Divx Help

[uva25]

I am considering geting a media player that handles divx files. Currently i am ripping my home dvd (recorded on Sony dvd recorder) to MPEG2 files. First of all, what are divx files used for and is there a way to get these dvds (VOB, IFO files) into that format? Would there be any advantage? My limited knowledge says that divx is only helpful for ripped high def movies.

[joedq]

I am considering geting a media player that handles divx files. Currently i am ripping my home dvd (recorded on Sony dvd recorder) to MPEG2 files. First of all, what are divx files used for and is there a way to get these dvds (VOB, IFO files) into that format? Would there be any advantage? My limited knowledge says that divx is only helpful for ripped high def movies.

 

I bought a divx HD player for my HD slide shows and it is pretty cool. It is the only way outside of sitting at a PC to watch things like that on the HD set.

 

as for you using Divx for your home video, I would first make sure that you have a copy of the least compressed video somewhere first Don’t edit video/pictures and save it as the same file. you already have video that isn't in the greatest format to begin in Mpeg 2, so let's say you compress it further and convert it to a divx file, then you want to reedit it someday and burn it to a DVD that is more widely used .... or to a future format in "x" compression that plays on the family Bluish Ray HD player 10 years from now...... each time you compress, edit and resave/render your video the quality will worsen and never be as good as you original. may not mean a lot right now on a 25" standard Def TV, but protecting the quality you have will make it more usable and valuable in the future - like to your kids.

 

It has been my impression that the audio suffers in the DivX and DivXHD formats significantly from the Mpeg 2 DVD.

 

Compressing video has it's uses but if space isn't an issue then do as little of it as possible and I would never do it for home video i.e. home movies. I do it for animated cartoons for my little girl to get more shows on a disk or hard drive, but in a few years they will be deleted or thrown out. It kills me when I see people burn their tapes direct to DVD and then reuse the DV tape. someday they may want to edit parts of it so the quality will take at least two hits from the original, I will do that sometimes but I always save a master AVI copy that I can use as my future projects starting point.

 

More than you wanted to know

[Beerman]

I am considering geting a media player that handles divx files. Currently i am ripping my home dvd (recorded on Sony dvd recorder) to MPEG2 files. First of all, what are divx files used for and is there a way to get these dvds (VOB, IFO files) into that format? Would there be any advantage? My limited knowledge says that divx is only helpful for ripped high def movies.

Divx files became popular because they allow much smaller file sizes than mpeg or standard avi. Many people who want to keep lots of files, say a year of the Sopranos, on their hard drive can save lots of space compressing them to divx. Lots of players are now on the market that will play divx discs.

MP4 is supported in v8 but better divx support will be in the Deluxe Suite version out soon. And no, divx isn't only helpful for HD movies.

[uva25]

Divx files became popular because they allow much smaller file sizes than mpeg or standard avi. Many people who want to keep lots of files, say a year of the Sopranos, on their hard drive can save lots of space compressing them to divx. Lots of players are now on the market that will play divx discs.

MP4 is supported in v8 but better divx support will be in the Deluxe Suite version out soon. And no, divx isn't only helpful for HD movies.

 

Space isn't a real issue for me so is it worth it? Does it help give you menu functionalit, etc?

[Beerman]

Space isn't a real issue for me so is it worth it? Does it help give you menu functionalit, etc?

There is some quality loss and I don't fool with divx often but it is acceptable to me on my tv's. I don't have a divx player. I personally know of no way to make a menu system with divx files but that's not to say it can't be done. I don't know how with EMC.

You might want to do some research on the net unless someone else who knows more about divx created files can offer us both more info.

[ggrussell]

I know that DivX6 supports menus and navigation, but haven't seen any software that supports that yet. There are some great examples on their website.

[uva25]

http://www.divxtech.com/product.html

 

It looks like this would handle anything.