Adobe Premier Media Encoder vs TMPGEnc 3.0xpress: whats better

[Lileman]

what will give better results for converting an avi to an mpeg2, using the Media Encoder in Adobe Premier Pro or TMPGEnc 3.0xpress. what will be the major differences or does it matter. Thanks for any help.

[guns1inger]

If you have a low quality source - anything downloaded with Xvid/Dvix/WMV (not HD) or MOV (not HD) you won't notice much difference. Garbage in, garbage out.

If you have good quality or better source - DV or better - then Adobe Media Encoder would arguably have the edge. It uses the Mainconcept mpeg2 encoder as it's basis, and can produce very good output.

However you have to define all the variables to be able to make serious choice

Quality of media
Type of filtering applied prior to encoding
etc.

You also have to figure in the fact that if you are doing editing etc and then want to use tmpgenc 3 to encode, you will have to render out of Premiere in a lossless format first so you have clean video for tmpgenc to encode. If you use a lossy format you lose any advantage tmpgenc might have as an encoder.

[Lileman]

I left you a PM but im not sure if it was sent, for i don't see it in my sent box. You told me to export in a lossless format. I cant seem to find a lossless format in the adobe media encoder. I see the typical mpeg/quicktime and windows media but i don't see something that has a lossless codec such as the panasonic dv codec or the huffy. Can someone walk me through this. I need to export the media in a lossless format to do further work in another app. Thanks for the help

[guns1inger]

I have replied to your PM.

[Lileman]

Ok i did what you said and i still dont see that option, i dont see any of the codecs i want. I have the huffy and panasonic dv codec installed. I go to media encoder, go to the drop down menu (for Format) and it only shows the mpeg 1,2,mpegdvd, quicktime, windows media, realplayer and nothing else.

Is there a way i can manually put this into premier. what are my options.

[edDV]

Warning - do NOT use Panasonic DV encoder from Premiere. It is opposite of lossless. If you want DV use Adobe's DV codec.

If you are anal, use huffyuv but come on. Your source is divx or xvid? Sorta like asking for the premium 12 coat paint job on the rusting '63 Dodge Dart.

[edDV]

I cant seem to find a lossless format in the adobe media encoder. I see the typical mpeg/quicktime and windows media but i don't see something that has a lossless codec such as the panasonic dv codec or the huffy. Can someone walk me through this.

I never understood why (from a customer perspective) Adobe separated their house licensed encoders (lumped as "Adobe Encoder") from generic codecs found under "Export Movie" settings. It is there that you will find huffyuv e.al.

Look under "Microsoft AVI" or similar.

[Lileman]

Ok , so i went to export -> movie -> settings -> general -> file type (pull down shows microsoft avi and microsoft DV avi. I dont see the codecs we have been mentioning). In the past i have installed huffy, panasonic DV, Lagarith. How do i go about selecting one of those codecs to use. Thanks for the help everyone.

[Scorpion King]

what will be the major differences

One major difference seems to be ease of use....

Sorta like asking for the premium 12 coat paint job on the rusting '63 Dodge Dart.

[edDV]

Ok , so i went to export -> movie -> settings -> general -> file type (pull down shows microsoft avi and microsoft DV avi. I dont see the codecs we have been mentioning). In the past i have installed huffy, panasonic DV, Lagarith. How do i go about selecting one of those codecs to use. Thanks for the help everyone.

Sorry I don't have Premiere Pro installed where I am now. I did find Premiere 6.5 and found huffyuv under Export Timeline - movie - settings - drop to Microsoft AVI - then compressor. In there I see all the Windows loaded codecs such as

huffyuv
xvid
divx
mjpeg
panasonic dv

and all the other VFW codecs that I see under VirtualDub.

[Lileman]

ok thats the answer i was looking for... ok what i did was export ->movie ->settings -> File type -> microsoft avi then i moved from general to video ->compressor (pulldown menu) and found all my codecs... i appreciate all the help.
Quick question im gonna mix the video im working with currently with video im gonna film with my minidv.... so ultimately what codec should i use to match the quality of the video i will be filming... Will any lossless codec do? Any preferences? Once again thanks for the help

[edDV]

With Premiere/Premiere Pro you set a Project format for the timeline and everything else is converted to that format when you render the workspace.

Most used project format is probably DV. HDV is now an alternative.
Uncompressed can be RGB or YUV (various resolutions, bit depths and codecs)

If you are using a DV camcorder, DV is a reasonable choice.