Best MPEG1 encoder

[Todd1]

I capture in AVI IO with YUY2 and HuffYUV compression.

I edit in Premiere and then save using bbMPEG to encode MPG1 files which I import into Power Point for presentations.

The end product looks great and the data rate is only around 275KB/sec.

Occasionally I have fast motion video that I can not remove short horizontal lines from. Even with flicker removal, deinterlace, and/or field interpolate.

So, I was curious what if there was a consensus favorite MPEG1 encoder.

I've read comments on Tsunami, Panasonic, and LSX-MPEG encoders but wonder which would be best for my use - playing out of Power Point with a projector. Final display is on a screen about 10 feet across. Quality is important for so large a projection. I capture at 704 x 480 and encode at 688 x 464 to get rid of the black borders.

Any opinions?

Thanks!

[Dr Mordrid]

For MPEG-1 your choice is Tsunami or Panasonic. Usually Tsunami wins because of speed vs. quality, but with some really tough motion artifacts like you would get on a seaside shot of waves & reflected sunlight Panasonic comes through every time. Just set all the motion and quality settings to the maximum values.

Dr. Mordrid

[dchip]

For fast motion (dancing, etc.), I have to throw in a second vote for Panasonic. It handles motion quite well but don't expect perfection. I still think the VCD settings do better with motion than settings with higher kbitrates. Experiment with it a bit.

[Kino]

After suffering through the MPEG1 compression in Ulead Media Studio 5.x, I was blown away by Tsunami. I make MPG movies all the time now - quickly and with few artifacts. I recently saved a 6+ minute MPEG1 movie at 352x240, 29.97fps (NTSC settings for VCD) and could play it back full screen on a computer monitor. The video quality was exceptional, and the file was just over 60Mb. I think the render time was a couple hours at most. With Ulead that would have been all night, and the video would look awful.

And best of all, it's a freeware app...

I have no experience with Panasonic because I didn't want to buy it.

K

[Walrus]

Todd1: I would suggest either Tsunami or the latest beta (1.24 beta 12) of bbMPEG. Both support variable bitrates including maximum bitrate caps, so you can create INCREDIBLE looking video that in no way breaks up during very fast motion. The quality of the 2 encoders is now just about identicle. (at least my eyes aren't good enough to tell the difference anymore) Tsunami has an advantage of having more variable bitrate modes, and supporting multiprocessors and having a more intuitive interace (and a great mpeg joining/cutting util). bbMPEG is a premiere plug-in, and seems to have a little bit more control over the settings, has a more advanced multiplexor, and doesn't suffer from any of the confusing issues of being a patched Japanese-language program as there will always be an odd error message or prompt that is still an odd collection unicode symbols. (well this is a plus as long as you are nativley an English speaker)
As for which one to use, that's up to you... I generally no longer use Panasonic as it doesn't support vbr nor MPEG-2.
BTW: I recently transfered a DVD I own (Fight Club) to a format I could play back on my laptop (VBR MPEG-1) with FlaskMPEG and the latest bbmpeg beta. The entire film fit in 1 gigabyte (a 2 hr 20 minute film with 224kbit/sec MPEG-1 layer 2 audio) and the quality was very nearly FLAWLESS. I could freeze frame at any point and it was a solid image. (even all of the single frames they cut into the film as a joke) No motion issues at all. The greatest plus was I could burn the movie onto 2 non-standard VCD discs that actually play on my stand-alone DVD player.

[Todd1]

Dr Mordrid,

. . . Usually Tsunami wins because of speed vs. quality . . .

I read that to mean that Tsunami is faster with close but not as good quality as can be had using a slower Panasonic encoder. Is this correct? My bbMPEG MPEG1 files take about 30 minutes to encode for every minute of video using a P3 733MHz processor.

Kino,

. . . 6+ minute MPEG1 movie at 352x240, 29.97fps (NTSC settings for VCD) . . .

I read a lot about 352x240 - VCD and interpret this to be a compromise resolution based on size, data rate, and quality. Yet I thought I read somewhere that MPEG1 was created for that resolution. I encode at 688 x 464 for what my intuition says should be higher quality for presentations, am I kidding myself?

Walrus,

. . . variable bitrates including maximum bitrate caps, so you can create INCREDIBLE . . .

I've avoided variable bitrates out of fear that the peak bitrates might overload a "run of the mil" laptop PC. I do not want to count on having my personal computer at all times. I figure if I keep the data rate under 1MB/Sec I'm okay. I guess that is where your bitrate cap comes in. I'll give it a try. Do you know where I can do some reading on I frames and P frames? There is some control over this but I have no idea what I'd be doing. Also . . . I get these little messages about data under runs and increasing the MUX rate. Is this "Forced MUX Rate" and what setting do you use if it is?

Thanks to all for the continuing guidance - the Matrox capture card/software was unusable for my presentation purposes until I found this forum and YUY2, HuffYUV, MPEG et all.

[Dr Mordrid]

My meaning was that for 95-98% of my MPEG-1 needs Tsunami works just great. The only times I've found Panasonic better was with very specialized situations like the waves & reflected sun scenario I posted.

For MPEG-2 it's no contest. I go for Tsunami every time. I just with Mr. Hori would hurry up with that fully translated version.

Dr. Mordrid

[Walrus]

Todd1: Only the most recent beta version of bbMPEG 1.24 will enable VBR capping. 1.23 creates vbr streams without bounds. Generally I recommend making the max bitrate no more than 2.5 mbit/sec for MPEG-1 so keep compatibility with most stand-alone players. As for I frames vs P frames... what in particular do you want to know? As a rule, bbmpeg's defaults on this work quite well. As for MUX rates.. the newest bbmpeg also fixes most issues with this. I'm very tired right now, so I'm going to have to skip the specific explanation about what it does. Either way, you can play with this: http://members.home.net/beyeler/beta12412.zip
(1.24 beta 12)

[Todd1]

Walrus - Thank you for the info & link.

I tried the variable bitrate with a cap of 8mbit/sec and was surprised that the avaeage rate was only around 225kbit/sec. I have no concern about compatibility with stand-alone players as I use MPEG-1 out of Power Point for presentations.

As for I frames vs P frames. . . I'm very happy with the results I'm getting - I'm simply curious about all the controls and would like to know if there's a good source where I can do more reading but not at the expert level.

I looked at a site with FlaskMPEG (you mentioned it above) and was once again reminded of how much I do not know.