Divx with Ogg Vorbis audio

IMPORTANT: Please, remember that converting a DVD into a Divx is legal only if you own the original copy of the DVD (and in a few countries maybe not legal at all). If you are unsure about the laws of your country, you had better to seek a legal advice before reading these guide.

Why is it better to make divx with audio ogg vorbis rather than mp3?

There are essentially 2 main reasons:

1) the audio file is smaller (which is better for the video because you can increase the bitrate thus obtaining a better video quality) and

2) the quality of the sound is improved.


How are these improvements obtained?

Ogg Vorbis uses a technique that automatically manages the audio bitrate, reducing or enhancing when necessary. This is in contrast to the mp3 style used by Virtual Dub which maintains a constant bitrate. For example, in a scene where there are no sounds, in with CBR mp3 (Constant Bit Rate mp3)  the kb/sec remains the same as when there is a noisy scene. In Ogg Vorbis, the bitrate is reduced during the quiet scene (thus freeing resources) and increased during a noisy scene.


Now let's come to the disadvantages (which have made me wonder whether to bother to write this guide): it is not very difficult to create a divx using Ogg Vorbis if you have the right codec. However, the problem is that you will have to install the same codec on any other machine that you wish to play the divx back on as well as the divx player (e.g. if you wish to watch a divx created using Ogg Vorbis on your laptop when you are away from home) otherwise you will be unable to see anything. There is an alternative which is to use Nimo or K-Lite Pack to fix everything. But if for example you wish to lend your divx to your friends, then this may be more hassle than it is worth.


You need the following software:

HeadAC3, OggMux and GraphEdit (and obviously Nimo or K-Lite Pack).

As far as HeadAC3 is concerned, you need to go on the website of the person who made the software and download it, in addition to the support libraries (which are contained in the same page). Make a new folder in your HD and unpack everything in there.

The procedure is very simple.

(1) Start HeadAC3.

(2) Click on Source File and choose your AC3 file (which will have been extracted using DVD2Avi). Select Destination File as your destinationn file.

(3) Destination Format: select Vorbis

Select '2Pass Mode' and click on dumb (or float if you are plenty of free space on your HD; this is faster).

(4) Click on Options (displayed on the right). The audio will already be set on two output channels. Leave everything as it is (at least for the first time I don't advise you to experiment. In the future, if everything works out fine, you can do as you please).

(5) Click again on Options and a new window will be displayed. Leave Mode on VBR and click on Quality (little arrows on the right), so that you can enhance the audio bitrate. I advice you go bring it up to 128kbps at least (even better if you bring it up to 160kbps, that is Quality=5.00). The size of the file will appear in the main window, under Destination File. This will help you to estimate the total size of the final divx (given that you already know the size of the video).

(6) Click on Start, which appears at the bottom, and start the process. It will take a few minutes before your audio file is ready.

This is all fairly straightforward and you should not have any problems.


(7) Now unpack Ogg Mux and Graph Edit in the same folder. Install Nimo or K-lite pack, as well, otherwise you'll have problems with the Ogg Vorbis codec.

(8) Run Ogg Mux.
Input -> Movie -> choose the avi. file that you have made with Virtual Dub.

Soundtrack -> File -> choose the .ogg file made with HeadAC3 and click on ADD.

(Go to the bottom) Output -> Target -> choose the folder in which you want to save your divx (select any name .avi; it is not advisable to leave the default/predefined .ogm extension).


(9) Click on Mux File and within a few minutes the procedure will be complete. Really, really easy. The divx is now complete.
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If you want to cut your divx to reduce it to the size that you prefer, then use use OggCutter, which you can find on the page on How to cut a divx (do NOT use the option to cut divx that is available on Ogg Mux as this can cause lots of problems).
If you have installed the right codec (as it is always the case with divx, installing the right codec is the most critical procedure), it should be very easy to complete this procedure.

The quality of the final product is excellent, definetely superior to mp3; however, as already explained, there is less compatibility as you'll need to install the right codec in all the computers in which you wish to see you divx, whilst with mp3 you haven't got this problem.

Better quality or better compatibility: the choice is all yours...

Enjoy your divx!

Good encoding-conversion-creation to everyone!!!