• Compression Techniques

  MC H.264 + Matrox MXO

  Posted by Richard Walton on December 14, 2009 at 10:31 pm

  System: MacPro 2.66 Quad-Core / 8 GB DDR3

  Workflow: Canon XL H1 – firewire capture in Apple ProRes 422 – FCP 6.06 – creating short form videos output as progressive downloadable files (usually 640 x 360) for www.

  Choices:

  I have been using Sorenson Squeeze 4.5 for compression to create .flv files. I want to take advantage of H.264 codec and could upgrade to SS 6.0 which uses the MC H.264 codec. After doing some research it seems there is a better alternative, i.e.

  -Telestream’s Episode (I believe they make the MC H.264 codec) that now supports Apple’s Compressor.

  -Matrox MXO PCI card to accelerate the MPEG 4 rendering.

  The costs for either the Sorenson upgrade or the Episode software is about the same. The MXO will be an additional cost in either case. Because I want the hardware acceleration and Sorenson seems to have less than full integration with the MXO card the Episode + MXO seems to be the better solution.

  Does my choice seem like the best one? Am I missing factors I should be considering?

  Many thanks for your suggestions.

  Dick

  Dick Walton
  Natural History Services
  https://www.rkwalton.com

  Richard Walton replied 16 years, 8 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Daniel Low

  December 15, 2009 at 12:15 am

  [Richard Walton] “Telestream’s Episode (I believe they make the MC H.264 codec)”

  They don’t make it. Main Concept make the codec in Squeeze. Telestream uses the Dicas H.264 codec.

  Episode is the way to go.

  __________________________________________________________________
  “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.”
  Steve Ballmer To USA Today: 30 April 2007
• 

  Craig Seeman

  December 15, 2009 at 12:51 am

  And Episode can access MXO MAX H.264 accelerated codec and is also improving x264 support. Episode can also work as a plugin for Compressor.

  Main Concept H.264 interests you . . . ?
• 

  Richard Walton

  December 15, 2009 at 2:31 am

  Daniel & Craig:

  Thanks for clearing up my confusion re. the MainConcept H.264 codec. To be honest I’ve looked at so many formats, codecs, and compression solutions recently my head is spinning. But it seems you both agree Episode and MXO is a good solution and fits into my workflow.

  As usual, being able to bring ideas to COW forums is a a huge help.

  Dick Walton
  Natural History Services
  https://www.rkwalton.com

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