MainConcept vs. HC vs. TMPGEnc?

[zambelli]

I'm exporting a 2hr project from Premiere to MPEG-2 at ~6300kbps to be burned onto DVD. Since it's a fairly long video to encode, I'd hate to spend days trying various encoders and comparing screen shots so I thought I'd turn to you guys for advice.

At 6300 kbps, what encoder would you recommend for a 720x480 29.97fps progressive video? My options are

1) MainConcept MPEG encoder included in Premiere Pro v1.0.
2) HC v0.15a
3) TMPGEnc v2.524.

I'm assuming 2-pass VBR will give me the best quality, and I was thinking about setting it to min 3000 kbps and max 9000 kbps.

[Amnon82]

Always the what is the best ...

TMPGEnc is ok but HC is better. MainConcept is also OK. Why You don't use CCE?

Give HC a shot ...

[Fishman0919]

At 6300 kbps, what encoder would you recommend for a 720x480 29.97fps progressive video?


At that bitrate...you really need to ask??? All 3 would do a fine job with that bitrate.... So the question you should maybe be asking is "What encode is faster?" ;)

[zambelli]

Always the what is the best ...
Not quite... I'm asking what's better. :) We wouldn't want to break the forum rules, would we? :)

Why You don't use CCE?
CinemaCraft makes you jump through hoops to download the trial version so I just haven't bothered yet.

[Amnon82]

K, all encoders will do a good job. Do a 2Pass with HC and use my AVAMAT6 Matrix:

8,16,19,22,26,27,29,34
16,16,22,24,27,29,34,35
19,22,26,27,29,34,35,38
22,22,26,27,29,34,35,40
22,26,27,29,32,35,40,48
26,27,29,32,35,40,48,50
26,27,29,35,40,48,50,60
27,29,35,40,48,50,60,62

16,20,24,28,32,36,40,44
20,24,28,32,36,40,44,48
24,28,32,36,40,44,48,52
28,32,36,40,44,48,52,56
32,36,40,44,48,52,56,58
36,40,44,48,52,56,58,60
40,44,48,52,56,58,60,62
44,48,52,56,58,60,62,62

I think You will get a good encode with it.
Some call AVAMAT6 the next standard MPEG-Matrix ;)

[Mr. Monte]

Amonon,

How do you use a matrix with HC?

Sorry if that question is basic....it's just with ALL these matrixes, plugins, matrix builders...I'm getting confused what matrixes can be used with what encoder. Not to metion the ones that don't "qualify" as fully MPEG compliant. LOL :)

[Amnon82]

HC uses a mtx-file which look like this:

AVAMAT6_INTRA.mtx
8 16 19 22 26 27 29 34
16 16 22 24 27 29 34 35
19 22 26 27 29 34 35 38
22 22 26 27 29 34 35 40
22 26 27 29 32 35 40 48
26 27 29 32 35 40 48 50
26 27 29 35 40 48 50 60
27 29 35 40 48 50 60 62

AVAMAT6_NON_INTRA.mtx
16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52
28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56
32 36 40 44 48 52 56 58
36 40 44 48 52 56 58 60
40 44 48 52 56 58 60 62
44 48 52 56 58 60 62 62

Save the codes as mtx-files, click on custom matrices and open them in the HCGUI 0.15a

... or wait till 0.16 comes out. You'll find AVAMAT6 implented ;)

[tigerman8u]

I've used all 3 and IMO mainconcept is definitely the fastest and good quality. I use mainconcept stand alone encoder

[Mr. Monte]

HC uses a mtx-file which look like this:

AVAMAT6_INTRA.mtx
8 16 19 22 26 27 29 34
16 16 22 24 27 29 34 35
19 22 26 27 29 34 35 38
22 22 26 27 29 34 35 40
22 26 27 29 32 35 40 48
26 27 29 32 35 40 48 50
26 27 29 35 40 48 50 60
27 29 35 40 48 50 60 62

AVAMAT6_NON_INTRA.mtx
16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52
28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56
32 36 40 44 48 52 56 58
36 40 44 48 52 56 58 60
40 44 48 52 56 58 60 62
44 48 52 56 58 60 62 62

Save the codes as mtx-files, click on custom matrices and open them in the HCGUI 0.15a

... or wait till 0.16 comes out. You'll find AVAMAT6 implented ;)

Can DVDRB be set up to use these matrixes with HC as of right now? (RC6)

Also, whats the difference between Intra and Non-Intra? (Interlaced?)...How do I know which to use?

THanks for all your help..I'm learning

[feedback]

Can DVDRB be set up to use these matrixes with HC as of right now? (RC6)
Yes, I have been doing it for quite awhile now.
I also use the AVAMAT6 Matrix which I imported into the DVD-RB PRO.
Matrix folder using the Rebuilder Matrix Editor.

Regards,:)

[zambelli]

Thanks for the matrix suggestion Amnon. What kind of quality improvements can I expect with the AVAMAT6 versus the standard matrix?

[dragongodz]

at 6300kbs you shouldnt really need to use any special matrix IMHO.

Some call AVAMAT6 the next standard MPEG-Matrix ;)
HAHAHA thanks Amnon82, thats a ripper of a statement. :D :D :D

[Amnon82]

Also, whats the difference between Intra and Non-Intra? (Interlaced?)...How do I know which to use?

You always use both of them. A matrix has always one for Intra and one for non-Intra. This will help You:

Quantization

The human eye is fairly good at seeing small differences in brightness over a relatively large area, but not so good at distinguishing the exact strength of a high frequency brightness variation. This fact allows one to get away with greatly reducing the amount of information in the high frequency components. This is done by simply dividing each component in the frequency domain by a constant for that component, and then rounding to the nearest integer. This is the main lossy operation in the whole process. As a result of this, it is typically the case that many of the higher frequency components are rounded to zero, and many of the rest become small positive or negative numbers.

A common quantization matrix is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/math/b372d7f188a3b18456d2d25d25535e5d.png

Using this quantization matrix with the DCT coefficient matrix from above results in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/math/2f8818abf44176a5c3d61affc7b98775.png

For example, using −415 (the DC coefficient) and rounding to the nearest integer

http://en.wikipedia.org/math/2df445033be5a7d6f8324031da9ff595.png

[Mr. Monte]

Thanks sir