What is the best encoder?

[csmedsrc]

I was wondering what people thought was the best encoder? I'm new to this and I'm more concerned with quality then speed. I'm just going to make vcds. Tell me what you think.

[zeppage2]

TMPGEnc: two-fisted combination of low price and high quality
however, it is plodding...

[tigerwolf]

TMPGENC, Definitely. Especially with the features it offers, and the ability to control various aspects of the encoding. Plus as stated, the price is right. LOL.
It also doesn't seem to drag the system quite as much as a few other encoders I've used. Also with the templates its extremely easy to use.

[themamboman]

Some would say Cinemacraft. I've used it, but it really drags the cpu. It can have slightly nicer output if you go 3pass VBR, and it is slightly better at conrolling bitrate.

I personally like TMPGEnc a bit better. It has much better audio encoding, can do high quality resizing, can output interlaced video, and has a whole host of filters built-in. That, and it's free (at least version 12a which I'm still using).

[Kdiddy]

Well there is actually a way to use the best of both TMPG & CCE (who pays for software? )...you can get all the quality adjust with TMPG & use the encoding speed of CCE..a method I truly love.

[vitualis]

Yep.

Each encoder has its strengths and weaknesses and the trick is to know when and how to use each. Arbitrarily saying any particular encoder is the "best" is not that useful.

Regards.

[Jeomite]

I use CCE only for video. And do the audio (TooLame!) and sometimes use its filters (Noise Reduction!) for TMPGEnc.

[Xylocaine]

www.tecoltd.com/enctest/enctest.htm