No Such Setting?

[John Baum]

If the video isn’t much over an hour I would use the
NTSC DV High Quality 7Mb CBR 1 Pass.
You only need to use Variable Bit Rate(VBR)if you are trying to fit a longer video on a DVD.

[Spiro]

It’s just a five minute promo video, so I’ll try that setting. Do you know, will I be able to import this file into Encore (I’m not sure what the difference is between CBR and VBR. Also – what’s the difference between 1 Pass & 2 Pass?

Is it odd that my PP 1.5 doesn’t have the NTSC DV High Quality 4Mb VBR 2 Pass option???

Thanks.

[John Baum]

NTSC DV High Quality 4Mb VBR 2 Pass doesn’t exist for me either…I think it’s a typo. There is a NTSC DV LOW Quality 4Mb VBR 2 Pass which makes more sense since 4Mb is a lower quality setting.
Bit rate refers to how much data is used to describe the frames of your video. Higher numbers, more data, result in sharper, better quality.Lower rates are only neccessary if you are trying to make a file smaller, either for downloading or so that a longer video can fit ona disc.
Constant bit rate means this rate will be the same through the whole video. Variable bit rate(VBR)varies the data rate, attempting to give more data information to frames that have more detail and then make up the difference by using lower data rates on similar scenes.
2 Pass means that in deciding which scenes to use high bit rates on and which to use low on the encoder watches the movie twice to get a more accurate assesment of the scenes. The result is slightly better quality on VBR encoded video.
If space isn’t an issue always use CBR for best quality at 7Mb…you can use a higher setting but some DVD players will stutter and skip trying to play higher rates. Some say that to really be safe don’t go above 6Mb.

[Spiro]

Interesting. Very helpful. I’ll give those settings a try tomorrow at work. Thanks tons for the feedback.