I've been an avid user of Plus 2.5 for awhile now and rarely have any problems (other than the whole lack of support for AC3 5.1 .avi's). I recently moved to Xpress 3.0 because I read of its ability to handle the 5.1 audio tracks. And it has, I've had no problems converting the movies. My main question is if its a known fact that Xpress 3.0 outputs files that are much larger in size that Plus 2.5? I used the exact same parameters, and in Plus 2.5 a 700MB DivX movie would usually convert to about 1.4 - 1.8GB. The same movie in Xpress 3.0 defaults to around 3+GB. I realize you can reduce the file size but that also reduces the video bitrate. I never had to reduce the bitrate on Plus 2.5. Why the sudden jump in file output size? I usually author two DivX/Xvid movies onto a single 4.7GB DVD, which is why the whole 3+GB filesize of Xpress 3.0 is inconvenient. Is there anything I can do to reduce the output filesize in Xpress without sacrificing quality? I want to maintain a 1-to-1 relation with the video/audio source.
Well First Off "Tmpgenc Pluss" Can open AVI files with Dolby AC3 audio in them You just have to have this decoder installed First: AC3ACM Decompressor http://fcchandler.home.comcast.net/AC3ACM/AC3ACM.zip Just Right click the "AC3ACM.inf" file and go to "Install" then the Decoder will be Installed and Tmpgenc should be able to Open AVI files that have Dolby Stereo or Dolby 5.1 audio.... As For Why one program has a larger Output size than the other when useing the same settings all I can say is depending on what encodeing Method you selected (CQ Or 2-Pass VBR or CBR ect) the size should be Simular..... If you are useing the "CBR (Constant BitRate)" Encodeing Method in Both Programs then the File size should Be the same in Both programs as Long as the Bitrate is the Same..... If you used the "2_Pass VBR" encodeing method and used the same Bitrate settings then the File size should be Pretty Close to the Same.... If you use the "CQ(Constant Quality)" encodeing Method then the File sizes will Probably Not be the same because even when encodeing the same file with the Same Tmpgenc useing the same settings the File sizes can be Different...If you want to be able to properly Calculate the Size of your Output Files then you shouldn"t use the "CQ" encodeing method because it alocates Bitrate on the Fly and never seems to do the same thing Twice..... The Size of the output File is Directly related to the Length of the Movie and the Bitrate used to encode the Movie to Mpeg-2 and when useing "2_pass VBR" or "CBR" you should be able to calulate the File size withing about 100mb but when useing the "CQ" method there is really no way to predict what the Files size will be..... Cheers
