mainconcept mpeg encoder TMPGEnc the answer

[jetli68]

write i have been testing mainconcept for a week now and i have been useing TMPGEnc for over a year

right with mainconcept you can do 3 avi 700 mb to dvd in the same time
TMPGEnc can do one with the same settings

main come out all in synic every time no probs
TMPGEnc come out all in synic every time put had to unpack the sound on one avi file first

main the quality was very good
TMPGEnc the quality was brill

main you can easy fit 3 movies on one dvd
TMPGEnc 2 easy

so the top and bottom of it is if you got time and you only want 1 or 2 movies on a dvd use TMPGEnc if you want more then use main

and plus to use TMPGEnc you need one thing time cos its so slowwwwww
main does a avi to dvd in about 2hrs 15 min well fast and good enough for most people so i would i would give the final result as

quality =====TMPGEnc=100% main 90%
speed =====TMPGEnc =20% main 100%
size of out put file depending on how many you want on a cd is

TMPGEnc=== 2 movies 100% main=== 3 movies 100%

this is my finding yours might be different

[jolo]

Thanks for sharing your excellent analysis. I use both, but I am more and more using TMPG for its MPEG tools portion, rather than encoding. I am a big fan of MC, like the people who work there and feel that they are a firm on the move.

I have yet reached 2 hours on any MC encode, for a full length movie, I am usually between 1.15 to 1.5 hours. I am running a AMD XP 2400 chip, with 512DDRon a Asus mothboard that has the nividia chipset, if that makes any difference at all.

I am curious about what you used for audio with TMPG to improve the sound. I usually use Vdub, then output to a wav file. Then input the wav file while I encode in TMPG where I have toolame in the environment settings

For me the speed of the encoding has changed my encoding habits and the way I think about things. After doing a capture, I can do a encode during lunch or dinner, it is not the overnight situation like before.

On the other hand, TMPG is a more mature product that has the benefit of some years behind and therefore a flood of information on it. Plus the predefined profiles in TMPG are excellent.

The items that TMPG has currently has built into their software the MC does not yet have and I would like to see added the most are:
1. A Keep Aspect Ratio selection (there is a way around this)
2. Profiles like the ones that exist in TMPG, especially the 23.976 files. I must add that MC handles this fine as well, but some pre-knowledge is necceaary.

But I have to say that when I have tried to contact tech support via e-mail to Pegasys, it takes days to weeks before I get a response and while they are always very polite, they usually are not very helpful. Some of that I think is due to language issues.

I also have a lot of faith in the growth of the MC encoder, some of the people there are some of the ones who have been involved with or created some of the best freeware tools which get used in encoding.

May I also add that MC is about three times the price of TMPG. I would like to see MC lower their price. It might be a real good idea of some of us would let them know that on their encoder forum

The MC forums can be found here
http://www.mainconcept.com/forum/

[troyvcd1]

Why purchase the mainconcept encoder when you can get the CCE basic for $58????????

[jolo]

I can answer that:

1. This is a pet peeve. The demo for CCE basic is so limited in time, that it is not worth my time to test it. Three stinking minutes, can't evaluate with that. I spoke to them about it, but so it goes.

2. MC is faster and can do great quality encodes in 1 pass.

3. CCE basic only can encode AVI files. MC can encode AVI, MPG 1 or 2, VOB, about any type you can throw at it. The lack of MPG encoding of CCE is a big limitation for me.

4. Ease of use.

5. The people behind the product at MC

6. CCE is e-mail only support.

7. MC cannot currently do multi-pass, which I am not thrilled with anyway. But CCE basic can UP TO 2-pass VBR and CANNOT do 1 pass VBR.

These are just a few things, but I am posting this to get something going. I would really love to hear from people who have both products or tried both of them.
I don't know which is better, although better really relates to what is important to the user.
I wish I could combine the best parts of all of them and make one great encoder out of it !!

Jon

[IvIark]

I agree with you Jon. I've used TMPGEnc and CCE for years but have just started using Mainconcept and don't bother using either of the others anymore. Some people seem to be anal about CCE, but I must say that I think TMPGEnc was always the better encoder, albeit a longer process. Mainconcept isn't too far away from either and yet does it in a fraction of the time and when multipass is implemented in the next release I think it will beat both the others hands down judging by the excellent quality for single pass.

