Considering new container for D gray man

Here at Higure-Subs we have been striving for quality that is equal to or greater than some very talented groups.
First there was black-order, which is a lot to live up to i personally belive since there quality personally i believe to be almost revolutionary. But we have been aiming to get there.
I've been experimenting for the past few months in using an alternate container method other than XVID as i belive personally that the quality could be much better. Finally, as of last night though I have been able to go through and get a fully workable version using an x264 codec. Personally, i belive the quality is better but at the same time our goal here has also been to make it accessable to all people and sometimes using an x264 container can at times be difficult.
So what I am proposing to people, is I would like to have two versions be released this week. I will obviously aim to have the XVID version out ASAP as we usually do with our releases but, a bit after (probably about 4-5 hours after) I would like to release an x264 version aswell. And pose it to those who are interested to feel free to take a look and compare yourselves as to which version you find is better. If you find that the x264 release is to be better and that no people have any difficulties with it, here at higure-subs we will consider changing the container altogether.
I would definately appreciate peoples feedback to this, either by responding directly in this thread, or in the release thread for this week. Also you may even feel free to PM me. I personally believe now is as good a time as any since groups like shinsen have now dropped it to consider changing this.
Lastly, we have begun to see high definition releases float around. THIS IS NOT a high definition release, all it is is the same standard edition release but hopefully in a better quality. We have considered to release a high definition version, but that will not happen until we see that its released in a stable nature the actual raw files. We do hope to release a high definition release at some point, but at the moment it does not seem like the good time to pull out for everyone, perhaps in the weeks to come we may be able to re-consider.

Thank You all
Wolf Reborn

Personally, I'd love to have it released in x264, but at the same time I'd feel bad for the people who's computer can't handle it.

Well that is what it is that ive been working on. encoders have come a long way, and i've been experimenting with implementing a x264 version which is actualli compatible with computers which may not usually be able to handle it. it has been really difficult to test, since -_- i dont really have too bad a computer, so i do need people who can test with low level computers. i'm gonna be asking a friend of mine, lol she has the spare parts to my old computer lol. so shes only got like an asus 128mb video card on a p4? i believe. LOL but i also know thats not entirely low end either -_- but its a start for testing. either way im hoping this can be played on something as low as maybe 800mhz. but it hasn't been fully confimered yet. the smallest ive tried at this point is an amd 1600+ and it worked smoothly in windows media player.

If you could get it to work for people with older comps that would be great, I'd hate to see what happened over at DB happen here, with alot of people suddenly not being able to watch the anime.

yah -_- i remember when that happened way back when. if i dont get enough response then we may consider other alternatives. perhaps releasing the two of them, but for that to happen we would probably need a second encoder. since the one thing here to consider other than quality is the release time.

i know there is still a lot to consider, things like maximum file sizes for people aswell as how long there willing to wait for a release. since obviously by increasing size i can increase the quality but im not really willing to do that too much since i also want to make it fair to those people with lower bandwidths etc. but quality is definately what me personally am shooting for.

If there is an x264 releaseon the horizon, it'll be in MKV format, right? AVI and x264 are like fire and oxygen; they don't mix.
My 2.8Ghz computer with an upgraded 256MB video card and 512MB RAM (upgrading to 1 or 2GB soon) can play MKV's just fine, although I've always prefered XviD because of simplicity. But, seeing MKV releases is still nice.

