Realtime DV to MPEG2 encoder?

[bhwong]

On the PC platform, there are authoring software such as Sonic MyDVD and Roxio DVD Builder that can capture DV clips and convert them into MPEG2 instantly in realtime. Are there any such application on the Mac platform?

Also, since these capturing software can do DV to MPEG2 conversion in realtime, it should also possible for any "DV to MPEG2" encoders to do the same in realtime rite? Moreover these encoders do not have to capture the video while encoding them, making their jobs far easier and faster.

So are there any realtime encoders out in the realworld? btw, I tried Toast encoder on my 450Mhz iMac and it took over 26 hours to convert an hour DV stream clip to DVD disc! Unbelieveable....

Just another VCD to DVD hobbist.

[TugBoat]

Sure, Here's a better than RealTime MPEG2 encoder. Sorry, decent encoding requires a fast processor(s) or lotsa time. The 450MHz G4 will take forever for a decent job. My Dual 1.25 encodes MPEG2 (single pass VBR using the QT encoder) at slightly better than 1 to 2 (2hr movie slightly less than 4hrs). If you want faster encoding, you'll need a faster processor(s). It's a fact of life....er, encoding 8)

[Frobozz]

TugBoat, that's a G3 450 mhz processor bhwong is using, not a G4. It's even worse than you thought.

bhwong, the only realtime options are what TugBoat suggests and a standalone DVD recorder that has a Firewire input. The latter uses a hardware rather than software encoder. If you want to go that route I suggest reading reviews of different models here at videohelp.com and other places. I chose a Pioneer standalone recorder and highly recommend it.

By the way, using the standard quality setting in Toast 6 is the fastest MPEG2 encoding that I know of for a Mac. That doesn't mean it's the best, but it typically is pretty good. Do not choose the High Quality setting because it makes almost no difference except for fast-action scenes (some people even say it is worse) and doubles the encoding time.

[macbos]

Sure, Here's a better than RealTime MPEG2 encoder

Does a dual G5 real encode in realtime?

[SERBIAN]

Does a dual G5 real encode in realtime?

With Apple Compressor app it does...On some input formats even faster..

[macbos]

Can you caputure (lets say in imovie) and encode the .mov to mpeg2 at the same time?

[pixeljammedia]

ADS Instant DVD does what you waqnt, as would a DVD recorder. You could also try extracting from a DVR (Replay is apparently easier than Tivo) but there are no software solutions on a Mac for real time MPEG conversion.

[bhwong]

Hi Tugboat,

Since my single Celeron 2.4 can encodes 2 hr movie into MPEG2 within 2 hr using myDVD, yet your Dual 1.25 does that at almost 4 hr. Doesn't that mean that a single Intel Celeron 2.4 is twice more powerful than dual G5 1.25???? Which is actually 4x more powerful than a single 1.25!!! Doesn't make sense rite?

It's either the software encoders for Mac not optimized for G3-G5 like Windows software encoder did for Pentium, or Mac's CPUs are just inefficient at doing video encoding...

If what Frobozz said is true, that Toast is currently the fastest encoder on the Mac, then Mac deserve to have something faster. Can't believe that even an older Pentium III 450KHZ can encode 10x faster than my newer G3 450KHZ!

Just another VCD to DVD hobbist.

[havema-1]

As someone said in an earlier post, G4 is _much_ faster in MPEG encoding than G3.

And do notice that not all MPEG is created equal... You also have to compare the encoding quality because a super-fast encoder may produce bad quality.

[russurquhart1]

If you want realtime conversion, you may want to look at the EyeTV 200. (This is a hardware device, and may be off topic.) I've been using this as a way to convert DV to MPEG2 in realtime. It offers a means to do some simple editing of mpeg2 file afterwards, and i've used it to generate the raw video and audio that i then feed to DVDSP.

fwiw,

Russ

[SERBIAN]

Just to clarify some things here...To avoid missunderstanding...Apple never supported MPEG1/MPEG2 formats seriously simply because those formats are NOT editing formats, but delivery formats...That means professionals wont do any serious editing/postproduction jobs on movies in MPEG formats...And if we all agree that Apple platform is targeting film/video professionals first, then all of Celeron/old pentium talks come into sense...

