Ah! My tunnel vision kept me from realizing that editors make videos for other forms of delivery. I lightly edit and encode streaming videos for college teachers who make them available for students. All at 300Kbps to accomodate those on slow connections.
For two years I’ve worked with SV Studio Platinum without a hitch. I ingest DVD (VOB), Flip SD, .wmv, .dv, and .avi. I output to .wmv and .mp4.
With Studio, I always get the bitrate right on. When I specify the bitrate in Handbrake, it wavers by as much as 80. Other than that, it ecodes fast and with great looking quality.
Hey, those musicians can really garden!
Richard