CCE Mode without CCE installed

[bugmenotwillyou]

I'm a completely new user to DVD Rebuilder, I just installed v0.96. My understanding is that the program doesn't include the CCE encoder and when I go to "setup" the "application paths" for all the CCE encoders are blank. However, I am still able to select "CCE Mode" under the mode menu.

After selecting CCE Mode, I can then hit the Backup DVD button and it starts running. I aborted before it finished running because I assume that it won't work in this mode. My question is will it work in CCE mode? If not, why does the program allow me to start a back up in CCE mode? What will happen if I allow the program to continue to run?

Thanks for any information.

[hallway]

The menu option probably should gray out when CCE isn't available....

The reason things started working without CCE installed is because the 1st step DVD-RB does is "Prepare" (if you uncheck one-click mode, you'll see the steps), which apparently DVD-RB handles on it's own. The 2nd step, the encoding process, would have failed. I doubt it will fall back to another encoder that's installed.

[bugmenotwillyou]

I'm sure the "which encoder is the best" question gets asked all the time, but I couldn't find a recent post. QuEnc is the default encoder, but a lot of people seem to be using the HC encoder. Could someone explain the differences between them?

The source of my confusion about which encoder to use is because I keep reading conflicting information. In the “Installation Setup and Usage” sticky thread in this forum it says that QuEnc is “a good quality encoder, the best you'll get for free” but then on the dvd-rb page it says “HCEnc is supported by DVD-RB and is considered to be the best freeware encoder for DVD backups and is able to challenge all commercial encoders as well.”

So, which is it? I’m sure that each encoder has its own benefits and it isn’t as simple as one being better than the other. At the same time I think that there could be better/more accurate guides for new users to DVD Rebuilder about what settings/encoder to use.

[Rippraff]

The source of my confusion about which encoder to use is because I keep reading conflicting information. In the “Installation Setup and Usage” sticky thread in this forum it says that QuEnc is “a good quality encoder, the best you'll get for free”
Did you have a look at the date of this post? ;)
Give HC a try, IMHO this is one of the best free encoders you can get.

Cu Rippraff

[jdobbs]

I'd suggest you try them both. At the time the QuEnc comments were written HC didn't exist. It is a fairly new encoder.

[hallway]

The source of my confusion about which encoder to use is because I keep reading conflicting information. In the “Installation Setup and Usage” sticky thread in this forum... Many of those sticky threads are sorely out of date.... The "settings" post, for example, is for version 0.69 of DVD-RB. Granted, most of it is okay but it mentions a setting or two that no longer exist in the program (Dynamic Assign Cell Bitrates, for example).

[bugmenotwillyou]

Many of those sticky threads are sorely out of date.... The "settings" post, for example, is for version 0.69 of DVD-RB. Granted, most of it is okay but it mentions a setting or two that no longer exist in the program (Dynamic Assign Cell Bitrates, for example).

That is sort of my point, the sticky threads need to be updated. In my opinion, there isn't much point in having a sticky thread if the information is out of date. Just trying to relay my experience as a new user.

So, I'd like to have some experience with this program before I start paying for the Pro version or CCE. I saw that you can get a trial version of CCE, but I couldn't find information on how long the trial version lasts for. What quality/speed difference should I expect out of CCE over say QuEnc? On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate the different encoders? Any opinions would be appreciated.

[jdobbs]

Since there is a prohibition on "best" comments I will give you my opinion.

1. If you are willing to pay $49, CCE Basic delivers outstanding results and is the fastest of any of the encoders. On my system a typical DVD will take about 90 mins to 2.5 hours depending upon complexity.

2. HC encoder is free. It's output is judged by most to be as good as CCE. It is, however, considerably slower. On my computer a typical DVD will take about 3 to 3.5 hours depending upon complexity.

3. QuEnc is free. It is based upon the LIBAVCODEC library kept up at SourceForge. Many swear by this library. On my computer a typical DVD will take about the same amount of time as HC.

4. ReJig is free. It is a transcoder as opposed to an encoder. It does a very good job for small reductions. To my eyes the latest version updated by DragonGodz seems to give noticably better quality than earlier ones. It is by far the fastest option. On my computer a typical DVD takes about 30 - 45 minutes.

5. ProCoder is commercial. The Express version costs about $50-60. It's quality is said to be better than CCE at very low bitrates... It is the slowest of the encoders -- taking about 6-8 hours on my computer.

[therat]

Since there is a prohibition on "best" comments I will give you my opinion.

1. If you are willing to pay $49, CCE Basic delivers outstanding results and is the fastest of any of the encoders. On my system a typical DVD will take about 90 mins to 2.5 hours depending upon complexity.


How many passes is that?

cheers

[Fishman0919]

How many passes is that?

cheers


CCE Basic only will do 2 passes.... but for 99% of movies this is more then sufficient.

[therat]

CCE Basic only will do 2 passes.... but for 99% of movies this is more then sufficient.

Thanks. i usually do 5 - 6 passes. I find it gives noticably better quality than 2 passes in all cases but maybe I'm mistaken.

[Abond]

There is free replacement for CCE called AutoQMatEnc. Therefore the CCE Mode without CCE instaled can be useful if you want to use this one. How to use:http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96602&highlight=AutoQMat

[manolito]

4. ReJig is free. It is a transcoder as opposed to an encoder. It does a very good job for small reductions. To my eyes the latest version updated by DragonGodz seems to give noticably better quality than earlier ones. It is by far the fastest option. On my computer a typical DVD takes about 30 - 45 minutes.
I like Rejig very much and still use it regularly. But normally my compression requirement is only about 5%, so I have never been able to really notice any difference in quality between the different versions. When you say that the latest version 0.5f gives noticably better quality than previous versions, did you use the "old" engine or the "new" engine? I remember that for version 0.5e most people seemed to prefer the "old" engine. Now that DragonGodz has tweaked both of the engines, which one do you prefer?

Cheers
manolito

[wmansir]

There is free replacement for CCE called AutoQMatEnc. Therefore the CCE Mode without CCE instaled can be useful if you want to use this one. How to use:http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96602&highlight=AutoQMat

I imagine even that is required to be setup in DVD-RB as CCE, just as you could setup EclPro as CCE 2.5 when it was first released. It sounds like a good idea to have a sanity check that disables CCE/QueEnc/whatever Mode if there is no executable set up for it.