Where to download "This Is Otakudom"

BogoSort · Post by **BogoSort** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 1:18 am

jbone wrote:How about XviD? I know ErMaC's come up with some good settings for use with XviD, I'm sure other people can also offer opinions. XviD will probably yield a more download-friendly, smaller, yet better-looking file.

XviD is nicer in some ways and worse in others. Personally I have some old slow computers that I like playing video files on and XviD is a bit on the slow side. I'll certainly discuss it with him. I've got no problems with distributing a VCD, but he's also worried that people will crop off the credits and such things. We'll see what happens.

VegettoEX · Post by **VegettoEX** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 9:01 am

We've got the VCD made, and we've passed out at least a hundred copies at cons, I think (I really don't know... Scott and Jon were the ones with the actual VCDs). It looks decent. I mean, it's a VCD. It's pretty stuck at its limitations, but it looks good enough at those. The big thing was that the original source files looked great to begin with :D

When I get back to school, I'm probably going to pass around the VCD on our Direct Connect server as a zipped BIN/CUE file (it's pretty much the standard... we'd rather pass them around as the burnable files than have to set it all up ourselves... SOOO damn lazy :P). At least there you'd have to really go through some effort of burning the CD, ripping off the MPEG, doing some cropping, etc. to actually get content OUT of it.

This means that at some point next semester, I'm sure you'll see the ZIP of "Otakudom" floating around on WinMX and KaZaa, and it'll at least be the version that WE actually set up to be distributed. That's a good thing, as the VCD includes an "Extras" folder with things like the script, guide to in-jokes, making of, etc.

One of the issues with "re-encoding" is something Scott, myself, and many other AMV creators are aware of... we don't like having our stuff re-encoded by someone we don't know and having them distribute it. There's no kind of "quality control" in that. The VCD went through a bunch of revisions and proof readings before it got where it is :P.

And that's another neat thing with the VCD as opposed to a movie-only file, like DivX... we can include that "Extras" folder.

I don't think Scott or anything else involved with "Otakudom" has a problem with people making copies of the VCD. They'd all be direct digital copies, so it's not like we're passing the VHS through twenty analogue generations to get someone a copy. I'm sure someone you know somewhere is going to end up with it, and you (this "you" being a very general "you" referring to anyone) will be able to get a copy.

Of course, you can all always just spam Scott's mail box asking for copies... ^_~

*runs away and hides his CD burner*

Heh... I'll make a few copies for AXNY so if anyone finds me they can grab a copy. Only gonna bring a few of our AMV CD-Rs, but we'll do a dual-pack thing where you can get both. Or something.

ErMaC · Post by **ErMaC** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 9:15 am

Something you might want to consider is an SVCD version. I've done testing with CCE's multipass SVCD encodes and it is just an amazing piece of software. Works wonders at low bitrate, although that's with live action stuff. I've seen plenty of DVD-profile CCE MPEG2 encodes that simply make my jaw drop at how low than can make the bitrate while keeping such high quality, but I've never seen it done on SVCDs. However I hear it's pretty kickass, doing 4-pass VBRs on SVCD birates. Might wanna look into that.

Any computer with a DVDplayer should be able to playback SVCDs, and many settop players will.

But I'd recommend making a DVD for distro purposes.

As for online, yes XviD can do some really good stuff, especially the new builds with their better curve compression settings. However, I would ask Ian about it as he's taught me almost everything I know about XviD and has probably stayed more current with the newer build, as I currently have no way to actually ENCODE anything since I'm on my P2 366 laptop with a 6GB hard drive.

VegettoEX · Post by **VegettoEX** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 9:27 am

Yeah, I thought about doing an SVCD version, but something Scott's big on (and I agree) is wide-spread compatibility.

Lots of people getting these VCDs really don't know much about video stuff. LOTS of people are just random fans who saw it, and wanna get a copy. They don't understand all the different types of things, and just want something they can play, and this very well might not be on a computer. Lots of newer DVD players play SVCDs, but many more simply do not.

A VCD was the *cheapest* and most universal CD-based format. There's always the VHS copies, too. The parody's also 52 minutes long, so there'd be an issue of trying to cramp good quality at SVCD bitrates... of course it can be done, but it's just SOOO much easier on the VCD level.

DVD... yeah :D. That's coming... eventually... so much stuff we could do for it...

But we gotta do a new parody for next year, since Scott kinda promised a room of about 700 people he'd have one.. ^_~

As for what you suggested for SVCD stuff... I'm gonna look into it all myself, because I'm getting way too interested in all of it :).

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Mon Aug 12, 2002 9:39 am

Well, if you guys are interested in passing some sources files onto me at AWA I can see what I can do to make a really nice divx-compatible encode. There wont be any playback issues (maily because of the resolution it will be in) but I'm sure I can make it look pretty reasonable at 190mb.

With a good analysis of the bitrate curve and messing around with the max/min frame sizes I'll be able to do a pretty nice encode. A bit of filtering in some places will be required too to improve the compressibility.

The best thing for something that long would actually be an ogg media stream but not everyone has the ogg media filters installed. It would save you lots of room thanks to the small audio stream and low muxing overheads though ^_^;;;

Anyway, as I say - if you are interested I can give it a try.