I am having trouble converting WMV files to Xvid. Lets say WMV file properties say that its encoded at 700 kbps, 24 bits for video. When I set my software to re-encode using Xvid I need to triple even quadruple my Xvid bit rates just to get a picture that matches the original WMV quality. Does that even sound right? Is there a good rule of thumb about WMV to Xvid bitrates or a calculator that scans the file and tells me what I should be encoding at?
To compare properly, you would need the source that the wmv was encoded from. Re-encoding lossy to lossy is always going to cost more bitrate. Sounds like you should probably be encoding at a fixed quant. That way you can forget about setting bitrates. XviD will use what is required.
Unfortunately the original is not available as the majority of the files are just stuff that I have culled off the net over a few years. Fixed quantification...hmm. The program that I am using to convert these files Mediacoder only has the following options: fixed quality, fixed bitrate, 2pass, and 3pass. It also has a little pulldown box labeled bitrate control: by analysis, by desired stream size, and by compression ratio. Your thoughts?
For fixed quality it would be using fixed_quant=# I guess. 3 pass though? pass in xvidencopts only accepts 1/2 so it sounds like you have libavcodec MPEG-4 selected instead of XviD. Not used mediacoder myself though so I could be wrong. It uses mencoder for encoding right?
