2nd pass problem and filters

Thanks a lot, you've been most helpful. I'll do some tests and see what I think.

Now I'm confused. When using divx 5.02, I don't know how to load the first pass stats. I guess it's the one called .mv or the .log, but how do I know the movie's Bits/pixel*frame?

You don't have to load any file. It's loaded automatically after the comp. test is finished and you should see your percentage in the window.

I'm talking about first pass stats, not comp test. BTW, the 5% means it takes into account the 5% of the movie, or is it random?

I seem to be confusing 5.02/5.03 and all the new versions lately. I can't remember for sure, but I don't think there is any first pass file you can load when using 5.02 (like you can for DivX 3 and XviD). Yes, the 5% means it will use 5% of the whole movie.

Well, Clodo... I can answer one of your questions. The comp test at 5% will use SelectRangeEvery(280,14), so it's not random, it's 14 frames every 280.

I've always found the comp. test very reliable. Anyway, if you haven't already you may want to try XviD. With XviD you can find out the first pass size just like you can/could in DivX 3.xx

Yeah, I was going to do that, but since I'm just testing if I really like 5.xx over 3.11, xvid will wait a little longer. Thanks for the suggestion, I wasn't sure xvid did that.