[Dave Friend]

[daniel_l] “You could say that a VBR encode with an average bitrate of 4Mbps and a peak of 8mbps will be equal in quality to a CBR encode of 8mbps.”

I think that if you test this theory you will find that the CBR looks better.

[daniel_l] “the VBR file will be more efficient.”

True, read any description of VBR encoding and it will say VBR is more efficient. However, it is important to understand what efficient means in this context. It means the use of fewer bits of data to reproduce an image. In other words, the image is more highly compressed. Efficiency is demonstrated by requiring less input for the same output. The term has no additional meaning in this context.

It is possible, depending on the image contents, a higher compression would not be noticeable, but it will not ever look better.

[daniel_l] “You could also say that if you did a VBR encode with an average bitrate of 2mbps and a peak of 4mbps that it will be of higher quality than a CBR encode at 3.9mbps.”

You could say that, but it would not prove to be a correct statement. Try it using your favorite encoder and you will see.

[daniel_l] “Both VBR encodes will usually result in smaller file size.”

True, which points directly to the reason for VBR encoding: Cramming more program length into the same number of bits. There is no other reason to use VBR. If the program will fit in the available space (e.g. on a DVD) at a given CBR encode, then there is usually no reason to employ VBR encoding.

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Jay,

Please spring for the Multicam plug-in. That way the rest of us are assured of v2.0 sooner rather than later. (snicker, snicker) Thanks in advance.

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Try this link to the Tektronix website.

Happy reading.

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Is the “more information” track used more than once? If not then set the track’s end jump to go back to the “from” track/chapter.

If the more info track might be entered from a number of different places you will have to set a gprm to something that indicates where we came from. Then create a script that will evaluate the “where from” gprm and jump accordingly. This script will have to be run by the end jump of the more info track.

Useful?

Dave

[Dave Friend]

[chrisrgr] “so the resume command can only be used for menus?”

I think that restriction applies only to slide shows. You should probably take this question over to the Cow’s DVDSP forum and ask.

Have you tried using jump commands to get you to where you need to go?

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Try using GPRMs to store PTT info (and maybe title number) prior to the jump. Use this info for conditional links (or jumps) back to original PTT. This may require the use of several dummy PGCs as the logic could become quite complex depending on the scenario.

What is your authoring program?

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Rob,

I have used GigE networking frequently and it works perfectly. In fact you probably don’t even to move the quicktime over to the PC. Just open the source file over the network in the encoder software. However, have it write the encode to the PC. Use the GigE to move the mpeg files back to the mac. Takes only a few minutes to move 4 GB of files through the GigE pipe – not much longer than moving a FW drive from room to room. During the encode the extra work being done by the mac (as the mov file is read across the network) is seldom noticed. Probably not a good time to record to tape though.

Another software encoder to consider for the PC is Cinema Craft Encoder Basic (CCE). It does not have the versatility of Procoder as it only makes mpeg, where as Procoder is a Swiss Army knife for transcoding. That is nice if you have lots of different transcoding needs, but it comes at a price.

CCE is only about $60 and, IMO, creates better looking mpeg. The quality difference is really minor but is visible to me. Works with avi or mov files, does batches, supports templates and presets, and provides lots of controls to fine tune the output.

The thing that neither piece of software does is make Dolby audio files from the input files so if you want ac3 then you have an additional step to add to your workflow.

Hope this is helpful.

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Oops. Just realized I totally misread your question. Sorry about that. I’d like an answer to your question too.

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Steve,

You can use ctrl+tab to move between the open windows.
Once the Monitor window is focused use ctrl+` to toggle between Source and Program sides. Note: ` is usually at the far left of the top row of keys

If you want to customize the key used for this function it is found in the Windows set of commands under the Monitor Window section.

Hope this helps.

I wish it was possible to directly focus the Monitor window instead of using ctrl+tab. Anyone know how to do that?

Dave

[Dave Friend]

Ruby,

Perhaps you are looking for Paste Attributes?

1. Select the clip with the Color Correction on it
2. Right click, select copy
3. Select the clip you wish to have the color correction
4. Right Click, select copy attributes

Note: Shift+Click to select multiple clips to receive the pasted attributes.

Hope this helps.

Dave