rendering to an m2v

[Dan Schaffner]

Would using AE be better than using an older version of QuickTime to make the m2v?

[Darby Edelen]

[Dave LaRonde] “Why use a generic “make an m2v file” setting when in Compressor you select a preset that would get you better quality for the file’s length?”

I will add that AE’s MPEG-2 encoder is pretty top-notch (it uses the Main Concept encoder). However, it is still valuable to have Lossless files if you need to go to other formats.

In my own personal workflow I almost exclusively render to MPEG-2 out of AE because I render almost exclusively for DVD menus. It saves time, disk space and confusion to render directly to MPEG-2 in my case. When I need to render for broadcast, however, I will render Lossless and transcode from there to whatever is needed.

Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA

[Joseph Springer]

Rendering the lossless copy from AE and then using one of the dedicated compressors — Compressor, Squeeze, & Cleaner– is definitely a useful and efficient workflow for most situations, Mr. Rabinowitz speaks to this here:

https://cowcast.creativecow.net/podcast/an-introduction-to-video-compression–12

Regards,
Joe Springer
Certified Adobe After Effects Training and Premiere Training Instructor