AviEncodingUsingDivX5

Start VirtualDubMod. (VD included in the GordianKnot package. regular VD will work if you only intend to do CBR MP3. Guide assumes VDM.)
Open your .avs with 'File->Open'.

In the case of multipass/2pass encodings this should not be done until the second pass.
Open your audio file with the appropriate command in the AVI->Audio1 menu, i.e. 'MP3 audio' or 'AC3 audio'.
Then select 'AVI->Audio1->Interleaving'. For MP3 audio the preload and interleave boxes should be set to 500ms. For AC3 audio they should both be 64ms. These vaules will usually not result in asych audio. If DVD2AVI detected a delay in the audio you should set the delay box in this window to the appropriate value. DVD2AVI will add the delay value to the audio filename. It is also possible to have two audio streams in the same AVI, using the Audio2' sub menu of the AVI menu.

Select 'Video->Fast Recompress'. This will avoid converting the video to RGB before passing it to the encoder where it will be reconverted to YV12. (For a discussion on colorspaces, see the FAQ, section 3.)
Select 'Video->Compression' and then choose 'DivX (Pro) 5.0.x Codec'. From here on I will assume Pro codec is installed.
Select 'Configure'

Go to 'General parameters' tab. Here select Psychovisuals if you think they will help your encodes. Some have reported good results with Psychovisuals turned on, and other don't like them at all. Heavy Psychovisuals should be avoided though.
Do not enable Crop, Resize, Deinterlace or Preprocessing, as all these functions are better suited for AviSynth to take care of.
Keyframe interval can be left at 300. If you are doing high bitrate/quality rips then you can lower this value and if you are doing really low bitrate encodes then you can increase it. DivX will insert keyframes where needed anyway, but seeking times will improve if you lower this value. 'Scene Change Threshold' can also be left at default, 50%. lower number will force less keyframes, higher value will add more keyframes.
Performance/Quality should be left at slowest, unless you have a very slow computer.
Pro features: Quarter pixel should not be activated in 5.0.2. It is supposed to be improved in 5.0.3 so you may test it. GMC is also a thing you may try, some likes it, some don't. B-frames though should be activated. It will lower the bitrate needed as well as improving playback reliability. B-frames does require a little more of the playback unit, so if you have a very low-end processor, like P3-500 or similar, you might want to leave B-frames off. The Pro features can be found on the 'Profile' tab in 5.0.3.

Recommended for high quality rips where a bitrate does not need to be enforced.
5.0.3: Select 'Profiles' Tab. Uncheck '1-Choose your profile'
On the 'Bitrate Control' Tab, select 'Variable Bitrate Mode:1-pass Quality-based'
Choose your Quality by moving the 'Quantizer' slider. A good recommendation is to set the slider at a point where the % value on the right is equal to the compression test value. Remember that GordianKnot cannot make compression tests for 5.0.3 yet.
5.0.3: Check 'Do not prompt with warnings and errors'

Select first pass of the multipass encode.
Set the desired bitrate.
Enable 'Write MV file' and then select a logfile and a mv hint file. mv hints will speed up second pass by 5-25%.
5.0.3: Check 'Do not prompt with errors and warnings'
Click 'OK' twice to exit configuration of codec.
Then save the first pass AVI, checking the box 'save job to joblist':
- VirtualDub: 'File->Save as AVI'
- VirtualDubMod: 'AVI->Save as AVI'

Go back into the codec configuration screen.
Set 'Variable bitrate mode' to 'Multipass, nth pass' (5.0.3) or '2-pass, 2nd pass' (5.0.2)
Make sure you read the mv file, and that you update the logfile (5.0.3).
5.0.3: You may limit the maximum bitrate. This value should be lowered from the default only if you have a slow CD-player and intend to playback the video directly from CD. Set the value to 1200*top speed of the CD. (i.e. 2x or 4x etc. A 8x player or better does not need to have this value adjusted) (Note: DivX5Enc always sets this value to 16000, and i know that jonny knows a lot about DivX5 so if he recommends it then it is probably a very good value to use.)
5.0.3: Bitrate modulation can be left at constant quality, but most films will benefit from moving the slider slightly towards lowmotion (-0.01 - -0.10). Depending on the number of passes you intend to run, the impact of this slider decreases with more passes.
Click 'OK' twice to exit configuration of codec.
Here you may add audio to the encode as per the audio section above.
Then save the second pass AVI, checking the box 'save job to joblist':
- VirtualDub: 'File->Save as AVI'
- VirtualDubMod: 'AVI->Save as AVI'
5.0.3: For each pass you intend to run, just re-save the AVI, creating another instance of the file in the joblist. If you after doing 2 passes thinks you need to do another pass, you can always re-enable the job in the joblist in order to do more passes.

DivX5Enc is a useful tool that can setup all these things for you, as well as do a compression test for DivX5.0.3