Mpeg Streamclip and H.264

[stshipley]

Hello,

Why does MPEG Streamclip take 4 passes over the material when H.264 is selected in 2-pass mode.

I'm using the new 1.5.1 version released today.

-STS

[havema-1]

FWIW the H264 technology brief says the following:

"Intelligent multipass encoding

Apple’s implementation of the H.264 encoder employs a patent-pending technology
for using the optimal number of passes to produce the best possible quality at the
desired bit rate. This technology produces superior quality and bit rate efficiency compared
with traditional dual-pass and single-pass encoders, and it takes the guesswork
out of the encoding process by intelligently determining the optimal number of
compression passes to perform.

Single-pass encoding mode

When encoding speed is a higher priority than pristine quality, the QuickTime 7
H.264 encoder offers a single-pass encoding mode for a good result in a very short
time. Using patent-pending techniques, this accelerated encoding mode saves time
when the user wants to create “draft” versions of an encode or when a deadline is
quickly approaching."