XviD guide

The latest version of GordianKnot finally supports XviD encoding and offers the same features GordianKnot has offered for DivX3/5 (and during a certain phase for DivX4) for such a long time, including features like BeSweet support for superb audio encoding, Decomb for IVTC, but also regular GKnot features like multiple audio tracks, batch encoding, etc.

You will need the following software for this guide:

GordianKnot Rippack
GordianKnot Codec pack

Step 0: First time setup

You will only have to perform this step once.

Install the GordianKnot Rippack, then install the GordianKnot system pack. When installing the codec pack, only select the codec you really want to include.

After installation start Nandub and VirtualDubMod manually one time and click OK to every warning that might appear after startup. You can find the link to both applications in your start menu under Programs - Gordian Knot - Apps.

Then start up Gordian Knot and click on the options tab. Then configure the XviD codec by clicking on the buttons for First Pass and Second pass.

Let's do the first pass first.

In the first screen there's nothing you have to change. Obviously, setting a bitrate doesn't make any sense since the bitrate will be different for each movie (don't worry, GKnot will fill this in automatically for each movie). Press the first more.. button.

Set Quantization typt to H.263 for 1 CD movies, and MPEG for 2 CD movies.

Checking Quarter Pixel can help increase quality, especially at low bitrate, so check that too, and keep the rest at their defaults.

Then press OK to get back to the main screen and click on the Advanced Options button:

Make sure Motion search precision is set to 6, VHQ mode is 1 and Use chroma motion is checked.

Turbo ;-) also seems a good option, it helps up speed encoding while quality does not visible suffer.

Keep the rest of the options at their defaults, and press OK twice to get back to Gordian Knot.

Then press the Second pass button and make sure the settings correspond to what you set for the first pass. The only difference is that Encoding type has to be set to Twopass - 2nd pass. If you're wondering what all the options are good for, check out this comprehensive XviD 1.0 guide.

Now as previously mentioned, you'll make those settings once and they are then used for each encoding session. But of course you can always change the defaults, or use special parameters just for a specific movie. In that case you can manipulate the codec settings just before you start encoding (and they will only be applied to the movie you're about to encode).

Step 1: Basic GKnot Setup

This step will teach you how to set up GKnot for a perfectly good looking rip.

Step 2: Encoding video

Only a few more steps and GKnot will automatically encode video and multiplex audio for you without any further manual interaction.

Step 3: Splitting (if required)

If you created a movie for more than 1 CD and didn't use the autosplit feature, you have to split it up now.

This document was last updated on April 18, 2004