[MPlayer-users] xvid + qpel = out of control bitrate

[nexx]

I'm attempting to rip some long DVD's to 700mb files using mencoder on
Windows. (commands are below)

After some experimenting I've discovered the best quality for these
movies is when scaled down to 576x240, using XviD with trellis and
qpel. Enabling QPEL even at low these bitrates (600-700kbits) greatly
increases the sharpness and quality of these files.

The problem however is that the bitrate seems to have a mind of it's
own so the resulting file is far too large or small. One movie came
out at 780mb while the other is 570mb. If i disable qpel this problem
goes away.

Is there any way to keep the file size/bitrate under control while using qpel?

Any help appreciated.

------------------
MEncoder 1.0pre5-3.3.2 on Windows XP

mencoder.exe -alang en -dvd-device g: -vf
crop=697:420:12:78,scale=576:240 -force-avi-aspect 2.40  -af volume=10
  -noskip -ovc xvid -oac copy -xvidencopts
pass=1:bitrate=629:trellis:vhq=1:qpel  -o "C:\dvdrip.avi" dvd://3

mencoder.exe -alang en -dvd-device g: -vf
crop=697:420:12:78,scale=576:240 -force-avi-aspect 2.40  -af volume=10
 -noskip -ovc xvid -oac mp3lame  -xvidencopts
pass=2:bitrate=629:trellis:vhq=1:qpel -lameopts cbr:aq=0:br=112  -o
"C:\dvdrip.avi" dvd://3