CBR versus VBR at 4096

[EwanG]

OK, part of me is wondering if I wouldn't be happier with the time savings of telling TMPGEnc3XP to use CBR at a bit rate of 4096 rather than going with a VBR 2-pass at an "average" bit rate of 4096 and a max rate of 8000. IOW, would I save a lot of time going to CBR 1-pass, and at that bit rate, would I see that much difference in quality by going to CBR 1-pass?

TIA,
Ewan

[ukb007]

The whole point of going VBR is intelligent allocation of bits minimizing wastage, and the bits saved can be profitably put to use in the more important video. A good gastronomic preparation not only needs a good cook but also a reasonable time, as opposed to two-minute noodles. Go for ABR only if time issues are more important than video quality.

Thanks.

[jimmalenko]

If your footage is all "talking heads", then you may get away with a CBR encode, but I daresay that any motion with any speed will soon show that it is insufficient for most encodes at Full D1 (720 x 480/576). You could possibly get away with a Half D1 (352 x480/576) CBR encode at that bitrate though.