
http://www.moosegate.com/betaboy/dcdivx/

and a good DC Software site
http://homebrew.dcemulation.com/dcdivx.shtml

PS2 Reality Media Player
http://www.ps2reality.net/

For Dreamcast:
I Usually use Virtual Dub to reencode my avi's

The settings i usually use (to achieve optimally reduced file size with the quality)

Codec DivX v3 Fast Motion

(200-300kb, good for slow moving anime, eg azumangah Daoih, but still use fast moton coz file size tends to be smaller than using divx3 Low motion at same kb setting, plus less pixelation)

For top Quality video Use 300-450Kb, can use 500kb but looks the same as 450KB , also pixelation on fast movement is drastically reduced! (for example i borrowed I"s HK from my friend and encoded it and the Picture quality was nearly like that of the DVD, i was amazed. but SVCD quality is more realistic expectation at higher Kb)

NB you can use Divx 4.02 or up to DivX5.05, bt dont fiddle around with the settings too much and use the newest DivX5 release(you get mor errors) I just prefer v3 or v4 coz its easy to use


Bicubic Resize to 320x240 (though up to 496x496 is supported bt i dont recommend any higher) theres a wide screen setting i use but i cant remember it of the top of my head (d'oh)

Mp3 Audio Stereo at 11khz even 8 khz (pretty low i know, but i like to have small file size and using a Noise reduction filter the Sound is Good in my Opinion)
OR
Mp3 Mono at 22Khz (never use 44khz-then u can get freezes and the file size is larger)

Also DCDivX supports other sound formats NB no WMA support though , but i've never bothered trying em out also it is an MP3 player (nice bonus)

NB for those of you who have Realmedia files you want to encode into avi use EO video convertor Prog!(easier than tinra to use and supports higher versions than G2 conversion)

For those who want to rip DVD's into DC playable avi's use something like Flaskmpeg!

anyway that is all i can remeber for now

Hope it was helpful to you lot!

^_^

(NB its an intangible quality called Ravittude - sorry private joke and one of my nik names though its all about 96!!!)

[kakoi_sugoi_yama]

Bang up post one after another. I'm really starting to like you.

[rav96]

Why thanks! acknowledgement is V appreciated

here i was thinking that everyone pretty much is thinkin!

"Who the F is this Baka"

anyway i'll probably be a regular, so i'm bound to pee you off at some point (hehehe)

[Last Exile]

Thanks for you suggestion.
if i have a problem ill try what you wrote.

-LE

[DARK OSAMU]

Originally posted by rav96
Why thanks! acknowledgement is V appreciated

here i was thinking that everyone pretty much is thinkin!

"Who the F is this Baka"

anyway i'll probably be a regular, so i'm bound to pee you off at some point (hehehe)

That's why we keep posting too! You are now a new IA Brother and are welcome to piss us all off as much as you want. I do it all the time. A lot here lately. Or so it seems...

[kakomu]

when resizing I totally reccomend Bilinear resize for downsizing your anime titles. Bicubic is better suited for enlarging a file. JASC backs me up on this.

as for audio, I totally reccomend 44khz over 22 and especially 11 or 8. The sample rate is NOT going to adversely effect the total file size. TO make a point of this, I decided to make 4 mp3s from a 20 minute Wav of a song I have. Normally, I would go for something complex (like a techno song. A friend of mine's favorite song to test with is Emerge from Fischerspooner because of the infinite sine sawtooth wave that is used), however, I wanted to go with something that is easy to see (considering most anime episodes hover around the 20 minute mark).

To start off, I used a 160 kbps mp3 as my source. i ran it through winamp to create a wav to use with Lame (as lame is finnicky about encoding an mp3 from an mp3). THe mp3 is 21:40 in length and is 44.1khz. Here are the lame settings I used:
-h --ABR 128
Average bit rate VBR of 128 (usually goes under) high quality
-h --ABR 128 --resample 22
VBR 128 resampled to 22khz
-b 128 -h
CBR 128 kbps, high quality
-b 128 -h --resample 22
CBR 128 kbps, hq, 22khz

Here are the results:
-h --ABR 128 -> 18298kb
-h --ABR 128 --resample 22 -> 20220kb
-b 128 -h -> 20309kb
-b 128 -h --resample 22 -> 20309kb

If you notice, the 22khz mp3 actually had a larger file size in VBR...nuts to that theory, and we should all know by now that Time*bitrate = size, and the sample rate affects neither time or bitrate.

now, this is just to give an idea of file size between the different rates. I couldn't really determine sound quality because I used the nutcracker suite, and it didn't have any real loud noises, or wide use of the aural spectrum, so I turned to Fischerspooner to test sound quality of 22khz. First of all, I'm sure everyone knows that sound is caused by waves that vibrate at a certain frequency. THe human ear can hear a very wide. 44.1khz is the range at which the music we're listening to is playing at, by cutting it in half to 22, we are in effect cutting the total amount of sound we can hear from a piece in half. Now, when I listened to another song at 22khz, I noticed that both the highs and lows were both cut significantly. Giving inferior sound quality.

