How to "stabilize" an Xvid/DivX video?

YennoX · Post by **YennoX** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 7:29 am

I was searching for answers, and I found this nice AMV community.

I was wondering how to make an Xvid/DivX avi file become more "stable". By stable I refer to the fact that some Xvid/DivX videos have no problems whatsoever in video editing apps (eg. Adobe Premiere). Others seem to stutter, or have no sound (or a combination of both)-though I don't really care aoout the sound, since I'm not going to listen to the original voices in an AMV anyway.

I've noticed that releases from fansub groups tend to be more "stable" -so to speak- than the RAWs. How do you get the file to become more "stable"? If the file stutters or something, does that mean it's "broken" or something is wrong with it? I've tried a variety of RAWs, and only 25% of them work perfectly. Whereas with the fansubs, pretty much all of them work.

I've read a few stickied topics here, and they've been of great help. I understand that DivX/Xvid isn't very good of a format to be used in video editing, but I tried to convert an episode into a lossless format (with VirtualDubMod), and the file size was ridiculously large. I'd pretty much have to wipe my whole hard drive just to house one episode. I don't think this is entirely practical.

Thanks for the replies in advance.

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:35 am

You're pursuing a lost cause. You shouldn't try to edit with XviD or DivX source files. Transcode them to something lossless like HuffYUV or Lagarith.

I see you don't like the filesize. Then use VirtualDubMod to transcode only the clips you want.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:09 pm

wut he said and here's how to do it:

JaddziaDax wrote:open the video file in virtualdub mod go to video->compression->Huffyuv or Lagarith

then go to file->save

use those to mark the beginning and the end of the "clips" you want so you can save room

if you are using Windows Movie Maker or Premiere I hear it's best to use Huffyuv...

YennoX · Post by **YennoX** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:37 am

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried Lagarith, and was horrified by the first 20 seconds taking up 700MB. Is there anything I'm doing wrong here? I know I'm pursuing a "lost cause". But I would like to know why some DivX/Xvid encodes are much more stable than others.

Offtopic: What is a good lossy format that I can use?

The Origonal Head Hunter · Post by **The Origonal Head Hunter** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:42 am

They aren't "more stable", you're just beating the very, very slim odds more often with one type than another. If you're really serious about editting, you should go out and get a second hard drive, they're aren't as expensive as they used to be.

Phantasmagoriat · Post by **Phantasmagoriat** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:00 am

My guess is some have different audio types than others... but it's still a no-no.
Anyways, check out the final link for explanations, otherwise this is what I suggest:

[quote=""How to properly edit video; in a nutshell""]The only things you'll need: [no more no less]
-uninstall anything video-related that may conflict with each other; codecs etc...
-ccleaner might help clean your Registry after un-installations
-have the AMVapp installed
-install the CCCP

Video to use:
-only edit using big lossless .avi video sources; such as HUFFYUV.avi's
[but not Lagarith.avi's for WMM users. The necessary codecs come with the app]
--->your video sources can be created using VirtualDub [vdub comes with the app]
--->disable the audio stream under Streams>>Stream list
--->if vdub doesn't open the file Learn this

Audio to use:
-only use big lossless .wav audio sources in your editor
--->these can be created using Audacity [usually]

-use this guide as a reference [yes it is long]
-watch some good AMV's to avoid making a cliché bad video.

if all the above is met... there aren't many reasons for errors.
[/quote]
There are some exceptions to this, but if you want the technical
explanations of why you can and can't edit with certain files
[such as DivX, WMV etc...] check out the following link:
http://www.aquilinestudios.org/DivX_Editing.html

~Phan

[Mike of the Desert] · Post by **[Mike of the Desert]** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:01 am

Kalium wrote:You're pursuing a lost cause. You shouldn't try to edit with XviD or DivX source files. Transcode them to something lossless like HuffYUV or Lagarith.

I see you don't like the filesize. Then use VirtualDubMod to transcode only the clips you want.

I'll take this chance to enter into the discussion.
What you underline it's absolutely the truth, but for example -in my case-, what can the Editor do when having Footage (HD or not) in Mp4/Mov? (I don't cit. WMV since the program can't read it because of Copyright stuffs) Virtual Dub does not Read it, neither do the rest of programs I tried.

But I'm going to take a loot at this, mh.. Maybe in the Wiki there's something that can help?

YennoX · Post by **YennoX** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:55 am

The Origonal Head Hunter wrote:They aren't "more stable", you're just beating the very, very slim odds more often with one type than another. If you're really serious about editting, you should go out and get a second hard drive, they're aren't as expensive as they used to be.

Why is everyone jsut telling me not to use DivX/Xvid? I know the issues with DivX/Xvid and how they aren't meant for editing blah blah blah, but that wasn't the point of the thread. I have clearly found that some files do not crash at all, while others crash/stutter. Not to be rude or anything but: This isn't a thread about DivX/Xvid vs other formats. It's about why some DivX/Xvid files crash or have problems whereas others don't. If everyone aproached things with the attitude of "if you there are problems with it, don't use it", then the world would all stop at the current technology. You will find an answer or solution if you look hard enough.

Anyway, I decided to try if the number of encodes had an effect, and it turned out it did. I re-encoded a(n) (Xvid) file that was having trouble being loaded into the editing program. Now it plays flawlessly. Before, even playing it was a problem, as the file kept on stuttering. The file is still Xvid. Could the stability of a file relate to how many encodes it has gone thrugh? I mean, that could explain why fansubs are more 'workable' with that RAWs in general-they've all gone through at least 1 re-encoding process.

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 9:22 am

The short answer is that XviD and DivX are lossy codecs and thus just not suitable for editing from. Not every technology is suitable to solve every problem.

And the number of transcodes doesn't mean anything. The encoding settings do.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:41 pm

Also, just because the files work now, doesn't mean that you won't open up the time line tomorrow and find it's corrupt and will not load (there are documented cases of this happening), or that your export will be anything like your preview within the software.