Charles Simonson
Forum Replies Created
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Because encoding is usually less disk bandwidth limited and more computational limited, this is generally not a concern. But, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to read from a fast disk and write to a separate fast disk.
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Sounds like the same old problem: NTSC (Never The Same Color twice).
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It depends on the source really. But one of the first apps I usually try to see if it can generate a really good encode is the MainConcept Encoder. It has the options for encoding like Digigami and the speed of Compression Master (Episode). But there are sometimes where an app like BitVice is the only thing that will help me get the best encode. There are a number of MPEG-2 software encoders on the mac, and all of the ones I mentioned above are worthy. My suggestion is to edit out a 1 to 2 minute segment and try that with the various encoders you have at your disposal with the settings you need to use. This will give you a good idea firsthand.
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Ed, not to say that Compressor doesn’t have its fair share of issues (I still have problems with two FCP stations that can’t use Compressor because of “failures to connect”), but I have most certainly been able to encode MPEG-2 VBR in two-pass mode with Compressor 2. I don’t use Compressor 2 for MPEG-2 encoding (or any encoding really) that much, but my most recent tests of VBR MPEG-2 2pass encoders for the mac in June showed that Compressor had no problems as long as Automatic was used for the visual settings. Here is what I reported in a post from June 9, 2006:
The following is an idea of encoding times that should give a bit more detail. The source was a 480p square pixel 16:9 uncompressed 10bit QT movie using a Quad G5 w/ 5GB RAM and OS X 10.4.6. The times from each encoding without audio (1x=Real-time) : Popwire Compression Master 4.0.1 = .4x/pass; MainConcept encoder 1.5 = .7x/pass; Apple Compressor 2.1 = 1.1x/pass; ffmpegX 0.0.9w4 mpeg2enc = 1.5x/pass; ffmpegX 0.0.9w4 ffmpeg = 1.5x/pass; Sorenson Squeeze 4.3.3 = 1.75x/pass; Innobits BitVice 1.7 = 1.9x/pass; Digigami MegaPEG Pro HD 3.3 (best setting) = 2.4x/pass; Autodesk Cleaner 6.5 = 2.6x/pass.
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As far as B-frames, the only way to avoid those is with the Baseline Profile. The main and high profiles each use Bframes. Also, as far as color, baseline is always 4:2:0, while main and high can be 4:2:0 and 4:2:2, and there is support for 4:4:4 in high as well. Whereas JPEG is 4:4:4 @ 100%, 4:2:2 @ >75%, and 4:2:0 @ <74%.
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I would suggest buying a software encoder that will allow you to encode to 1/2 D1 resolution MPEG-2 (352×480). This will allow you to encode to a much lower bit rate while still retaining good quality and DVD SP will be compatible with it. Such softwares that I recommend on the mac are BitVice, MainConcept, Episode, and MEGAPeg Pro. Alternatively, you can set your DVD up for a DL disc, which should afford you plenty of room to encode 4 hours to one DVD at full resolution.
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As well, the two are not compatible with each other and are based on standards set by two different groups. Motion JPEG is most often used for interlaced sources, while Photo JPEG is for progressive. The JPEG formats use all I-frames. MPEG can use either all I-frames, I and P frames, or I B and P frames. Generally, by using IBP frames for an MPEG encode, you can compress to a much lower bit rate while retaining core quality. Because JPEG can’t use IBP however, there is a certain threshold that is much higher than MPEG where quality significantly drops. The flip of this is what Ed noted however, in that editing MPEG is not as easy or convenient as MJPEG.
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??? 2 pass VBR isn’t broken in C2. If you try to enable some of the “advanced” settings, then yes, it will take forever and a day to encode, but I never have been that fond of C2’s advanced settings in the first place. You can certainly do a two pass MPEG-2 encode from Compressor with automatic set however, which in my tests still results in a good encode.
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FCP should allow you to scale during capture. Look at how Offline JPEG works.
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For standard FLV encoding, the Sorenson Spark Codec is very good. The Pro version in Squeeze offers some features over the Standard version from Macromedia, but overall I wouldn’t expect differences of leaps and bounds if you are already happy with what you are getting. The On2 FLV codec however is a different story. You can save about half of your bandwidth with nearly the same quality as with the Standard FLV encoder. The option to save bandwidth or increase quality at the current bandwidth makes the On2 codec very appealing. Squeeze offers the On2 codec for additional $$$, but it is a very slow non-optimized implementation of it. For best results, I would recommend buying the On2 codec directly from On2 with their Flix app or buy Flip4Mac Episode and the FLV encoder that can be purchased separately.