MPEG2 Hardware encoder

[steptoe]

Can anyone suggest a good MPEG2 hardware encoder as I'm getting tired of the conversion times for converting AVI to MPEG2 so I can shove them onto DVD

I use TMPGenc Plus, which does exactly what I want, but the encoding times for AVI to MPEG2 using VBR is frightingly slow, about 8-11 hours per movie, on an AMD XP 2000, with 256MB DDR and nothing running when its encoding

I used to use MainConcept MPEG Encoder which was/is absolutely perfect for my needs, and the speed and quality is excellant for me, BUT, until they release a version/patch for the frozen frame bug (which they know about and have cured, but can't give an answer to when the next version will be released to fix it), I'm not using it again

So, I'm now looking at investing in a hardware MPEG2 encoder card, I assume that the software will have to support that card, or somehow frameserve to it, to get the full use from it

I don't want a TV card, just an encoder card, in the £100 range, I'm aware that isn't much when it comes to encoder cards, but I'm fed up of the sloooowwww encoding times for TMPGenc Plus, tried various settings, the VBR really does slow things down drastically

To get better quality then thats what I'm having to use, CBR doesn't do justice, I've found that out, I used to use CBR, but found VBR gave a much better final quality


Thanks

(I'm in UK by the way, so the card must be able to handle PAL and NTSC MPEG2 encoding)

[snowmoon]

Nothing for that price.... I mean nothing.

Your encoding times seem high for an AMD 2000 are you using multipass? I have stopped using multipass ever since I found out how to accuratly predict one pass VBR and it's a life save in terms of processing time. On my PIII800 I'm doing SVCD with IVTC and noise reduction at .35 realtime with CCE.

Good luck

[Ego_Shredder]

Going by the advice and also some sample clips made available for me to download by the people here, the best card in that price range is the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250 which produces some great looking MPEG 1 & 2 captures and can even capture VBR (variable bitrate) files. It can do DVD resolutions and bitrates no sweat and the motion quality is fine. It costs about £120 give or take a bit in the UK. Try www.scan.co.uk and www.ebuyer.com or www.pcworld.co.uk.


Ego

[vance43211]

I don't want a TV card, just an encoder card, in the £100 range, I'm aware that isn't much when it comes to encoder cards, but I'm fed up of the sloooowwww encoding times for TMPGenc Plus, tried various settings, the VBR really does slow things down drastically

that have to mean $1000.00 in american dollars

or that's funny

your cheaper mpeg 2 adapter card that i now of is real magic $650.00 (everybody on this site say it is messed up though so don't buy it)

quartet and hollywood make good one but they are expensive and quartet do business with companies

somebody on this site did mention one for about $500.00 but i forgot what it was called

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=166083&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

[txpharoah]

You'd need at least $500 for the Canopus MPEG Pro MVR/EMR cards, or $1300 for a Matrox RTX100.

The closest thing you can find is an ATI AIW Radeon, which is a hybrid hardware/software encode, but still not sure you're willing to spend enough.

Keep saving or settle for something else.

[poopyhead]

I have stopped using multipass ever since I found out how to accuratly predict one pass VBR and it's a life save in terms of processing time. On my PIII800 I'm doing SVCD with IVTC and noise reduction at .35 realtime with CCE.

Good luck

1) how did you learn to predict accurately??? or do you error on the more conservative side (i.e. rather waste some space than go over the limit)

2) how about quality?

[gmatov]

I don't know just what you are trying to do. Do you already have a cap card, or are you hoping to play a DVD in the DVD-ROM directly through the MPEG carc, or to the HDD and encode with the card?

Snowmoon,
To clear something up that a lot of people are writing, when you say ".35 realtime", are you saying 35 minutes per 100 minutes of source, or 100 minutes per 35 minutes of source?
I find it hard to believe you guys are doing it 10 times faster than my machine can.

This is not a hi-jack. I would like to know how Steptoe is going to convert, frow where, etc. If I sound, dumb, it's because, here, I am.

