[G Tablet General] sherwinsilv:
This is for those of you, like myself, that have had problems with video/movie converting/encoding, especially to h.264, .MP4 files. Difficulties have been mostly with achieving good visual results and very important, proper syncing of audio and video. Improving on the low volume audio sound (which I had believed as others have as well) that the G-Tablet provided.

For the most part, the following software and procedure should resolve pretty much all the visuals (although some DVDs don't encode as well as other do), and the audio/video syncing should be completely resolved, and marvel of marvels the software has the capability of increasing the dB considerably so that the sound directly from the somewhat tinny speakers in the G-Tab can actually be heard without strain. So, here goes...

I have VEGAn-TAB 7.0 installed with VTL 1.6.1 launcher. I use RockPlayer 9.5 (latest version) for playback of the encoded .MP4 files.

The software used is VidCoder version 0.8.30 (x64) (for my Win 7 64bit). Get this software at http://vidcoder.codeplex.com. VidCoder is "an alternative GUI for HandBrake on Windows." VidCoder is based on HandBrake (which works on Windows but was done primarily for Apple computers) but with some modifications improving its operation on Windows based systems. Just this alone makes for considerable improvement in the final output. Even though it is using much of the HandBrake Preset and is very similar in its process, it is a stand alone program, so HandBrake does not need to be installed on your computer. You will only need one additional piece of software, Microsoft .NET 4.0 (only the Client Profile is necessary).

After downloading VidCoder, open, and in the VidCoder Window do the following (For your first tryout, leave all the settings as specified below - that will give you enough info to start experimenting - which is another story):

1. Put your DVD to be encoded into the computer DVD Drive.

2. Click on "Source". Then select the Drive with the DVD (title is displayed).

VidCoder scans the source. The Video info is displayed.

3. The Audio is displayed. For example: "1 English (AC3) (5.1 ch)" (it could

also be Spanish, French, etc).

4. Select Subtitle if specified. If not, (None) will be displayed.

5. Browse to the "Destination" for your completed .MP4 file. For example, I

keep my folder in the "Videos" Library in Win 7, and named it VidCoder

Temp.

6. Encoding: Preset...Default is "Normal". For now, leave it as is.

7. Click on "Encoding: Settings". The "Preset: Normal" (which name will

change of course depending on the preset that is chosen).

8. Picture tab:

Target Stream: click on it for "Stream 1". (When you are doing batch

encoding, you will need to select the appropriate Stream.) For now, leave

everything else as it is. For "Anamorphic: Strict". For "Cropping:

Automatic". The "Input" and "Output" information is displayed.

9. Video Filters tab: leave as is.

10. Video tab: leave as is.

11. Audio tab: leave everything as is, except for the last item: "Gain (dB)". I recommend 16 for your first tryout. You'll be able to check this when you play the preview. More on that later. Here you have the choice of going from -20 to +20. And it really does increase the volume on the G-Tab. When I tried +20 (greed for more volume) there was some roughness and garbled moments during loud noises or music. Dialogue was great throughout with either +16 or +20. And no syncing problems. At least none so far (did four encodes from DVDs).

12. Advanced tab: leave as is. Remember, you can have fun experiementing

later.

13. Now, click on Preview for a 10 second run.

14. Click on "Save As..." Now you can modify the "Normal" to a Preset name

you want. For example, "NormalDVDname+16

15. Click on "Save". Now close this Window.

16. You're back to the "VidCoder" Window. The Preset name you specified is

displayed.

17. Click on "Encode" ("Add To Queue is for when you do batch files). The

information for your DVD being encoded is displayed. Progress is shown.

You're Done. Hope this all helps. Sure made a huge difference for me with the superior visual and audio quality of the encoded DVDs.

Another really powerful encoding software is MeGUI (look up on Google). Compared to HandBrake and its cousin VidCoder, MeGUI is a really complex albit powerful encoding approach. The disadvantage is that even with all that power there is no guarantee you will get a better quality product than from VidCoder. And with condierably increased time consumed for installation and setup (lots of other things have to be downloaded as well since MeGUI is essentially the shell that derives its power from a number of resources.

Good luck. I've really enjoyed fooling around with all this, and especially with using the results on my own adult toy, the G-Tab.