Is SUPER good?

[Boiled Beans]

I've used the SUPER software a few times to convert DVD rips to AVI or MP4 formats so it can be played by more common software in computers or in my mobile phones.

I was wondering if SUPER is any good as I don't seem to see this software mentioned at all in this forum.

[Tagert]

I think the reason why it isn't mentioned is because it doesn't offer much advanced settings to play around with :p

And from what I've gathered is that SUPER uses mencoder and ffmpeg to encode among other choices, which is kinda used by various GUI's made by other people in here :)

[stratocaster]

I don't seem to see this software mentioned at all in this forum.
It is one of the best if not "THE" Best for all kind of encoding, you won't find lot of threads concerning it as most of this board users like to tweak, modify and closely participate to the development of the product which is the case for MeGui, x264 etc.. but not for SUPER which we don't even know who is behind it.
for your evaluation, have al look at the number of comments and the ratings, then make an opinion.
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/SUPER
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/AutoGK
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MeGUI
or ranked by their number of comments
http://www.videohelp.com/tools?listuser=&orderby=Views/Popularity&updated=listall

finally, this is what I found, their two servers dot_com and dot_net for a single freeware totalize almost the same number of hits as the giant doom9.org
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/erightsoft.com?site0=erightsoft.com&site1=erightsoft.net&site2=doom9.org&y=t&z=3&h=400&w=700&range=6m&size=Large

their must be a reason, no?

[Ryu77]

Honestly, the reason why a lot of the people on this forum don't talk about Super is for a good reason... It's not very good.

The results are sub standard to say the least. If offers very little in the way of codec manipulation and seems to be quite buggy.

The results produced by Super will never be of optimum quality as it doesn't allow the encoders to be tweaked in that way. For those newer into encoding it could be a good choice but I would advise to move on to other applications as soon as possible.

[~bT~]

^ true. just like another piece of crap which is known as mediacoder.

[Ranguvar]

It's a good program for lots of people: It offers free conversion between a multitude of formats, with a few critical options, but not overly confusing. It's good for everyone who's slightly above just buying random commercial converters.

Here at Doom9, we're mostly enthusiasts who want to squeeze every drop of quality... SUPER isn't aimed at that, and doesn't do that well.

[blutach]

The results produced by Super will never be of optimum quality as it doesn't allow the encoders to be tweaked in that way. For those newer into encoding it could be a good choice but I would advise to move on to other applications as soon as possible.
It's useful for entry level, IMO. Someone who wants a quick and dirty conversion from anything to anything.

I hope at some stage it can offer some more "advanced settings".

Regards

[setarip_old]

@Boiled Beans

Hi!Is SUPER good?...I've used the SUPER software a few timesYou've already used it. If YOU find it to be "good", then it's "good" for you...

[boyumeow]

It was good when I m still using XP, but latest version(22.3.08) cause blue screen to Vista... not well supported I think, in my case.

[clsid]

Does it still install a bunch of DirectShow filters to system32 without telling the user? If so, it is still a piece of crap.

[Ryu77]

Does it still install a bunch of DirectShow filters to system32 without telling the user? If so, it is still a piece of crap.

Yes it does... Not only that... When you un-install Super, it decides to take some of your other direct show filters/codecs that you installed previously with it! Again without telling you!

When I tried Super out and un-installed it, I had to re-install most of my codecs again.

[Sharc]

At least former versions messed around with the avisynth directory, replacing files by its own versions and the like - without any warnings - or even installed a new avisynth directory in case yours was not located in the standard programs folder ....

[blutach]

Yes, from memory, it updated avisynth to 2.5.8 without asking. That is naughty (but it seems to exhibit no ill effects with DVDRB).

Regards

[stratocaster]

Does it still install
At least former versions
... When you un-install
Yes, from memory
it seems you have tried it.
when the four of you wanted to express what you really detest most about it, you only talked about installing those DirectShow filters to system32.. nothing else..
none of you made any negative criticism about its encoding quality. just a simple observation.