[FulciLives]

You'd need at least $500 for the Canopus MPEG Pro MVR/EMR cards, or $1300 for a Matrox RTX100.

The closest thing you can find is an ATI AIW Radeon, which is a hybrid hardware/software encode, but still not sure you're willing to spend enough.

Keep saving or settle for something else.

I agree that probably the best option (in terms of quality) would be the CANOPUS cards mentioned above. For around the same amount of money though you could get a PANASONIC DMR-E50 stand alone DVD recorder. These are great at converting ANALOG source material to DVD in that, like the CANOPUS cards, the PANASONIC has a built-in TBC and a built-in 3D adaptive comb filter. Those two things make a BIG difference.

If you use the PANASONIC stand alone DVD recorder there are a couple of methods which will allow you to copy and/or rip the DVD to your computer and then use an authoring program to make custom menu designs and custom chapter points. If you do it correctly you will NOT have to re-encode the DVD that was original recorded on the PANASONIC stand alone DVD recorder.

I have looked into the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250 but although it does seem to give great results I have heard of too many people having audio synch issues as well as some authoring programs not accepting the files created with it ... saying that they are NON COMPLIANT for DVD creation.

I have never tried any of the ATI AIW cards but they sound like they might work well as long as you take the time to tweak it. However of those that use or have used the ATI AIW cards there seem to be more "I didn't or don't like it" than "I like is very much" comments. This is why I think tweaking and "knowing what you are doing" will be important if you use the ATI AIW cards.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[snowmoon]

I have stopped using multipass ever since I found out how to accuratly predict one pass VBR and it's a life save in terms of processing time. On my PIII800 I'm doing SVCD with IVTC and noise reduction at .35 realtime with CCE.

Good luck

1) how did you learn to predict accurately??? or do you error on the more conservative side (i.e. rather waste some space than go over the limit)

2) how about quality?

1x would be same as and 2x would be twice as fast. .35 means 2.85 minutes for every 1 minute of video.


1) Predicting with avisynth

LoadPlugin("e:\avisynth\mpeg2dec.dll") $ at beginning

#at end
IL = 2400 # Framecount / 100 # interval length in frames.
SL = 48 # round(Framerate) # sample length in frames.
SelectRangeEvery(IL,SL) # take output and multiply by 50

This produces a ~1 minute video for every hour of input with dozens of samples. You then encode it and multiply the result by 50. I have found for my sources to be accurate to within %5 of the result. I err on the side of caution, but I can usually get within 20mb of any size I like.


2) And the quality is excellent, I have personally found it better than the multipass under CCE. I believe this is because CCE tends to over compensate and the variation in bitrate starts to dimish. One pass based on quality seems to provide a more consistant quality through out.

[DNRC]

Have you considered the Adaptec offering, VideOh PCI.

It's a hardware MPEG2 encoder and comes in under £150.

www.adaptec.co.uk

[awhitney]

Whats wrong with the Haupuage wintvr 250 Mpeg2 encoder card? Does hardware mpeg2 encoding and I hear it works great.

You can buy it for under $150 compared to the more expensive hardware mpeg2 encoder cards like canopus.

[Paul D]

FulciLives wrote:-

"If you use the PANASONIC stand alone DVD recorder there are a couple of methods which will allow you to copy and/or rip the DVD to your computer and then use an authoring program to make custom menu designs and custom chapter points. If you do it correctly you will NOT have to re-encode the DVD that was original recorded on the PANASONIC stand alone DVD recorder. "

I am interested in this; could you give some brief details on the methods you use.

Many Thanks

[vance43211]

Have you considered the Adaptec offering, VideOh PCI.

It's a hardware MPEG2 encoder and comes in under £150.

that more like a capture card than a dedicated encoder card

encoder cards tend to to give better result than capture cards

[Barnabas]

The Hauppauge PVR-250 is a good choice. With a few tweaks it does a very nice job. The 'audio sync" issue posted here is only a factor is you record in DVD format with the DVD preset flagged. Change it to "program" and NO sync problems.