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Choice Between MPEG2 and H.264 for Authoring?
I have SD video imported from older footage using the DVCPro50 codec at NTSC 720×480. I want to author on blu-ray using Encore CS4. Given the choice, which would you choose, H.264 or MPEG2? If H.264 is the choice, which settings should I use to get the same results as MPEG2 (perhaps I can squeeze more footage on the disc??) Thanx a million…
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3 Replies
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H.264 is a better format. The quality is better, and you can compress it more without degrading quality that much. We just recently put 3 hours of HDV (1440×1080 29.97fps) on a single layer BD-R @ ~18 Mbps. Thats about the lowest bitrate you want to have, as it was right around the lower threshold of our quality standards. I would suggest keeping the bitrate between 20 – 25 mbps if possible. Any higher and you could have problems on some players since burned bluray media can’t maintain the same high bitrates of pressed media.
Jon Geddes
Motion Graphics Designer
http://www.precomposed.com -
H.264 is MPEG4, which is a more efficient codec from a space standpoint. In other words, at lower data rates, it will produce superior quality video than MPEG2. At higher data rates, there is a rolloff, and the quality differences are difficult to differentiate. Both produce great results at 25Mbps, which is what I like to shoot for. The only downside of going with H.264 is that render times take quite a bit longer, and the processing power needed to decode is higher, but will not be a problem for Blu-Ray players. I can’t think of a good reason to author to MPEG2, unless you are extremely restricted on time for renders, and H.264 will take too long, but for normal situations, the quality benefits outweigh any downsides.
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The only downside is for Adobe users that cannot get chapter markers to carry over from thier sequence to Encore using H264
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