Do I need 2-pass encoding?

[LonelyPixel]

I know that 2-pass encoding is useful to better distribute the bits over a given time and a fixed resulting file size, putting more data where it matters most. But what if I don't care about the resulting file size of a video and just indicate the quality I want. Does 2-pass encoding still have any advantages in this case? Asking about x264 specifically.

[Brother John]

But what if I don't care about the resulting file size of a video and just indicate the quality I want. Does 2-pass encoding still have any advantages in this case?
No, it doesn’t. Use 1-pass CRF instead.

[Sharc]

I know that 2-pass encoding is useful to better distribute the bits over a given time and a fixed resulting file size, putting more data where it matters most. But what if I don't care about the resulting file size of a video and just indicate the quality I want. Does 2-pass encoding still have any advantages in this case? Asking about x264 specifically.
If your first pass is ABR: yes
If your first pass is CRF: no

As you don't care about size: go for 1-pass CFR with x264.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Just a side note: 2-Pass and 1-Pass CRF give the same quality (at the same file size), because internally they use the same RC algorithm. Only with CRF you can't predict the final file size, while with 2-Pass you can.

[LonelyPixel]

Ok, thanks for the feedback.