The guide suggests 3-4 pass vbr and software supports only 2

[golfbc]

Ok, I'm sold as a newbie on SVCD and DVD2SVCD. Now the purchasing decision...CCE or TMPG. The guide references setting up the encoder with 3-4 pass vbr. The documentation from both CCE and TMPG indicates only 2 passes available. What am I missing?

[r6d2]

Hi, golfbc. Both CCE and TMPGEnc can deliver high quality encodes on only two passes. Those guides were written when that fact was not known.

Still some users claim to get better results with several passes, but you may try and see for yourself and balance the time you want invested on the encode.

Currently, AFAIK, only CCE supports more than 2 passes. TMPGEnc only 2, but it does a very good job too with that.

[Matthew]

CCE Basic supports only 2 passes, that's one of the reasons (the main reason?) it is cheaper. The "full" CCE (as well as the trials) support up to 9 passes. CCE manual says quality maxes about between 3 and 4 passes, I think.

TMPGEnc is different, its 2 passes are not equivalent to CCE's, i.e. multipass 1 pass VBR in CCE (which is like 2 passes when vaf creation is included) is inferio's to TMPGEnc's 2 passes. So don't compare the 2 different apps from that perspective.

[golfbc]

Thanks guys for the input. I try to read the guides and posts before asking any questions....the process exposes the reader to a learning experience much greater than asking one question at a time. The two pass process for under $60 is where I'm headed. Thanks again.