The Best Quality of All???

[adamp007]

Hi,

I hopefully will be getting the Pioneer DVDR drive in the next couple of months and will be encoding all the HI8 and DV footage ready to go onto the DVDR.

To that end I want the Highest Possible Quality of MPEG2 footage. I am currently capturing my HI8 footage using a DC30 at 704x588 @ 25fps at the lowest MJPEG compression I can muster (which is 3.0:1) - ideally I would prefer to capture uncompressed but I cannot see the option. This i would assume gives me the best possible capture from this Hi8 source.

The DV source will obviously be fixed and so I assume that I cannot alter that (I use AVIO for the Hi8 at the moment and will do so for the DV).

I would like to ask several questions.

1. I assume that the capture settings above are the best I can get. If I am wrong then can please someone elaborate.
2. Do I use the standard DV codec or is there a better (free) one around for the DV capture.
3. What are the BEST conversion settings - size of the file does NOT matter. I will be using the latest LSX3.5 encoder that I have just purchased - should I use the VBR with a high bit rate setting.

Has anyone had experience of creating the Highest Quality stuff as opposed to getting the best quality down to a specific file size ( as we all have done I am sure so as to fit as much as possible onto a CD).

Sorry for the long question and hope that I have put it in the right area (the questions crosses both Capture and Conversion).

Many Thanks
Adam

[Blacklotus]

Sorry to hear you bought LSX - you might have opted for Cinemacraft instead. i have played with LSX and Tmpgenc is simply much better. Better quality encoding and nicer manupulation of files. with LSX, you often have to multiplex the audio in because it wont handle audio (such as in a DivX) if you can return it DO IT!

[adamp007]

To be honest I am not sure why you think LSX is so bad. I have used v2.0 and v2.5 in the past and found it very good - bearing in mind that I tend to have avi streams that have the audio and video perfectly in sync. In all honesty I would love to have had CinemaCraft but at £2500 it is a little outside my price league (did I say 'a little!').

The encoder test that is linked to this site does give it a very good rating (slightly dropped if using DV footage) so I am at a loss as to how TMPgenc is a LOT better when I do see one heck of a lot of people having problems and then complaining that version x is worse then version w etc. I am not knocking TMPgenc - i have used it a bit but I want DVD MPEG2 encoding and the latest version does not have it. It could be said that I could use version 12a but then that is 8 bug fixes behind the latest.

I am after the best quality and if a number of people can Honestly say that TMPGENC is better (and not because it is free) then I will take that on board but not until then.

So guys (and gals if there are any?) whats the best???

Cheers
Adam

[Kdiddy]

This may not be the "proper" thing to say or post...but you CAN get downloaded cracked version of CCE & TMPGenc like I have, but then your scruples/morals may be higher than.....after playing with the settings for what seems like weeks now, I would have to give the nod to TMPGenc, only for VCDs cuz thats that I deal with...dunno know about SVCD or the higher end stuff that it sounds like you are dealing with....while I absolutely love CCE's speed, there is some quality sacrificed in the deal, if they can jsut even maybe make a tad slow & increase their options on quality output....then I would be all for it

[orbit7]

Cinemacraft is an expensive compression agent, yes, but its silly having something so wonderful and so unreachable courtesy of company profits.so hence the result is many cracked versions / key gens available.

Isnt it just a little unfair that because we may not be at the highest classed population that we need to be out of the league for this programs involvement and evolution?? when its obvious that using this is the be all and end all??

tmpeg gets lots more mention here because its used a lot more than ligos due to its overwhelming enhancement in quality and options.

Ligos is blocky choppy and noisy. but hey it works, just dont have any movies with too much movement.

[adamp007]

TMPGENC gets a lot of mentions because it is free!. Independent reviews of the LIGOS on its highest settings puts it on a par with the best (not exceeding though) - just look at their site and click on the link.

I agree with the pricing angle - LIGOS gave me a discount because I am a youth leader and use the encoder for our Drama shows. I cant see why Cinemacraft cant do the same - I certainly would buy it if it were under say £100. I would even agree to online tracking for a unique ID if that would help. It would kill the piracy market and give them more revenue (or maybe they are not that bothered).

As regards to morals - I do have some but not when it comes to overpriced software for amateurs. The thing is that I never know where to get the stuff from. If you want to email me on adamp007@yahoo.com furnishing with details I am all ears as I would like to try the both side by side.

Thanks
Adam

[orbit7]

All companies worry about piracy. but most people are still honest. I consider myself honest but would never pay 5000.00 aus dollars for a compression agent. Especially as I promote this product with such high regard.