The results produced by Super will never be of optimum quality as it doesn't allow the encoders to be tweaked in that way....I would advise to move on to other applications as soon as possible.
How would you tweak .3gp files played on very small screens of even .mp4, .dpg, or .wmv played on Ipods, iPhones, PSP, Nintendos or Zune to be 10/10 instead of 8/10?
honestly on this small screens not many people can tell whether you used:
--scenecut 40 --qpmin 10 --qpmax 51 --qpstep 3
or
--scenecut 50 --qpmin 10 --qpmax 70 --qpstep 4

and when it comes to VCD, SVCD and DVD they are fixed by a certain standard to respect bitrates size and fps..

saying crap about a product downloaded and installed for 25000 copy a day is an insult not only for his authors but also for all his users.
we like it or we do not like it, exactly like everything else in this world.
cheers

[Dark Shikari]

saying crap about a product downloaded and installed for 25000 copy a day is an insult not only for his authors but also for all his users.
we like it or we do not like it, exactly like everything else in this world.
cheersPopularity does not make anything immune to criticism. They have every right to criticize SUPER; indeed, you are the only one who violated his posting rights here, as you don't have the right to tell other people that they cannot say something; only the mods can do such a thing.
honestly on this small screens not many people can tell whether you used:
--scenecut 40 --qpmin 10 --qpmax 51 --qpstep 3
or
--scenecut 50 --qpmin 10 --qpmax 70 --qpstep 4This comment shows a profound ignorance of the way that x264 works, both in the fact that one of the parameters mentioned isn't even in the valid range, and that it completely dodges the comment that it was supposed to respond to by intentionally pointing out relatively meaningless parameters while pretending that more meaningful ones don't exist.

[Ryu77]

Thank you Dark Shikari, you said some things that I would have liked to say. :)


Stratocaster, you posted this...

it seems you have tried it.
when the four of you wanted to express what you really detest most about it, you only talked about installing those DirectShow filters to system32.. nothing else..
none of you made any negative criticism about its encoding quality. just a simple observation.

Then you went on to point out that I did indeed make a post about the quality...

The results produced by Super will never be of optimum quality as it doesn't allow the encoders to be tweaked in that way....I would advise to move on to other applications as soon as possible.

Please excuse me if I can't follow your point.


However, to this I will comment...

How would you tweak .3gp files played on very small screens of even .mp4, .dpg, or .wmv played on Ipods, iPhones, PSP, Nintendos or Zune to be 10/10 instead of 8/10?
honestly on this small screens not many people can tell whether you used:

Super isn't "only" for mobile/portable device encoding. I am sure there are many people who are considering the use of Super for other encoding applications. Especially with the next gen of players (PS3/Blu-ray etc.) where h264 is considered one of the best choices for encoding. Would Super provide the best quality 1080p encode? I think the answer to that is obvious.

Also, back to mobile/portable devices for a minute. For my iPod I like to keep as much resolution as possible so I can always plug my iPod into a TV when I am travelling or away from home and enjoy "DVD quality" movies. For example, I use a resolution of 720 x 400 (16:9) for my iPod mp4 encodes. Before you comment and say that the maximum resolution for the iPod is 640 x 480, I can assure you that 720 x 400 works flawlessly! I aim for a final file size of 1500MB so that I can burn 3 iPod ready movies per DVD-5. I get much higher quality results from other encoding applications than I would from Super. Even Nero Recode produces very high quality mp4 encodes. Nero Recode offers just enough advanced settings via a user friendly interface to be a good choice for beginners to advanced users, without sacrificing quality. For h264 encodes where I want the very best quality (usually for 720p/1080p encodes for my PS3) then I use x264 via the MeGUI interface.

and when it comes to VCD, SVCD and DVD they are fixed by a certain standard to respect bitrates size and fps..

That's not entirely true... DVD's can have a variable bitrate up to 9800kbs. Different mpeg2 encoding applications have a huge variance in quality. For example, compare a 2 pass encode to a 1 pass encode and you will certainly see a big difference in quality. Ask anyone that has used CCE (Cinema Craft Encoder) how it compares against other mpeg2 encoders. I have found that CCE produces mpeg2 video that rivals production studio quality.



