The Best dvd (mpeg2) encoder !!!!!

[s_kound]

Hi,

I am from Greece so please excuse my poor english.

1) I'm using several programms to capture DV VIDEO from my dv camera and then i end up with a avi file.

2) Then i use the same program (usually ulead video studio) to convert it to mpeg2 and then with some authoring to burn it on DVD-R.

My question is ..... what software is the best for encoding dv avi's to mpeg-2 compliant dvd file? I have Cinema Craft Encoder SP 2.5 but there are so much settings that confuse me..... upper field,algorithm etc etc etc.........

So please someone tell me which is the best programm for encoding and if this programm is Cinema Craft Encoder SP...then tell me what should i set to have the best quality.

THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE!!!!

[auenf]

the 'best' is a personal preference:


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 for ease of use, tmpgenc has a wizard now which will detect the field order for you.

Enf...

[s_kound]

thank you for your reply and i'm sorry if i used a word or two that i wasn't supposed to.

So you suggest that i use Tmpeg?? I want the best quality possible... what should i set the settings?

[Arky]

Originally posted by s_kound
So you suggest that i use Tmpeg?? I want the best quality possible... what should i set the settings?


Originally posted by auenf
the 'best' is a personal preference:



as for ease of use, tmpgenc has a wizard now which will detect the field order for you.

Enf...


The TMPGEnc wizard will set up a DVD encode suitably for your purposes. For your information, most PAL DV-cam captures over firewire are bottom field first. This is not a concrete rule, but I suggest it is likely that your captures will also be bottom field first if they are PAL.

It is precisely because of this fact that Cinemacraft causes problems when you feed it DV files, because it always encodes MPEG2 upper field first. This is a real pain, and it is absolutely absurd not to offer a choice of field order on such an otherwise-competent encoder (see the following threads regarding this issue):

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38795

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23694



TMPGEnc should not cause such problems, and, as auenf said, should automatically detect your field order.

I agree with Auenf that you should use TMPGEnc for the time being.

In the fullness of time, you may wish to investigate Canopus ProCoder, as this does a nice job of DV files as well. In terms of speed (encoding DV files), Cinemacraft is the fastest, TMPGEnc is the slowest, and Procoder is somewhere in between, but this depends on what quality settings you choose in TMPGEnc and in ProCoder. In terms of output quality, this is highly subjective - some people prefer ProCoder for encoding DV files, but I find it softens/blurs the image a little. TMPGenc creates superb quality files too, and so does Cinemacraft. To be honest, they are all absolutely excellent quality, and are all way ahead of any other software encoders IMHO. MainConcept's new encoder is also earning a reputation for itself, but I was unsatisfied with the initial build of this encoder and have not bothered to try the latest build (which may well have improved).

Use TMPGEnc until you get successful results. If you are happy, then continue to use it. You will not find better quality really. Only use the other options, mentioned above, if you are unsatisfied with TMPGEnc, and bear in mind that you will only be faced with an alternative set of compromises, whichever encoder you settle with. None of them are 100% perfect!


Arky ;o)

[goemon]

Originally posted by Arky
In terms of speed (encoding DV files), Cinemacraft is the fastest, TMPGEnc is the slowest, and Procoder is somewhere in between, but this depends on what quality settings you choose in TMPGEnc and in ProCoder. In terms of output quality, this is highly subjective - some people prefer ProCoder for encoding DV files, but I find it softens/blurs the image a little. TMPGenc creates superb quality files too, and so does Cinemacraft. To be honest, they are all absolutely excellent quality, and are all way ahead of any other software encoders IMHO.

There is also ligos lsxmpeg 3.5 ... it is very fast, supports SMP, and has excellent interlaced motion coder (TMPGenc has a very poor interlacing motion detection which gets confused easily with lots of action).

The only issue I have with lsxmpeg is that it doesnt support natively the 0-255 levels from DV, you need to adjust to 16-235 through virtualdub and frameserve it to lsxmpeg. Also it wont insert pulldown flags for encoding progressive material for 29.97fps displays (you can use pulldown.exe later for that).

In terms of speed it is:

lsxmpeg, CCE, tmpgenc

In terms of quality it is:

CCE, lsxmpeg/tmpgenc (lsx better interlaced, tmpgenc better progressive)

[insite]

I agree with goeman. With DV cameras I think LSX is the easiest to use and yields excellent results.

[Arky]

lol - this brings us full circle!

As auenf so rightly said: "the 'best' is a personal preference"


The reason I ommitted Ligos from my recommendations is that I personally do not believe that it creates MPEG of quite as high a standard as the TMPGEnc, ProCoder, or CCE. You are absolutely right about the DV-levels issue with Ligos (TecoLTD.com observed this a couple of years ago in their head-2head encoder tests.), but even allowing for correction of this, I find Ligos does a fair job but not in the same league as the aforementioned trio.

"Each to their own!" :)


Arky ;o)