One question, I've been frameserving from Virtualdub to get the aspect ratio correct. Is this the way round it that you were referring to? If you have any other way I'd be interested.

Thanks

[DJRumpy]

1. This is a pet peeve. The demo for CCE basic is so limited in time, that it is not worth my time to test it. Three stinking minutes, can't evaluate with that. I spoke to them about it, but so it goes.

What happened to the logo they used to use? Are they now limiting the encode time as well?

2. MC is faster and can do great quality encodes in 1 pass.

This one I would have to ask someone to verify with a speed comparison. CCE is by far the fastest encoder I have ever used, pushing VCD resolution encodes at almost 5 times the playback speed. SVCD at 2.5 times the playback speed, and DVD at around 1.2.

3. CCE basic only can encode AVI files. MC can encode AVI, MPG 1 or 2, VOB, about any type you can throw at it. The lack of MPG encoding of CCE is a big limitation for me.

Not so. CCE in conjunction with AVISynth (or any frameserver and decent plugins), will take virtually any input. VOB, MPEG1/2, MPEG4/AVI, WAV, MP2, AC3, ect.

4. Ease of use.

I can agree with this one. Since CCE almost requires something like AVISynth, or VDub, it increases complexity, but also increases flexability.

5. The people behind the product at MC

Not an issue for me. I've never contact support. I have DVDRHelp .

6. CCE is e-mail only support.

See #5, although having my A+ certs, and my MCSE doesn't hurt either though.

I'll have to try the MC encoder one of these days. The quality tests I've seen so far rated MC inferior to both TMPGenc, and CCE (CCE lost in MPEG-1 to both though. I wonder how the current version would stack up?). What demo options does MC offer?

[IvIark]

MC demo is fully operational but leaves a watermark. Give it a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.

http://www.mainconcept.com

[jolo]

IvIark,

Thanks for pointing that out. It is great that you can give MC a workover.

Then we have CCE basic which not only contains a watermark on their demo, but on allows for encoding for THREE MINUTES !!

I sent an e-mail to their sales department telling them that I would happily spend the time to evaluate their product, but at three minutes, that is not enough. Would they consider a change to this.
I received a one word answer. NO.
If some of you would like to let CCE know if they feel frustrated by their three minute limit decision, I would urge you to e-mail them at info@cinemacraft.com.

Because MC does offer a full demo, it cam be evaluated by all.

[troyvcd1]

I bet CCE is tired of getting ripped off. They probably think that this demo download is harder to hack??

[jolo]

troyvcd1,

You might have a very good point. The best way to keep people from hacking is to charge reasonable prices, at $58.00 if the product is good, the purchases would flow freely, but not if people don't have a fair chance to evaluate it.

The demo still has the watermark which I find a very reasonable thing to do to discourage hackers. I don't care if the CCE demo had four watermarks, I would try the demo. Three minute limit, I won't waste my time.
The Main Concept demo has a watermark as well, but it doesn't limit the usage, therefore it is available and I think very worth the time to evaluate.

[jolo]

Sorry, just one more thing about CCE.

In my frustration and desire to test and most likely purchase CCE basic I asked the sales rep from CCE if there was a way to pay the $58.00 and purchase the product, but get the money back if I didn't like it. I think I asked for a few days.

The answer was NO, no money back guarantees. All sales are final. It will basically cost us $58 to try CEE basic.

[alenhard]

If you haven't tried MC, I think you might be missing out. I was very surprised by its speed and quality. I couldn't believe it was that much faster than TMPGenc! I still like the MPEG tools offered by TMPGenc, but I only encode with MC now.

[Mtajr1]

I've been using both but I love Main for its speed. I do have one problem with Main I do a lot of Mpeg2 to VCD encoding but for some reason half the movies I do freeze after 40 mins the audio gets going but not the video. So when this happens I have to use TMPEng. I try to separate the video and audio than just encoding the video but I still get the same problem. If anyone know of this problem please help out.

[jolo]

This is an interesting one.

I do a lot of MPEG2 encoding.

Is this freezing while you are encoding or while playing ?

Are you setting the split file option ?

Jon

[Mtajr1]

It freezes when I play it. I notice when I input the file that it reads it as the movie is only 43 mins but when I check the length of the movie it more like 55 mins. And sure enough thats where it freeze around 43 mins but the audio continues to 55 mins?