best mpeg2 codec

[nunchalnaomi]

Hi all,
What is the best mpeg2 encoder? I am using the adobe encoder, but I beleive it is a single pass. I want a high quality 2 pass encoder. I am using premeire 6.5. I have a matrox rt.x100. When the new premeire is released, I will upgrade. Any suggestions?

[Brian Ellis]

There is no "best" one. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, unless you are prepared to spend tens or even hundreds of kilobucks on an ad hoc hardware type designed for Hollywood professionals. Canopus Procoder and MainConcept have had good reports recently in the reasonable price range, somewhat displacing TMPGenc from popularity. The latter ain't bad but it is more difficult to drive. There are others, so my list isn't exhaustive.

[Debbie]

TMPGEnc has always given me very good results + it has so many (extra) good features.

Debbie

[Apulo]

I found CinemaCraft CCE Basic to be both cheap ($58, available online) and giving excellent professional-level quality. It uses the same encoding engine as the professional $2000 encoder CinemaCraft CCE SP, but with a few features that are not needed for home use removed.

If you have no money to spend, there are a few free encoders available, that also give excellent quality. You can find out about them and more info on how to best use CCE Basic and SP on the forums at www.doom9.net.

The encoder in Adobe Premiere is by MainConcept I believe. This is by no means a bad encoder. If the Adobe Premiere version is crippled, you may want to check out a full version directly from MainConcept.

Canopus Procoder is another very good encoder, but I do keep hearing complaints on picture quality of the cheap version, the "Express" version. You may want to check that one out before you buy it.

[Dr Mordrid]

Premiere, MSPro, VideoStudio and Vegas users can use about any external encoder they wish as if it were a plugin by installing the freeware DebugMode frameserver.

This tool acts as a new filetype that exports the timeline to a small proxy *.avi file on the HDD, which external encoders can then load and encode on the fly as the timeline is exported by the host.

The target program can be TMPGEnc, MainConcept external (has 2-pass), CCE, Windows Media Eneocer....basically anything that can load an *.avi.

http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/

That said; Premiere uses the MainConcept encoder plugin. You should be aware that MC offers their full external encoder (recently upgraded to 1.50) at a discounted price of ~$49 USD. It also has 2 pass and a very nice *.avi and *.mpg capture engine.

http://www.mainconcept.com/products.shtml

Dr. Mordrid

[nunchalnaomi]

Premiere, MSPro, VideoStudio and Vegas users can use about any external encoder they wish as if it were a plugin by installing the freeware DebugMode frameserver.

This tool acts as a new filetype that exports the timeline to a small proxy *.avi file on the HDD, which external encoders can then load and encode on the fly as the timeline is exported by the host.

The target program can be TMPGEnc, MainConcept external (has 2-pass), CCE, Windows Media Eneocer....basically anything that can load an *.avi.

http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/

That said; Premiere uses the MainConcept encoder plugin. You should be aware that MC offers their full external encoder (recently upgraded to 1.50) at a discounted price of ~$49 USD. It also has 2 pass and a very nice *.avi and *.mpg capture engine.

http://www.mainconcept.com/products.shtml

Dr. Mordrid

Hi Dr Modrid,
You have always given great advice in the past, so I listen to you. I am not sure what to get. A premeire plug in sounds easier to use then a seperate program, but I want the best quality 2 pass vbr encode in my budget(under 300$). You recomended the full mainconcept encoder. It is a stand alone. Apulu recomended another which is a plug in ( how I am familiar with exporting timeline) . Do you have any more clarifications? I would prefer the plug in, but will bow to your very good advice . Thanks alot everyone for the advice.

[Dr Mordrid]

Don't get me wrong, CCE is an excellent encoder. It's just my experience that MC properly set up is also an excellent option and it's very, very fast.

The frameserver plugin gives you the option of using any encoder you want to use, including TMPGEnc, MC or whatever.

Dr. Mordrid

[Ted222]

The encoder in DVDWS has "2 pass" encoding. Works pretty good for me.

Ted

[nunchalnaomi]

Hi all,
I went with the cinecraft encoder. I almost went with the mainconcept ( I always trust DR Mordrid) , but I am more familiar with plug ins and less worried about speed. Thanks again for all your suggestions. Now if anyone has a possible release date for the new adobe suite....... I'm still waiting to upgrade. Hope I don't have to wait until next april's nab.