How to convert DV to XviD using Virtualdub for viewing from PC, Xbox or xvid/divx enabled DVD player

(condensed version adapted from videohelp.com for the benifit of the bandwidth restricted).

This guide will describe the basic steps to convert DV to XviD.You can also add optional filters to reduce noise (such as de-interlacing).

Tools required: WinDV - capture/copy the video to your Hard Drive. Virtualdub XviD Video Codec Lame MP3 Codec Smart Deinterlacer Filter

Install all tools. Extract the Smart Deinterlace Filter files to the Virtualdub plugin folder.

Use WinDV and copy the DV your HD. Use type2 DV. Remember that DV is huge, around 217MB/minute so you need lots of free hd space.

Open the DV avi in Virtualdub , if you can’t open it try install the Panasonic DV Codec. If you still can’t open the DV try convert to DV Type 2 with DVConverter or Canopus DV File Converter or DV Type 1 to DV Type 2 Converter.

Deinterlace

Most DV cameras captures interlaced video, it means that you must deinterlace it or it will look like crap on computers. Read more about interlace over at http://www.100fps.com/ If your camera captures in progressive video mode you should skip this step, progressive video = you should not see any interlace lines in the video(see the interlaced screenshot below). 1. Add the deinterlace filter, under Video>Filters, click Add and add the smart deinterlacer 2,3. Check the preview, the interlaced lines(2) should have dissapeared in the preview window(3).

DV is 720×480 NTSC or 720×576 PAL with aspect ratio 4:3. Some DV Camcorders have a “slim” mode or equivelent where the pixels are amorphoricly squeezed to produce a 16:9 image. XviD doesn’t have any aspect ratio so we must resize the video or it will look stretched.

1. Add the resize filter, under Video>Filters, click add and add the Resize. 2. Set the new size, 640×480 or lower but with width divided height = 1.3333(4:3). Some common sizes, 640×480, 512×384, 384×288, 320×240. 3. Set the resize filter mode to Lanczos3.

Convert to XviD First select under Video>Full Processing. XviD 1. Select under Video>Compression and select the XviD MPEG4 2. Click Configure 3. Click calc. 4. Set the output size in kbytes, bigger file means higher bitrate means higher quality. You can try encode some clips with different sizes and see how it looks like. 5. Set the time of your video clip

MP3 Audio 1. Select under Audio>Full processing 2. Select under Audio>Compression, select the Lame mp3 codec and 128-160 kbit/s. and 48000khz

Last select File>Save as AVI to make the XviD.

Done.

tools required, Kino, Xvid, Lame and avidemux2.

Capturing

Firstly Open up kino, click on the capture tab and select the filename/location you want to save your DV.avi file. secondly go into the kino preferences via file>preferences and select the capture tab. Make sure dv type2 radio button is selected and click OK.

Connect your DV cam to a firewire port and play the video, if all is well the video will appear in the kino capture window. To capture the video simply hit the capture button.

save your video and close kino.

Transcoding

Open up avidemux2 and load the previously saved file.

Click the video tab and select Xvid4. you can configure the xvid settings to your liking so i would suggest the default to begin with.

if you would like to deinterlace the video Click the Filters tab and select interlacing>DeInterlace with the default values then close the applet.

You can keep the PCM audio if you like however i prefer to recode my audio in lame mp3 128kbs.

Whan you have selected your preferred settings simply click file>save>save video and enter the name and location you wish to save your transcoded file.

What would be the best setting to use for xvid in terms of bitrate (and anything else) in order to keep the encoded video quality as close to the original quality as possible? I've been playing around with settings and at first set it to 640 x 480 and bitrate to around 2300 (in order to fully use up dvdr). The quality is excellent, but i'm wondering is that setting good to use? Can i go higher? Or should i think about going lower? I've read one thread where one person mentioned they use 1500kb but i was hoping to get more peoples views. I've noticed that using the high bitrate i used uses a lot of cpu power. So what is the best bitrate setting to use with xvid in order to keep the final video as close to the same quality as the original MiniDV video?

There is no universal “best” - the best is what gives you the results you desire.

Many advocate the use of CQ mode set at 2 or 3, which is like a one-pass VBR that should be nice and quick and give you pretty good quality. It will only use as much bitrate as it needs, so it probably won't fill up the disc.

This method doesn't give any pixelating/artifacts does it? Similar to that you get when you use to low of a bitrate?

A setting of 1 or 2 shouldn't give any pixelation whatsoever. You'd really need to do some short sample encodes yourself using 1 through to about 5 to see where your threshold of quality sits.

At a quantization value of 2 you have to look at enlarged still frames to see any difference between the input and output. At 3 you can see a little macroblocking if you look at still frames but it's not really noticable at normal playback speeds. At 4 you start to notice macroblocks at normal playback speeds if you look very closely. 1 is the best quality setting – but the file will be comparable in size to your source DV.

No matter what Q value you use, final output size (average bitrate) will depend on the content. Although obviously, for a given source the file size will get larger as Q gets smaller.

It shows that the average bitrate is around 4700kb if i set it to quantization value of 2 - is that normal?

Yes. It can vary pretty widely depending on the source. Anywhere from around 1000 to 6000 kbps. Noisy video doesn't compress well. Shakey hand-held video doesn't either.

But say for example you used a Q value of 4 and get a 2000 kbps result. Then you encode the same video using 2-pass VBR with an average of 2000 kbps. The two encoded videos will be almost identical.

what resolution does everyone use for there MiniDV to Xvid conversions?

Newer versions of Xvid support picture aspect ratio settings so you could leave your video at 720×480 and set the picture aspect ratio to 4:3. Not all software and hardware support that so some people resize to 640×480. Sometimes 480×360 or even 320×240 for low quality stuff.