The original poster wanted honest opinions in which I and every other member on this forum has every right to give. I can assure you that my opinion is coming from one of experience. I have lost count of how many encodes I have done with almost every format imaginable. I also believe that those that have found issues with Super are those that are also quite experienced with digital media encoding.

The truth is that Super is designed more for those newer into encoding and it does indeed provide that. For advanced users and those seeking optimum quality, unfortunately Super isn't the right choice.

[cdanddvdpublisher]

I have to agree. I got started on Super and it was excellent for that but once I got my feet wet, I needed something better.

[SuLyMaN]

OK Guys. Many of you seem to be bashing SUPER and regard it as an 'entry level' software. What software do you guys use to transcode video and audio?

If there are better paid solutions or freewares, Im up to grab it :)
Thnks for your inputs

[Ryu77]

OK Guys. Many of you seem to be bashing SUPER and regard it as an 'entry level' software. What software do you guys use to transcode video and audio?

If there are better paid solutions or freewares, Im up to grab it :)
Thnks for your inputs

I included reference in my post to 3 encoding applications. Those being Nero Recode (commercial), MeGUI (freeware) & Cinema Craft Encoder (mpeg2) (commercial) .

Your question as to what software we use to transcode video and audio is too broad a question. Most of the people here that use advanced encoding techniques will often use a different individual application for each type of media file. We also often use a different application for each step of the process.

If you want to state your goals clearer, we could be more specific to which tools could suit your needs.

[blutach]

Oh dear - this is why we have a rule 12.

Please play nice everybody.

Regards

[SuLyMaN]

Oh dear - this is why we have a rule 12.

Please play nice everybody.

Regards

12) How NOT to post on this forum:

5 minutes after your initial post you reply to your own post writing something like "Why is nobody helping me? I'm sure you know the answer". Once somebody replies to your thread but doesn't give you exactly the answer you've been expecting you insult them.

Do not ask "what's best" because this question cannot be answered objectively. Each and everyone has their own view about what's best in a certain area. The best is what works best for you!

As to how I went against this rule is unclear to me. I am asking what softwares you guys use since you consider to be of poor quality.

As to my question on video transcoding, I meant a software that you guys use and would convert into a variety of formats such as MP4, avi, mpg, 3gp etc ie as much formats as possible.

[Ryu77]

12) How NOT to post on this forum:

5 minutes after your initial post you reply to your own post writing something like "Why is nobody helping me? I'm sure you know the answer". Once somebody replies to your thread but doesn't give you exactly the answer you've been expecting you insult them.

Do not ask "what's best" because this question cannot be answered objectively. Each and everyone has their own view about what's best in a certain area. The best is what works best for you!

As to how I went against this rule is unclear to me. I am asking what softwares you guys use since you consider to be of poor quality.

As to my question on video transcoding, I meant a software that you guys use and would convert into a variety of formats such as MP4, avi, mpg, 3gp etc ie as much formats as possible.

I guess the asking "what's best" part is what blutach was referring to. As I mentioned your question was a little broad but that's ok, we're all here to learn from each other.

To have an "all in one" application and expect optimum quality output for every format is being a little ambitious. As I've already mentioned most of the experienced people here will have an arsenal of applications that they are familiar with.

If you are serious about getting into video and audio encoding then I can't stress the importance of becoming familiar with AVIsynth. It has endless applications in both video and audio encoding. It offers a massive filter base and can work with almost any kind of media. Most encoding applications can accept an AVIsynth script as an input format.


In regards to all in one applications, some I would suggest are:


- MeGUI: This application can accept an AVIsynth script and transcode to various video (h264, Xvid, LMP4 and Snow) and container formats (mkv, mp4 and avi). This application also includes a mkv, mp4 and avi muxing tool and other various tools.

MeGUI Doom9 thread: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96032

- avidemux: This little application does what Super does (if not more), without attacking your vfw codecs or installing anything. It runs straight from the folder you keep it in (provided you download the zip archive). If you download the installer, it's still quite safe and doesn't add or remove anything it's not supposed to.

avidemux FAQ Doom9 thread: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=126164


- TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress: This application can import and export many different media formats. It has an extensive filter base and offers easy editing. This could be a good choice for beginners to advanced users too.

TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress link: http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/te4xp.html

TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress output format window:

http://gfx.cdfreaks.com/reviews/tmpgenc_xpress_review/image019.jpg


There are also many other applications available that offer a diverse range of input and output formats. Some of these are Nero Vision, Ulead VideoStudio etc. I have all of these applications that I have mentioned and I find they are all useful at different times. To be honest, I would guess that I have at least 50 applications (maybe up to 100) that are used for various media manipulation tasks and they all come in handy for various scenarios. :)

Note: These are only my personal opinions and as such are by no means an absolute answer. I also want to clarify that I am not saying that Super is useless, it's just not for me.

[mason.N]

I am not as talented as most of you to write 9 pages detailed article. one thing I know cause we deal with it in here on a daily basis together with most people working here with me:
SUPER is a blody awesome magnificient tool for free capable on handling weird input codecs and file formats that 90% of other (very expensive) applications can't even recognize simply because they rely on directshow giving results that differ from a pc to another based on installed .AX files.

with SUPER the procedure is as follows, you drop your input file, any file with any codec, you select the target game-device or cell phone, you hit encode and there you get the best quality rendered file to load it on your device.

you don't need to know lot of details to use SUPER. as long as the cake is yummy and delicious who do really care about the details of its recipe, this is the secret of its succes.

[setarip_old]

@mason.N

Hi!

As I posted in response to "Boiled Beans", If YOU find it to be "good", then it's "good" for you...

(Quite honestly, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have I seen so much made of so little - It's a functional piece of software)

[mason.N]

Thank you setarip_old for your reply and your quote which applies to any software in here and maybe any discussion.

Sir Winston Churchill also said
Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam.

I wish i had enough time to tell you when, how and under which circumstances he said it.

[sh0dan]

IME, stay clear of it. My computer was a mess after having it installed.

[Ryu77]

IME, stay clear of it. My computer was a mess after having it installed.

Exactly!


setarip_old & mason.N, I think everyone has a right to comment here. You guys are quoting phrases that indicate that we are making too much of a big deal over this, yet you are still participating in the same conversation. My posts were directed at the topic at hand but your posts are travelling towards a personal level (this is against the rules).

I am not as talented as most of you to write 9 pages detailed article.

Where is the 9 page article? I must have missed it. Honestly, if you can not see that I put in every effort to focus on the objective of offering alternate applications (which is what SuLyMaN asked for) then I guess that my posts should have been worded better. If you did actually read my posts with an open mind, you will see that they do in fact contain information gained from experience with various encoding applications.

Since we are doing the quote thing...

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt.


sh0dan=AVIsynth developer, Dark Shikari=x264 developer...

Do you think these guys might have an opinion worth listening to?

I have already said many times that Super could indeed be good for a novice. However, for intermediate to advanced users there are better options.

[Taurus]

IME, stay clear of it. My computer was a mess after having it installed.
Yeah, I second this.
If you're really in need to install this software, be sure to make an image of your os hd beforhand.
The last time I've tried it, many other tools refused to work properly afterwards. And after uninstall....:devil: same happened as pointed out some posts above by Sharc and Ryu77.
Avisynth was messed up and some codecs deleted or burked.
So, it's up to you if you want comfort at first glance or a stable system.
And the learning curve for the other programs mentioned in this thread is not that high.
A few evenings in bed with your laptop and MeGui, TmpEnc, etc..and all is fine.

[*.mp4 guy]

I don't understand why people are getting offended over what is being said about super, its a "one click solution" it HAS to cut corners in places just to be what it is, and no one is saying that it doesn't have its uses. It has pros and cons just like anything else, there isn't any point getting upset about it.

To address the thread topic.

super pros:
-easy to use
-simple installation procedure

super cons:
-compromises that had to be made to make it easy
*limited quality
*no flexibility
-doesn't play nice with system files

If those characteristics fit your usage conditions, use it, otherwise find something else that does, but realise it won't be as easy to use.

[blutach]

@*.mp4guy

:goodpost:

Regards

[Ryu77]

*.mp4 guy, nobody is getting upset.

