Recommended x264 settings for exact size.

[Poopoo]

Hi,

Since the majority of people do aim for a final size, since the formost purpose is creating a backup on CD/DVD, i would really like to see some recommended setting when final size should be the aim, and ofcourse everyone wants his encoding the best it could be.

So, for peoplethat don't mind their encoder to run the whole day (and eventually night too).

.... What are the BEST settings one should use for ex. a DVD-5 final size or a 1CD final size ?

We see the encoder be changed every couple of days but we lose track of what options are recommended/not recommended.

Thanks.:helpful:

[fibbingbear]

Remember rule #12.

With that said, I think some very good guidelines can be found in MeGUI, along with Sharktooth's profiles. Look at the 2-pass ones if you care about final file size, and look at the "max quality" settings in the profiles.

Additionally, since you can mouse-over every option in MeGUI and have it display information about that option, you can just do that and set the highest settings for everything, if you really want to slow it down :p While it'll probably increase quality, there's no guarantee, and in some special cases, it might even decrease it.

[burfadel]

Best settings is ultimately a 3 or more pass fixed bitrate with subme 7, tesa ME, 16 ref frames, 16 b frames, etc etc, but ultimately these 'best' settings by your suggestions are really not the most practical. The best settings depends on the actual desired quality, the quality vs encode time, and whether you are willing to have an extensive encode time to eak out the last bit of possible quality.

A better way to ask would be to ask what the most practical settings for a particular system be for quality in terms of settings benefit. For example, for normal everyday settings 5 reference frames is more practical and beneficial in terms of speed than 16, however 16 is still 'the best'...

[Poopoo]

Thanks.

I was just wandering through Shartooth's profiles. The first one I checkout was of course the HQ Insane one, but it doesn't even use Trellis !? I thought Trellis was such an important feature qualitywise ? :confused:

EDIT: Sorry, it indeed uses Trellis.

So can I assume, that for the ultimate quality possible (regarding final size), the HQ Insane profile will give the best results ?

Thanks in advance !

[nm]

Since the majority of people do aim for a final size, since the formost purpose is creating a backup on CD/DVD
I'm not convinced that the majority of people need to target specific file sizes, at least not anymore on this forum. Hard drives are no longer much more expensive than DVD+/-R space (when you add in the work of burning and handling the DVDs) and people stream video to their PS3/Xbox/whateverbox when they want to watch something. Then there's all the CQ/CRF re-education given here at Doom9's AVC forum :)

So can I assume, that for the ultimate quality possible (regarding final size), the HQ Insane profile will give the best results ?
It is fine if you can afford all that CPU time spent on encoding.