Honestech

[Voltaire]

I notice that enough is not said about Honestech encoders so like the rest here I concentrated on Tmeg, panasonic and CCE. All good products but as I got into Cross platform Multimedia Authoring using macromedia Director and C+ I began to have problems with mpegs encoded on the PC that had to be ported to the Mac. Quicktime handles Mpegs great but some colorization happens if GOPs are not lenghted perfectly and can cause a system crash on some older macs. One encoder that does the cross platfoem perfectly 10 out of 10 times we tried it is Honestech Mpeg Encoder 4.0. I want feedback from anyone who is willing to give this encoder a try and let me know if it's as perfect as we think it is here. Go here and check it out.
http://www.honestech-e.com/us/product01.asp
J

[Arky]

I don't wish to upset anyone's apple cart here, and my opinion is no more valid than the next person's, but I have tried versions 3 and 4 of Honestech's MPEG2 encoder, and I have been extremely underwhelmed by their output quality on both occasions.

I find it strange that you are having problems using 'Windows-generated' MPEG streams on the MAC platform, since, as we both know, the standard is essentially platform-independent. Very odd.


Arky ;o)

[Voltaire]

Well that's the kind of feedback I want as I have always written off Honestech until version 4. I began to have problems with an AVI to Mpeg conversion of a training video. The color was aweful in the mac until we used Honestech. Just wanted to know what you guys are experincing. I always use Tmeg for VCDs and CCE for DVD as I am not going to experiment with some clients DVD. Like you, I have always stayed away from Honestech until this episode with the Mpeg to Mac. well may be it's a fluke but the color is stable and the client is pleased. Thanks for the feedback.

[Arky]

Well, I think I'll link this over to the main discussion us MPEG2 freaks have most recently been having here on the Doom9 forum, just to see if it gets a 'bite' from anybody willing to test the newest version.

I'm so busy at the moment, that I barely seem to have time to keep up with thread moderation and answering people's questions - I'm even behind on a TMPEGEnc test I promised a couple of weeks ago on that thread! I must sort that out...

Anyway, consider it 'linked', and keep an eye out.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50390&goto=lastpost

Whatever the conclusion here on the forum, I am happy for you that you got the result you needed - a contented client! :) In a recent conversation I had with another professional MAC DVD authorer, I asked him what he used for MPEG2 compression, since MPEG2 encoders are comparatively scarce on the MAC platform. He replied that he uses BitVice (I think he said it was a 'pro' version). On a Dual G4 he said he gets reasonable encoding times and good results on 2-pass VBR.


Arky ;o)