Low Bitrate

[syril]

I've read that CCE doesn't do to well with low bitrates and at that point it helps to use filters. My question is, what is considered a low bitrate to CCE? The lowest bitrate I have ever done is around 2900 and it looks just fine. So are we talking 2500 kbs and below is where CCE starts to add pixilation and a smoothing filter would help? Just wanting to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks.

[Trixter]

It depends completely on the source material and whether or not you're doing CBR, VBR, or ABR (n-pass average bitrate). I'm working on a 3-hour project using 3-pass mode and there are places where the bitrate dips below 2000 (for nearly-still scenes) and of course it looks fine. And the output of this is going on a DVD to be sold, so if it didn't look right I wouldn't use it.

Generally, I would stick to the VCD/SVCD limits: If the resolution is half-D1 (352x480/576) or SVCD (480x480/576) then don't go below 2500. If your res is Quarter-D1 (352x240/288) then don't go below 1150.

If you need to go that low, then do it in ABR mode: Set an average bitrate of 2000, a low of 0, and a high of 4000 (or 6000 if you have a few seconds of truly crazy motion). Then at least whatever CCE produces will look as good as it can at that bitrate.

Generally if you need to go lower, you're using the wrong technology; MPEG-4 is more appropriate for low-bitrate stuff.

Why do you ask? What footage are you encoding and why do you need it to go that low?

[Awatef]

It's normal that quality will suffer with lower bitrates, but CCE should produce better quality than any other MPEG-2 encoder.
I consider "low bitrate" everything that is below:
1000kbps for 352x240/288 video
2000kbps for 352x480/576 video
4000kbps for 704/720x480/576 video
So if I'm going below 4000kbps, I would lower the resolution.
I don't know about that ABR mode, but I would definitely stick to 2-pass VBR.