DV to MPEG2 for DVD: Best Encoder?

[kmadel]

I would really like to know if anyone has used both the Mac and the PC to encode MPEG2, and if anyone has been able to get as good of quality from the PC as they have from the mac. If so, what encoder did you use?

I am using a PC at home, and I have used Ligos, TMPGenc, CCE 2.6, and none come close to the quality of the encoder that comes with the Mac Superdrive computers (Quicktime MPEG2 encoder). My wife works with Macs at the school she works at, and the headmaster has a new Mac G4 with a superdrive, and his footage looks great. Not sure how long it takes to encode, but apples site says it encodes fast than realtime (the dual 800 is what he has). I bought a PC because I work with PC, and it was more affordable than a Mac.

I have a week to return to the PC, if I find out that I just won't be able to get the Mac quality.

Thanks,

[Shabubu]

The software for the Mac is far superior to PC (which is why most authoring houses use Mac, it's the creative professionals choice). But you can get very very good results with CCE, it's just making sure to get the settings right. Make sure to do at least 4 pass VBR encoding, do the audio seperately (with tooLame for best quality). make sure DVD compliant is checked, if your source is progressive check that.

Try playing around with the other settings on small clips, you can batch encode pretty easily with CCE, and it's so fast that the tests will be done pretty quick.

[Vejita-sama]

For the PC either Ulead DVD Movie Factory or CCE. You can d/load a demo of DVD Movie Factory from http://www.ulead.com and you can find a demo of CCE at http://www.doom9.org

Note - CCE is very expensive, that's why so many people crack the demo ver and use it. But try out both demos and look at your wallet.