Which compressor to choose?

[Vincent Rosati]

Amazing question, you’ve really done some homework. 🙂
Generally, MOV is for Mac and AVI is for PC. A nice feature of the QuickTime MOV container (Mac or PC) is in the functionality of QuickTime Pro, in that you can trim clips and do some other simple editing functions prior to editing.

If your goal is to export a file that can be added to a DVD-Video project as an independent track you should export as MPEG-2 DVD with either Adobe Media Encoder or Main Concept MPEG Pro.

Assuming you’re in an NTSC region, you should use 29.97FPS, 720×480. Also, if your video is NTSC interlaced, it should be encoded as interlaced, probably with lower fields first.
If your video is fullscreen, use a 4×3 preset, if it’s widescreen use a 16:9 preset.
Also, choose a preset that is VBR 2-pass.

In the Adobe Media Encoder presets it doesn’t matter which quality setting you choose as you can adjust this after the preset is chosen in the video settings. Just boost the quality slider to it’s maximum.
Next, a nice high VBR bitrate setting would be Max 8000 / Target 6000/ Min 3825.

Use PCM audio for maximum compatibility.

Finally, I prefer to enable DVD Multiplexing as this creates a single MPG file, instead of two files – an audio only file and a video only file (although there is a benefit in doing this, ask whoever is authoring the DVD what they prefer. If you do not Multiplex, this would allow the person who is authoring the DVD to level the audio to match the rest of the program).

Vince

[Al Jensen]

Vince, I’m new to CS3, so could you clarify for me if Adobe Media Encoder and the Main Concept MPEG Pro are the same now or not? The AME definitely appears to use the Main Concept encoder for MPEG-1, but if they’re different and there’s a “better” version than the AME then I’d like to know so I can upgrade. Thanks!

[Sviatoslav Lee]

Hi Vince,

Thank you for the answer.

But there is a “small” problem, about which I’ve forgotten to write.. Well, because I’ve just noticed and checked this…

The thing is I was using Adobe Premiere v7.0 trial version (yes, that old version from 2003) [censored] omfg I am so lame 🙁

Do I have any chances to normally export all that stuff into file now, because I have neither Adobe Media Encoder nor Main Concept MPEG Pro in my Export menu.. Only the things I’ve written before:(

And another question can that project (made in premiere v7.0) be opened and edited in CS3 ?

I hope there is still something I can do to “save” the film for so much time I have spent making it 🙁

Best wishes,
Sviatoslav

[Vincent Rosati]

Al –
As I recall, at least in PP1.5 AME is installed when you use it for the first time, it’s a free download. Premiere does install with some basic Main Concept components. Main Concept MPEG Pro is a purchased plugin. Pro allows for much more control over the encoding process. If you make DVDs it’s arguably a must-have plugin.

Sviatoslav –
Although I haven’t tested opening a P7 project in PP CS3, I’ve never had an issue opening older Premiere projects in newer versions.
If you simply want to export a high quality file that will be transcoded at a later time, you should use video Compressor: None or Uncompressed and the audio should be PCM WAV.
The file will be huge, but it’s the best quality.

Vince

[Al Jensen]

Great, thanks for the info Vince!

[Al Jensen]

For what it’s worth, I downloaded the trial version of Pro and I did test versions with it and AME and they both looked identical with MPEG-1. I’m sure the MPEG-2 stuff is improved however.

[Frank Cools]

Hello,

I don’t think AVI movies compreesed with inedo 4.5 or 5 will work on a Mac.. I am trying figure this out myself as I have older AVI’s coded with these codecs, made on a windows platform and they don’t play on the mac. seems to be a licence problem?? Anyone having experience with this?

Frank Cools
Belgium

[Vincent Rosati]

I think Indeo discontinued support for Mac.

Vince

[Marc Jeffrey]

Vince:

Any help you can provide to the following would be greatly appreciated:

I am capturing video from a DV Cam deck into Premiere 5.1. From there I am importing via a terabyte external hd into my computer which uses Premiere CS4.

My problem is that after editing and exporting as a Microsoft AVI, the finished resuld (DVD) is somewhat digitized/pixilated (not much but enough to know) compared to the original DV Cam Tape.

Is my problem in my settings of Premeire or in Encore? Or is it something with capturing in 5.1 and using CS4 to edit and finalize? I’m using 29.97 fps in Premiere when exporting.

Thanks again for your help.

Marc

[Vincent Rosati]

I assume your AVI Export is Uncompressed, and that the AVI looks exactly like the original file, as Uncompressed is lossless…
And that the compression loss that you are describing occurs after the movie is transcoded to MPEG-2 in Encore. ?

(Generally, refer to this visual loss as ‘Compression Artifacts’.)

DV always has DV compression artifacts. MPEG-2 always has MPEG-2 compression artifacts. MPEG-2 is more compressed that DV, and will usually have a sprinkling of both types of artifacts when DV source is used.

I get the best results by decompressing, deinterlacing and ‘filmifying’ DV source, prior to editing.

Magic Bullet has a DV deartifacting component, but it is crazy slow and I never use it because of that.

I will always recommend that you encode out of Premiere with AME or MC Pro, into an Encore compliant MPEG-2 DVD-Video file.
I never allow Encore to encode/transcode. It reduces the possibility of unexpected surprises, late in the job.

As far as improving the quality of the encode, you’ll need to test your settings until you find one that is acceptable for your project.
Usually the problems occur where there is a lot of motion, either horizontal or vertical.
To do this, you should identify small portions of your movie that look bad. Than, make a small (maybe 30 sec. to 1 min.) movie that you will encode and run through your entire encoding and authoring process, including writing to DVD-RW, to see what it looks like on a CRT monitor.

It’s a guess, but I suspect that the issue occurs as a result of the Encore encode.
I’m not saying that Encore is bad, just that you have more control over the encode process with AME or MC Pro.

Making a movie is a complicated thing, as you know 🙂 At any step in the process, there are like 10 things that you can do wrong or better.
Test your processes and keep notes! What if a hard drive failure or virus destroys your well earned settings and process formula.
That would be a nightmare.

I’m notorious for rambling. So, I hope there’s something here that will help your to achieve your desired results.
Please feel free to post with more questions if you cannot find an answer in the archive.

Good luck brother 🙂

Vince