this is what my lavc options looks like:

qns=3:cmp=2:subcmp=6:preme=2:predia=3:dia=3:last_pred=3:vmax_b_frames=1:mv0:cbp:qprd:trell:preme=2:keyint=300:v4mv:mbd=2:vqcomp=0.7

Thanks! I will try adding vqcomp=0.7 like you suggested. I notice that most artifacts I get are in the high-motion scenes, and if I understand vqcomp correctly, increasing its value from the default 0.5 should help with those scenes. However, I also noticed that with lavc, the only way for B-frames to be handled correctly is to add vb_strategy=1 (and vmax_b_frames=2, otherwise it won't use B-frames at all). Have you considered this? XviD does not seem to have any problems using B-frames correctly, ie, avoiding them in high-motion scenes.

also, you should try to use vqscale (vbr) instead of vbitrate (cbr), it's harder to estimate filesize, but it looks much better. From what I've seen lavc gives much better quality than xvid.

Could you elaborate further on this, please? You mean that for the first pass it is better to use vqscale, and vbitrate only for the second pass? I am following the instructions from Mplayer's docs, but they seem a bit out of date, alas. Thanks in advance! Jean __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Plan great trips with Yahoo! Travel: Now over 17,000 guides! http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide