H.264 Encoding Challenge/Recommendation - $25 Reward

[stevenjenkins]

Being a longtime reader of this fantastic forum, I am putting forward the following challenge.

I was an avid user of Nero Recode and was enthused w/ the latest upgrade and encoder upgrade. Unfortunately, Ahead released the most buggy piece of software I've ever seen. As a result, I'm looking for a change.

I am looking to encode a particular type of video and am looking for an optimized solution. As a result, I am willing to pay $25 (via PayPal) for the solution that best meets my criteria. No joke, I am a man of my word and greatly respect the opinions of this board.

Source Video:

Ice Hockey (Source 352x480i - TiVo stream)
Length: ~90 min
MPEG-2 ~4.2GB (already seperated into 3 files by period)

Desired Output:

3 Files by Period
closest to native resolution (352x480)
H.264
AAC - Audio: Of least concern. I've tested down to 32Hz/32kilobit. Willing to sacrifice audio quality to add to video bitrate.
Total Size =650MB (all three files together)

Hardware:

2.5ghz Dual-core Opteron
2GB RAM

Sample File:

I've posted a sample (7:17 min; 315MB) of the source video. The desired output should be 50MB.

www.disklock.com/test/OT.mpg


Desired Application:

While testing applications, I've found StaxRip to be the most user friendly. I would prefer the solution to utilize StaxRip (as MeGUI has given me some issues). Unfortunately, in using StaxRip, I've been unable to encode AAC audio and create 3 files in a batch mode equaling the desired 650MB.

As StaxRip works nicely from it's central directory, I am looking for a configured StaxRip directory from the winner.

Speed:

Speed is of less importance to me. I am looking for a HQ profile and willing to sacrifice some speed. I'm looking for a good blend here and with the dualcore processor, I believe ~8 hours max to be fair w/ my hardware in mind (2.5ghz dualcore Opteron).

Final Notes:

I truly appreciate the input of many of the experts available on this board. In conclusion, I am looking for an optimized solution for importing 3 files (1st.mpg, 2nd.mpg, 3rd.mpg) into StaxRip and having three H.264 encoded (1st.mp4, 2nd.mp4, 3rd.mp4) outputed for a total size of 650MB.

[check]

I don't remember you posting in the megui threads - what are the problems you are having? Did you check the wiki?

[stevenjenkins]

I don't remember you posting in the megui threads - what are the problems you are having? Did you check the wiki?

Thank you for your reply. In general, I've found MeGUI too difficult to initially set up. With many profiles already integrated, I found StaxRip to be a bit more intuative and easier to troubleshoot.

However, I would still offer the reward if someone could provide me w/ a complete solution in MeGUI as well. I know this is out of the ordinary as this forum does the bulk of it's work in troubleshooting particular problems/bugs, but I am willing to compensate some of the posters for their vast knowledge on the subject (and reward them for their hours of personal time tinkering w/ settings and optimizations).

[jsquare]

I tried your sample file with Videora iPod Converter with the following settings:
Resolution: 320x240 (640x480 on a 352x480 source is not a good idea)
Audio: 64Kbps AAC
Video: 896Kbps H264
With 1-Pass Encoding came around ~52.5MB(with 2-pass could be a bit better)

It looks very good to me for an 7.2MB/min clip from analog source without filters.

[shon3i]

Audio: 64Kbps AAC
This can be 32kbps or 48kpbs with no much lose in quality.

[stevenjenkins]

I tried your sample file with Videora iPod Converter with the following settings:
Resolution: 320x240 (640x480 on a 352x480 source is not a good idea)
Audio: 64Kbps AAC
Video: 896Kbps H264
With 1-Pass Encoding came around ~52.5MB(with 2-pass could be a bit better)

It looks very good to me for an 7.2MB/min clip from analog source without filters.

I edited the video source resolution (yes, it's 352x480 TiVo stream capture). However, I am looking for a more optimized codec (matrices, 4x4, etc) then Viderora such as implementation of x264 in either MeGUI or StaxRip.

But I'll send you $5 for correcting my native resolution mistake.

[check]

Well, when the megui update server comes back, try this:
o correctly install megui as per wiki instructions
o create avs from each mpg with the avisynth script creator - using anamorphic encoding so no resizing is neccessary
o flip audio=false to audio=true in avs and use as input for video and audio converting
o Video profile: HQ-Slowest with 2pass turbo at a bitrate of 933
Audio: Nero AAC @ 64kbits
o encode, mux, and enjoy :)

[stevenjenkins]

Well, when the megui update server comes back, try this:
o correctly install megui as per wiki instructions
o create avs from each mpg with the avisynth script creator - using anamorphic encoding so no resizing is neccessary
o flip audio=false to audio=true in avs and use as input for video and audio converting
o Video profile: HQ-Slowest with 2pass turbo at a bitrate of 933
Audio: Nero AAC @ 64kbits
o encode, mux, and enjoy :)

Thanks again, PM sent...

[Selur]

defreq might also help tweaking the source a bit,...

[Jay Bee]

If there is any kind of content that should be watched at 60 fps motion smoothness at all costs then it's high motion sports. This means that you should use Elecard Mobile Converter or Mainconcept H264 Encoder together with CoreAVC because no other combinations support proper interlacing/deinterlacing.

Your sample file download doesn't work, so I can't do any sample encodes. Try rapidshare or megaupload.

[check]

orly? And there I was thinking you would be able to simply use a bob deinterlacer :P Encoding interlaced is silly... well, there probably isnt much advantage to doing so. Whether you should bob or weave is another matter altogether.

[Jay Bee]

But doesn't bob deinterlacing before encoding use a lot more bitrate than interlaced encoding?

[foxyshadis]

About 20-40% more, usually. Much less than the double you might expect though.

[stevenjenkins]

If there is any kind of content that should be watched at 60 fps motion smoothness at all costs then it's high motion sports. This means that you should use Elecard Mobile Converter or Mainconcept H264 Encoder together with CoreAVC because no other combinations support proper interlacing/deinterlacing.

Your sample file download doesn't work, so I can't do any sample encodes. Try rapidshare or megaupload.

The file is back. I just took it offline earlier. If you want to run a few samples, feel free.

[Jay Bee]

About 20-40% more, usually. Much less than the double you might expect though.

What I would have expected is 60 fps progressive to be about twice as big as 30 fps with interlaced about half way inbetween.

Is this reasonably realistic? Can these kind of size comparisons be done by using constant quantiser for 30fps, 60fps and interlaced encodes?

[Jay Bee]

I've uploded three files in one archive:
http://rapidshare.de/files/37027443/ice_hockey.rar.html

-An interlaced AVC file made with Mainconcept demo @940 kbps. You will need CoreAVC pro with "Directshow deinterlacing" enabled to watch this.

-A 60 fps progressive file made with x264 @940 kbps. I slightly reduced the resolution to try and get less artefacts.

-A 30 fps progressive file made with x264 @940 kbps.

Personally I don't like any of them, I would go for a higher bitrate. The interlaced file has loads of artefacts, the 60 fps file has slightly less and the 30 fps file is, well, 30 fps.

[stevenjenkins]

After my own tweaking, this is the best output I've managed.

http://disklock.com/test/OT.mp4

24kbs/AAC
933 kb/video (x264, HQ-Insane)

[Jay Bee]

Looks pretty similar to mine IMO. Ice hockey really is hard to encode at low bitrates. If you go through the clips frame by frame you will notice that the small, fast puck is sometimes actually erased from the picture, due to compression. :p

BTW what do you think of my high motion versions? To me it is a night and day difference in terms of smoothness but you would need more bitrate.