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Select Source & Destination Files
In the example, a source fi le 24 hours of Lemans.avi has been selected
as the source video. You can see on the bottom of the window its original
characteristics (width 720, height 576, frame rate 24). Next, you must then
tell the program where to place (Set Destination fi le) the newly recoded
version of the fi le (don’t worry, it will not erase the original). You should give
it a new descriptive name, such as shown above Lemans.avi . Make sure
you add the .avi extension.
Change Settings
Next, you can change the parameters (Change Settings) of the
encoder to adjust the level of quality of the fi nal image. Like MP3
music, the higher the bit rate setting is made, the higher the quality
of the music, or video in this case, that you will get. However, this will
also take up more space on your hard drive. A setting of 900 kbps will
give you a nice looking image for viewing on a television. For near
DVD quality, you can set it up to 1200 kbps.
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Target & Priority
If the AV 500 device is not listed, select “ARCHOS
™
Default”. You will
see a Priority box appear. This control is to allow you to select which
feature of the video to be guarded. If for example you are re-encoding
a video fi le that is 800x600 in resolution and 30 frames per second,
this is beyond the maximum resolution that the AV 500 can play. Thus,
the MPEG-4 Translator program will have to decrease the resolution.
Choosing LCD optimizes the fi nal video format for viewing on the built
in LCD screen. Choosing the TV option will optimize the movie to
keep the highest possible frame rate. You can see what the size and
frame rate will be by looking at the Video Image Size : Destination
parameters. When choosing TV , it is understood that the output will be
optimized for a television, and not the built-in screen.
Start
Click on Start and the program will call Virtual Dub to start processing
the video. Depending on the power and speed of your computer, this
could take real time (a 60 minute long video re-encoded in about
60 minutes) or much longer. As shown to the left, you will see the
progress as it processes the video fi le. If the Start button is grayed
out, it would be for one of two reasons. 1) The source fi le is not a
true AVI fi le. Even if the fi le name ends with .avi, the internal fi le data
determines if it is truly an AVI fi le. 2) The Virtual Dub program was not
located when MPEG-4 Translator was started up. Close the program,
restart it, and make sure you locate the Virtual Dub program.