In the end, stick with 44.1 (or 48 if you're ripping from DVD).

[rav96]

Dude sounds nice and all but...

it totally becomes UNPLAYABLE ON DCDIVX when done at 44KHz

My FAQ is for DC PLAYABLE Avi Files!

Trust me i know how shit this encoding would be for PC BUT ITS For DC!

DC DivX cant handle avis with that kind of Khz Sound smoothly at all!!!
and i like to have SMOOTH playable files!

oh and yeah the Bilinear is better i got mixed up (D'oh)

[rav96]

Just wondering has anyone actually even Read this thread
or even tried to make DivX for DC or PS2?

if so was this any help?
are there any improvements?

does anyone want me to make a zip containing all my settings ( i have several for Virtual Dub depending on desired quality and widescreen etc)

[kakoi_sugoi_yama]

I haven't actually done any of it yet, but have logged it on my "to do" list.

[matthewmalay]

I got some questions on the X-box media player.

I don't feel like re-encoding the video cause of my slow computer so I assume you don't have to do that with the X-box media player.

So here are my questions

Do I have to install a mod chip to enable an X-box to play DivX/Xvid media.

Can it play ogm files? Can it play dual audio avi files? Can it display soft subtitles, srt and idx/sub files ripped with vobsub? What about VBR mp3?I assume since the x-box is also a DVD player it can also play avi files with 5.1 AC3 audio.

Want to make sure it can play all of these before I get one.

[Schultz]

Originally posted by matthewmalay
I got some questions on the X-box media player.

I don't feel like re-encoding the video cause of my slow computer so I assume you don't have to do that with the X-box media player.

So here are my questions

Do I have to install a mod chip to enable an X-box to play DivX/Xvid media.

Can it play ogm files? Can it play dual audio avi files? Can it display soft subtitles, srt and idx/sub files ripped with vobsub? What about VBR mp3?I assume since the x-box is also a DVD player it can also play avi files with 5.1 AC3 audio.

Want to make sure it can play all of these before I get one.

Basically

1.) Yes you either have to Soft Mod it.. with Software Hacks or get a Mod Chip

2.) Yes it can play ssa, srt, idx/sub, many other formats

3.) Yes it can Play OGM files

4.) Yes it can play AC3 audio..

But just to correct something.. because its a DVD player don't mean it can read AC3 Audio.. a DVD player can just read DVD discs.. only if the program supports the AC3 codec can it read AC3.. means the software has to support it.. but Yes it does..

for more info check out http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de or http://www.xboxmediacenter.de

Xbox Media Center is the Successor to Xbox Media Player

[matthewmalay]

Cool, thanks a bunch!

What I meant by it was a DVD player was that it can play DVD movies (I forgot you need the remote to watch DVD movies though) therefore it has be to able to read AC3

[Schultz]

Originally posted by matthewmalay
Cool, thanks a bunch!

What I meant by it was a DVD player was that it can play DVD movies (I forgot you need the remote to watch DVD movies though) therefore it has be to able to read AC3

Xbox Media Player don't support playing DVD's with menu's etc.. But you can download a program called DVDx2 Dongle Free DVD player which can play dvd's on your xbox without the remote..

[morgorath]

Are you going to be making a new format disc anytime soon Schultz...? I see there is a lot of new stuff out there but I will not get any of my household goods until March 26th. I would suggest shipping everything a month earlie take your leave see both Famlies and then arrive at then new base and only wait a week for you stuff. I miss my computer...

[rav96]

ive never really tried XBOX media player before. my X BOX isn't modded!
but my PS2 is so hence my statement about the ps2reality

Dreamcasts DONT HAVE TO BE MODDED!

thats why i'm recommending it to you all! plus you can shove sooooo much onto one disc (eg ive got all of ah my minni goddess, ah my goddess ova nd movies onto one 700mb disc! with no skipping!!! now that rules!!!)

and judging by the "what consoles you own" thread looks like sooooo many other people could be taking advantage of their DC's but it looks like they aren't