I don't use a MAC, but all of that is defined by the DV (NTSC or PAL) standard. After that, it's just type 1 or 2.
Nope, it is much more detailed than that. I do video encodes of recordings off TV so I can watch them later, but save space at the same time.
I have gotten it to over 12 hours over video on one 4.7GB DVD Disc.
Note the below settings I can play these Divx video files on a DVD standalone player, or portable DVD player than can play Divx files. I know this for a fact because I have a DVD player that can play divx files.
The below settings work fine for both animation and live action, depending on how much static and pixelation you need to clean out of the TV signal.
I use Divx 6.1, it is good for the job.
The frame rate I use is a 23.976 FPS which is a 3:2 pulldown of NTSC 29.970 fps. Note PAL is 25.000 fps.
I use the Divx settings "Better Quality", with frame motion to 100% with 690kbps.
I use VirtualdubMPEG2 with filters Deinterlace (Blend) and Precise Bilear and 3:2 Pulldown to get shrink the video size from it's orignal 640by480 recording from my TV tuner card.
The resolution is 480 lines in width and between widescreen 200 lines, to fullscreen 360 lines for the height.
For audio, I used Lame MP3 codec at 48kz at 160kbps.
The keep to mantain quality at such a small resolution is you have to record the TV show in progressive, not interlace, or deinterlace and hope the signal is in progressive, which DirectTV is.
Depending on the whether the video is widescreen or full screen, it can take in time to encode a video between a ration of 1:1 to 1:1.50, meaning it takes between 1 minute for every 1 minute of encoding to 1 minute for every 1 minute 30 seconds of encoding.
Now people say MAC are better for video/audio encoding and I am asking for benchmarks with either Divx or Quicktime on how long it takes to encode videos on a Mac Computer to either prove or disprove such statements.