I need closure~~!! lol
here are my settings:

DVD-RB Pro 0.93.2 + CCE 2.70 [bias: 25, q_prec: 16, passes: 4 (vaf + 3)]

Matrices:
Main Feature: Encode Default
Low Bitrate: Low Bitrate
Very Low Bitrate:Very Low Bitrate
Extras: QuEnc

can someone tell me if there are any setting i'm overlooking to get better results? any changes i can try out and see what i get?

are 4 passes too much? how do 2 or 3 passes do for low-bitrate dvd's <3Mbps, <2.5Mbps, <2Mbps? are 2 passes for high bitrate >3Mbps sufficient for best possible preceived quality. I'm not looking for a definitive answer, just people's opinions.

can someone suggest any settings for anime and cg stuff that i might try? i've heard that there are problems with edges and stuff. or should i go with dvdshrink?

also, is there a program available to look at the min/max/avg bitrates without using Prepare in DVD-RB.

any info from people's experiences would be great. thanks.

puraido

If you are prepared to wait for re-encoding of an entire movie, then avoid DVD Shrink unless the amount of reduction is small. After all, you can run a re-encode while you're at work or sleeping and it'll be ready when you get home or get up. DVD Shrink is nice and fast though.

3 passes is fine for most purposes (1 vaf + 2 as you put it)

There are matrices for CG in Cinemacraft Encoder.

You said:
"also, is there a program available to look at the min/max/avg bitrates without using Prepare in DVD-RB"
- What are you trying to do here?

Higher bitrate = less compression artifacts = better overall quality.

I use RB-Opt to set the minimum bitrate to 0 and maximum bitrate to 9352. Reason being that one film in particular - Shawshank Redemption - refused to encode during demanding scenes without producing jittery playback when played on my standalone box. The default is minimum 500/8552 maximum. VBR_bias was changed to 40 based on forum advice over at doom9. Since this change I never had a single problem with playback. Just my experience on this one.

Hope this helps.

TZ

Hi TigerZai. Yeah, that's exactly what I do. I run them while I'm asleep or at work. and I have two computers (p4 3.0 + p4 2.6) so I set up batch queues on each. after 8 hrs, 4 are done, 2 almost done. So waiting is no problem. I just want to get as close to the best quality as possible. I like Shrink and all, but I think I'll be using it that often.

4 passes (1+3) might be preferable for something like lord of the rings or something, right, those LONG epic discs of over two hours and such?

about the min/max/avg bitrate thing, i was just asking if there was a tool that would let me see the bitrate and how much it would be after i removed stuff.

about the jittery playback in shawshank, is it a subtle thing or is it very noticable. I'm not sure if i'm imagining things, but ever dvd i encode seems to stutter in my philips dvp642 and on my computer. also when the screen pans from one place to the other, i get this kinda haze or motion blur. is that normal?

oh yeah, did that encode of shawshank jitter on other players too?

thanks for the useful information you've given me, TigerZai

dynamis

There is a great DVD Rebuilder Pro. add-on application called
Rebuilder Matrix Editor located Here. It will allow you to try a different Matrix without waiting for an entire Encode. It is freeware BTW.

It also has a neat Extraction feature that will allow you to extract a matrix from one movie so you can use it in another movie if you like. For example, you could extract the matrix from 'Finding Nemo' and use it on any other movie that you care to.

Still, there is a large assortment of Matrices out there (I have about 40) to choose from. For instance, a lot of people like using the Kika Comic High for animation.

'Kika Comic High'
Intra
08 16 16 16 24 24 32 32
16 16 16 24 24 32 32 32
16 16 24 24 32 32 32 32
16 24 24 32 32 32 32 32
16 24 32 32 32 32 32 32
24 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
24 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
32 32 32 32 32 32 32 32
Non-Intra
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 24

Why aren't you using the latest Pro. version of RB which is 1.00 RC6.0?
I don't believe DVD-RB Pro 0.93.2 had the 'Viewer/Segment Editor yet.


I use the included and very good HC encoder with DVD-RB Pro.

Heck people should go to www.dvdrebuilder.com and check it out themselves.

Regards,

I've re-encoded Lord of The Rings "Return of The King" and used 3 pass (1 vaf + 2)
The results were excellent given the amount of compression involved. More passes won't give you jaw-dropping better results, it'll just take longer.

The average bitrate used along with the reduction percentage is reported after you do the prepare phase in Rebuilder. It doesn't take long for the prepare phase.

As for skipping and stuttering playback try this test:

1. take a note of the chapters and scenes where you experience stuttering playback
2. extract the original disc to hard disk (you should have this already)
3. run VobBlanker to remove all content except the affected chapters; the content you keep should be small enough to fit on a DVD-R blank so won't need re-encoding
4. burn the content to a DVD-R for testing
5. play this disc in your standalone to see if the problems remain

You can read more about my problem with Shawshank here.

Regards

TZ