I’ve been playing around with nuvexport a bit more, and discovered that you can export to XviD with a two-pass encoding. Pretty cool. Depending on how many export features you use, it can take an incredibly long time. With all the extra options ticked on a two-pass XviD export, it took 3 and half hours to re-encode one 30 minute episode, at about 8 frames per second. When I export to DivX with no deinterlacing and no noise reduction, it runs at about 48 fps. Neither one is still quite as fast compared to just running mencoder and just re-encoding the video (about 90 fps), but I’m not quite sure what other steps nuvexport is running.
It’s not a big deal, really. I’m just glad I can actually export them to AVI in the first place. Now, though, I’ve got three shows I’m recording and manually cutting on a regular basis because the TV DVDs are completely missing in action: Malcolm in the Middle, 7th Heaven and Without a Trace.
It’s very frustrating when the studios (Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros., respectively) release only one or two seasons and then we hear nothing else for years. I’ve heard that most people won’t even buy the first season unless they see that the studio is “committed” to the series and has released more than just a few sets. Personally, I don’t much see the point of letting something so many people worked on so hard just sit on a shelf somewhere when people are willing to pay good money for it. Is it any wonder torrents are so popular? There’s some stuff you just can’t get any other way.