I like the MKV release due to the its high quality nature. However, i dont like it when subbers place "soft subs" the ones were you have to activate the subtitles. I still would take MKV's though

yes i agree. actually as i stated previously what it would be most probably is just an avi container using an x264 based encoder. we shall see how it turns out i you dont like it that way this week. then we shall keep trying till you guys do. i dont really like mp4 extension too much either ive had problems with em before. in terms of mkv if we do decide to go to matroska based, it will not be soft subs. i cant stand that either. lately ive been watching code geass season 2 and theres some groups soft subbing using mkv and what they dont tell you is that you have to have the correct fonts installed. otherwise you get what i get which is the stuff all over the screen lol. the fonts go from the top to the bottom with like a size 30 font. -_- so well keep trying till it works out for everyone. if you have any suggestions though feel free to let me know what you might think. im not the greatest encoder, but im doing what i can, so im always open to suggestions.

sorry the other thing i forgot to mention is actualli provided if you can encode it properly it can be done to be be quite well using an avi container with x264. its not easy -_- i learned that last night staying up all night to finish my experiment but it can be done. after our next release though you will be able to see for yourselvse.

I'm looking forward to the new container. I'll rejoice if it's in MKV format.

I'll Take 'Em Both Ways. Just Don't Drop The Show Like The Other Subbers Please!

Don't worry, we're definately not dropping.

it's fine with mi whichever format u wanna use.. ((: as long as i get to watch it! haha. if ppl can't watch it. they can try downloading the encoder software. might help.

so i have done some reconsidering and the new file will be in an mkv container. the only thing i need to decided on now is the file size.

the file size best for mkv is higher than the xvid like 230 or 270 mb or use standard 170mb

i was thinking about that, but if i use a standard size there really wont be too much of a difference in the quality and all of this would of been wasted.

it would be softsubbed thats the diffrce

no it wont be soft subbed......it will actually still be hard subbed. just different container with a bigger file size. gonna try out 220mb and see if theres a big difference. but as i had said previously i will allow others to decide whether they like it or not. otherwise i will just keep our normal xvid with no additional higher quality release.

I definitely think that if it's an .mkv the file size should be around either 230mb or 270mb.

we have one now available unfortunately i have been having some serious problems with uploading so im going to post it on anirena as a mkv test. had some issues since there was a problem with the raw file as i had said earlier. anyways should be up momentarily.

If I can find it and it is out there, I usually look for the x264 (or higher quality) releases. Also depending on the series (and the current space on my hard drives ) I like to get the HD releases so I can play them on my big screen TV to get the best possible anime experience

LOL haha. thats realli cool. i have a hd monitor so ive been hoping to get it because its a better experience. the other part is im trying my best to get better ive been getting there i know im still not perfect but i am doing what i can and at the same time i am really having a good time being able to share my skills so others can enjoy it. it may not be right away but sooner or later we will definately have a higher quality hope you can enjoy it otherwise, i hope you enjoy the release that we release now.

I just wanted to say... after the first time I watched an anime from a avi / xvid, compared to a x264 / mkv format.. I was like -omg-.

Hands down, x264 mkv format is the best ever.. the quality is amazing.. i'll never go back to avi again.. unless you guys make me x_x lol.

Although, on the other hand. I downloaded both avi / mkv version of D.GM 84.. and the mkv didn't play very well. I'm not exactly sure what was goin on but the sound in the beginning was distorted and it played fast and slow randomly. I'm gonna make sure all my codecs are updated, and I have the latest version of media player classic.

--Update--

Well I updated everything and still the same problem. I don't think it's my system (since every other mkv i've watched has worked perfectly, and I have a fairly up to date computer), but there's always that possibility.

For a long time i've watched a lot of mkv's from Eclipse subs - http://eclipse.no-sekai.de/ - You might wanna download one of their episodes.. maybe from code geass, and load it up in a program called G-Spot or something to check out the codec information.. not sure how much that'll help but theres and many other groups mkv's run fine.

Yes i know. As i stated this was a test, im happy to see that people are liking the quality though. The problem we had though was we had to downsample it in order to get the xvid version out, the mistake i made was using that file and not the high definition raw. so for next week i will be begin to release the high definition release. Sorry guys, i had the same problem in most of my players which was the reason i released it for testing, I was afraid that it may be my computer knowing that it wasn't though does make me feel a bit better. I appreciate all the comments we are getting to the point where we should be ready for a high definition release very soon so, Thank you very much again for the feedback.

WolfReborn