Can I ask... Doesn't "-doesn't play nice with system files" kind of make "-simple installation procedure" a contradictory statement? Come on... You make it sound like messing with system files isn't such a big deal. Of course it is!

Also, you put "*limited quality" and "*no flexibility" in tiny little letters. To me they should be like a super bolded font.

And...

If those characteristics fit your usage conditions, use it, otherwise find something else that does, but realise it won't be as easy to use.

That's not completely true, some of the applications I have referenced to are very easy to use. They have a nice and easy to use GUI with options for advanced settings tucked away so not to confuse novices. Some of these applications include Nero Recode, MeGUI, TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress, avidemux etc.

I would also like to note that Atak's RipBot264 is also a nice and easy application to use.

To finish off on a point that I hope is perceived as fair towards both viewpoints here. Wouldn't it be possible that the creators of Super rectify these problems? Couldn't they develop the software further to remove these bugs? If they did, I would be more than happy to retract my opinion of this software... I might even start recommending it. :)

[*.mp4 guy]

The reason it is messing with peoples system files is because it has an easy installation procedure that doesn't ask wheather the changes it is making are ok (probably because it would confuse the target users), its another trade off, admitedly not one that many people here would be happy with.

Your next point is really just nitpicking, I put them in "tiny letters" to try to indicate that they were a subset of the "compromises that had to be made to make it easy" con.

As to your next compllaint, I had to make a generalization in order to give usefull advice, of coarse it isn't unilaterally true, but thats the price of giving advice that can actually be put to use.

You are perfectly welcome to continue this debate as long as you want, but this is my last post in this thread. My last post was an attempt to address the thread topic in a usefull and concise manner, but even it has gotten dragged off topic.

[ricardo.santos]

...you don't need to know lot of details to use SUPER...
True, but that factor alone doesnt make me recommend it.



...as long as the cake is yummy and delicious who do really care about the details of its recipe...

So you woud recommend SUPER to a novice person knowing before hand that it would mess his/her system files? And the the fact that it is a novice would even prevent us from recommend it because novices would have a lot more trouble fixing the problem in the system files.

Someone recommend me SUPER a few years back, well let me say i was less than pleased when i find out the mess it made to the codecs on my system, if i was an advanced user i would probably manage to fix them but as i was a novice i had to pay someone to format my computer, what started as a free and easy tool became a newbie nightmare

Anyway my sugestion for a multimedia converter would be Avanti, "no install" aplication that uses ffmpeg and converts to a lot of formats, people can build templates for it.

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic343287.html#1793545

[falcon2000eg]

I never used SUPER for encoding but I keep it close for testing some media files using it play capability it easier than trying mplayer or ffmpeg (yes I'm that lazy).Generally as people here say it is buggy and not advanced enough,I prefer megui .

[SuLyMaN]

@Ryu77 - Sorry I didnot say thanks but BIG THANKS for taking the time to write such a comprehensive explanation. Much appreciated mate.

[blizard]

One point in all this discussion I miss is that MeGUI, Avidemux and most other GUI (for first timer: look up doom9 forum for MEPG-4 GUI) have a very active forum where you can turn to even as new to the world of video/audio encoding/converting of media files.

I have used SUPER for some time and found it to be very good at that time, but disliked that it made things in the background that I didn't have full insight over. If I where asked to recommend any easy to use "converter" or editor for MP4 (Ipod compatible cell phones etc) today I would say AVIdemux is a very good option and easy to use for a first timer or AutoMEN which will let you both get a fast set of option and then let you find out optimal setting by looking up mplayer/mencoder documents and make change in batch file that are created in the same directory as intermediate files.

AutoMEN is a very simple GUI to mencoder (and mplayer) which make it easy to learn what is going on and to apply some resize and other feature as needed. As GUI it also let you preview changes like auto crop used for reducing resolution size that doesn't improve quality and you can set a target size or quality the same way as SUPER or autoGK do.

Most people need to learn that video/audio is not a magical transformation between different format (for most people the term "codec" is used as a mystical expression for what is going on behind the visual GUI interface), but actually need to be done with care for what source you have, what hardware that are in use and how these setting will work together in use during re-encoding.

