More pass than 2nd pass in Tmpeng !!??!

[din4na]

How can i use Tmpenc plus , or other encode program to use 3rd or 4th pass for my movie files for only 2nd pass ???

I think more pass, and my movie's quality will be better, when i encode avi file to mpg-dvd compliant file .

Am i wrong ?!

[mats.hogberg]

You're correct, but TMPGEnc only does 2 pass VBR. I suspect additional passes doesn't affect quality that much to justify the extra time it takes. Actually, I very rarely use even 2 pass!
CCE can make more that 2 pass VBR encodes.

/Mats

[din4na]

Thanks Matt, i think about more pass because my computer is strong enought thought

And for example, i use tmpenc to conert 1 avi file to 1 dvd - mpg file, using this setup,

2nd pass, VBR medium bitrate =4000 , DC component precisions = 10 bit
motion seach = fast , quantize = default, i think this is best setup for superb output quality , but my output movies's color look so ... hmm, not deep as the original, like 24bit <> 32 bit .

And what do you think which setup is the best for Avi to Dvd ?

Thanks

[mats.hogberg]

Well, AVIs are usually so compressed, that the best Q is already taken out of the video, so no matter what, it will look "not so good" as DVD. Your settings seems fine, but I usually set Motion Search Precision to "High" (not "Highest", as that setting takes forever!).
Actually, I've taken to use MainConcept for DVD encoding, if nothing else because it's faster that TMPGEnc and yields about the same result qualitywise.

/Mats

[din4na]

Thanks, ive just watched Freaky friday, he he, its fun as hell, especially when jamie lee curtis fake a short rock music yeah, its really rock ^^

Hmm, back to my topic, Matt, whats your setting in main concept ? in mean, the best ?

[mats.hogberg]

Jamie Lee's hot (still), and Freaky Friday wasn't that bad, I agree!
As for settings in MainConcept, I just use 1 pass VBR, maxing average to fill the disc which usually targets round 4-5000 kbps, setting min to 2000 and max to 8000 kbps. I'm sure there are many settings to tweak, but for me, the quality is more than enough.

/Mats

[adam]

I agree, the number of passes is pretty overrated. Truthfully, you can probably get everything you need out of 1 pass, but you'd need to perform some quality tests before final encode to be sure. Using 2 pass, your pretty safe in getting about that same level of quality (equal to a good well planned 1-pass). Beyond this, the encoder is definitely still making improvements in bitrate allocation, but its not like its anything you are going to actually see.

With that said, I usually do 4 pass VBR (vaf + 3 passes) at the least in CCE, simply because I can. My motto is, the best number of passes to use is however many you can do and still have it finished by the time you wake up.

As for your current encodes, you really should be using a DC precision of 8 at those bitrates. You'd only use 10 for a very high bitrate, like 9 or maybe 8Mbits. I wouldn't even use a DC of 9 unless you had at least 6.5-7MBits. I would also strongly consider raising the motion search precision. This can make a huge difference in quality.

As for the difference quality, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. PC's use a different luminence range than tv's, and when you encode to mpeg the luminence range is compressed. This is something that is going to happen in any encoder. Your avi file utilizes the full luminance range (0-255) and after encoding it will only use 16-235. If you then view this on your pc compared to your original avi, it will appear washed out and not as vibrant. Play it on your tv, however, and its perfect. This is how you should make your comparisons.

Then again, some encoders maintain accurate colors better then others. Maybe try a different encoder and see if you prefer the quality more, but TMPGenc is pretty darn good.

BTW: The server version of TMPGenc does/will support more than 2 passes. I'm not sure if its out yet or available anywhere or what, I have just seen information about it on TMPGenc's website.

[SaSi]

I would agree that too many passes can be a waste of time. In my experience with CCE, more passes make sense only when both average bitrate must be low (e.g. fit 3 hours on a DVD) AND, the movie has scenese with diverse motion content (i.e. lengths of still or low motion scenese and ultra high action scenes).

My "best" test video for such content is the movie Armageddon. The flight through the asteroids is a very very difficult part to compress.

CCE will "transfer" bitrate from slow parts to the high motion parts on every subsequent pass, provided that the BIAS (in Video Quality form) is set low enough to allow it. Otherwise the video is more or less CBR with slight bitrate fluctuations, rendering a 3rd pass really redunant.

Another approach to avoid multi-pass encodes, is to either split the source AVI in separate segments depending on content and difficulty and encode them separatelly with different settings (e.g. slow parts encoded at 3400kbps, high motion scenes at 6000kbps, end credits at 1800kbps).

This requires a bit of work beforehand, but it is much less time than a full pass of a movie, and yields even better results than multi-pass encodes.