Stupid question time? XVid encoding

IAmATeaf · 18 Sep 2009 at 16:07

Yeah I know, I've searched around the internet and think I already know the answer but here goes

Is there such as thing as knowing what bitrate to use when encoding to say for example XVid? I know that the bitrate is obviously directly related to the size of the end file but seeing stuff on the internet there are loads of so called 720p files. These are normally 1280 x 5xx with a bitrate of around 2500-3000. Now this bitrate isn't really that much higher then the same file at a res of 720 x 3xx.

So how the hell do the guys encoding the files work out what bitrate to use? Is there some sort of utility that would scan the source and give you low and high values or is it just simply a case of taking a best guess.

Tomsk · 18 Sep 2009 at 16:14

If you work it out, the bitrate of files on the internet is often chosen so the finished file is a certain size. eg for a TV series, an entire 'season' is encoded so that it fit's neatly onto a single DVD, movies fit onto a CD etc

mrk · 18 Sep 2009 at 16:24

There are bitrate calculators out that can tell you the bitrate to use.

Also multiple passes are done so quality is usually good!

Energize · 18 Sep 2009 at 21:20

If you want all the videos you encode to be the same quality then use a constant quality quantiser. It takes care of the bitrate for you giving you a variable filesize but guaranteed quality. Just experiment with different settings.

MikeHunt79 · 18 Sep 2009 at 21:21

go for x264 if you can, gives better quality than xvid if done right.