So, anyone who wanna do some serious job should get a Mac...Apple does not want to compete with hardware MPEG2 encoders, cause they are doing encoding job very fast and with the great quality...There is no point to compete with that, in my opinion...On the other side, anyone who wants to make home DVD should use iDVD, which is simply GREAT app...And there is NO such app on windows platform...I agree that software MPEG encoders are MUCH better optimized for PC machines, but I hope You now understood why...That does not mean that Celeron is faster then Dual G4, it just means that PC world have better optimized software encoders...But, again, anyone who is doing LOT of MPEG2 encoding on a computer should get a hardware card or box...Thats the way proffesionals do, thats the Apple way of thinking - deliver ONLY the best...

Just my 2 cents..

[TugBoat]

Since my single Celeron 2.4 can encodes 2 hr movie into MPEG2 within 2 hr using myDVD, yet your Dual 1.25 does that at almost 4 hr. Doesn't that mean that a single Intel Celeron 2.4 is twice more powerful than dual G5 1.25?
Not exactly.
I'd say that your Celeron is better at encoding MPEG2 with the Sonic DVD encoder. I did use the wrong example.... it's 4 hours to encode a 2hr AVI/XviD/AC3. Actual DV footage is much faster. It's been awhile since I used actual DV clips. Using DV captured off my camcorder is closer to the magic realtime numbers. An 8min 50sec clip takes 10 minutes using the QT Player, 11min using Compressor 1.2, 13 minutes using Toast 6.05, and 12.5 using the Mainconcept MPEG Encoder. It would probably be faster with the Sonic encoder, if it existed..... I can live with those numbers. And it appears that QT wins the 'fastest award'.

If you're that interested, install the PC version of Mainconcept and see what the Cereron does. Of course, the PC version is probably better optimized than the Mac version at this time. The Mac version, set at default (out of the box), gave these numbers on that 8'50" clip;
MPEG video encoding
MPEG PCM encoding, audio mode: 4
MPEG muxing
MPEG output file: /Volumes/Video/FCP Docs/Render Files/clip9
Initializing video encoder
Number of CPU: 2, available: 2
PPC SIMD
Video encoder initialized
Multiplexing information
Video stream 0 data rate : 1000000 bytes/sec (8000000 bits/sec)
Audio stream 0 data rate : 0 bytes/sec (0 bits/sec)
Total data rate : 1260000 bytes/sec (10080000 bits/sec)
Frame size avg = 200351 bits, min = 36512 bits, max = 745928 bits
Bitrate avg = 6004537 bps, min = 2503269 bps, max = 7999990 bps
Mquant avg = 16.53, min = 1, max = 80
Total size = -138622430 bytes
I:mquant= 9.97, X=345.29, d= 61.068, size= 45355, frames: 1061
P:mquant= 12.85, X=211.71, d= 82.051, size= 33373, frames: 4241
B:mquant= 18.65, X=146.99, d= 84.527, size= 19649, frames: 10600
::mquant= 16.53, X=177.48, d= 82.301, size= 25024, frames: 15902
Total time: 755 seconds (00:12:35), time per frame: 0.047 seconds.

It's either the software encoders for Mac not optimized for G3-G5 like Windows software encoder did for Pentium, or Mac's CPUs are just inefficient at doing video encoding
True.
Mainconcept doesn't work on a G3. BitVice had a special version for the G3 (BitVice for PPC G3 is discontinued). Doesn't this tell you something? Don't use a G3 for video editing! On another note, the G4 seems to be about equal to the Intel counterparts and the G5 is much better than both. I'd put a G5 up against any Intel any day of the week at video encoding. Forget about MPEG2 encoding on your G3, it's hopeless :P

It's time to upgrade to a G5 and DVDSP. You'll get the QT MPEG2 encoder with DVDSP, and IMHO, the QT encoder is the fastest MPEG2 encoder for the Mac...at this time :P

[brett]

plz d0nt fed teh trol