Another point is that open source mean that almost every change is explained or commented which is not obvious for SUPER as it is based on a company which use it as base to reach new people to the transcoding scene, although there is a basic introduction for what it does. SUPER do have some kind of forum as I can see, but even then I think it would be better to use open source at the source (like mencoder at those forum where mencoder is developed or compiled) where it belongs.

To be honest I don't understand why the developer of SUPER mix so many OS item at once when just a few would be good enough to demonstrate ease of use and to have the same job done, if that was their purpose with this tool.

[Ryu77]

blizard, actually I posted links for the MeGUI & avidemux doom9 threads. :) See my earlier post: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1117504#post1117504

[spawnlp]

Have tried lately "super" to encode for my nintendo-ds and found it very efficient.
Lot of other suggested GUI in this thread (AVIDemux or whatever), may be able to ouput in several format, their weakest point compared to "super" is their inability to handle a variety of input format/codecs, this is where they fail big time. They throw an immediate error unless the input file relies on commonly used codecs.
I decided to use it further encoding into VOB for DVD burning and found it very straight forward and capable of taking any format/codec as input, including the TS files from my camescope.
I run it on vista, and wouldn't trade it for any of those weird programs designed for geeks

[Mike89]

Informative thread. For all the pros and cons, the thing that stands out to me are "messing with system files" and either "messy installs" or "un-installs".

I don't care how good or how bad the program is, what it can do and what it can't, those factors above all by themselves will make me not touch it. I work too hard keeping my system pristine, no way I'm going to jeopardize that. A quite simple conclusion for me.

[MikeyBK]

OK, I'm surprised that this year old thread was revived, but also am peaked with curiousity about all the "messing with system files" comments being made.

Having used SUPER © for various tasks for quite some time now, am wondering exactly what files are being messed with.
I've installed and uninstalled SUPER © on a few different PCs without any ill effects, so am curious as to exactly what is supposedly being uninstalled or messed with???

I kinda read about AVISynth being updated or something to that effect?? And some codecs messed with??

I'm serious about inquiring more details, because as of right now it sits on 2 PCs without any ill effects whatsoever.
What should I expect as to performance liabilities of having SUPER © installed on a system?
Also, how do you feel about how it works with audio?

[Ajax_Undone]

I think it would be safe to say it is only the vfw system files that are messed with.

~DarC

[stratocaster]

if evreytime you install an application that adds/modify some vfw filters you consider that your system has been messed up, then:
your system was definitely messed up if you have installed:
Nero, Pinnacle Studio, MainConcept Encoder, Moonlight Ecoder, (and why not) ffdshow, Haali Splitter, CoreAVC etc.. (to name a few)
irrelevant whether in system32 or elsewhere

any installed 2 filters for the same codec "may" cause a conflict.
fortunately, the solution is a baby game:
graphedit shows with filter is used for which codec
REGISTER with regsvr32.exe anyIwantThisfilter.ax
UNREGISTER with regsvr32.exe /u anyIDontWantThisfilter.ax

this is really insignificant to what is added/modified to your system when you install :
MS Office, ADOBE reader/writer, .Net Framework.. (to name a few) for that there's no remedy!

[MikeyBK]

if evreytime you install an application that adds/modify some vfw filters you consider that your system has been messed up, then:
your system was definitely messed up if you have installed:
Nero, Pinnacle Studio, MainConcept Encoder, Moonlight Ecoder, (and why not) ffdshow, Haali Splitter, CoreAVC etc.. (to name a few)
irrelevant whether in system32 or elsewhere

any installed 2 filters for the same codec "may" cause a conflict.
fortunately, the solution is a baby game:
graphedit shows with filter is used for which codec
REGISTER with regsvr32.exe anyIwantThisfilter.ax
UNREGISTER with regsvr32.exe /u anyIDontWantThisfilter.ax

this is really insignificant to what is added/modified to your system when you install :
MS Office, ADOBE reader/writer, .Net Framework.. (to name a few) for that there's no remedy!

Thanks stratocaster.... fine examples :D;):sly: