Are these good codecs for Virtualdub2?

[Guernsey]

When I was trying to clips from a video that I was editing on Virtualdub2, I realized that I only use one or two codecs at a time and I have no idea about the other ones. I have two questions:

1. What do some of these codecs for Virtualdub2 do?
2. Are they good codecs for editing vdeos in general?
3. And what do they do?

[Attachment 58213 - Click to enlarge]

[jagabo]

1) What do some of these codecs for Virtualdub2 do?

They compress video.

The lossless codecs do not compress by much. But the are generally fast -- reading and writing. They're good for intermediate files -- files you will be editing further, later.

Next are the near lossless codecs, ProRes and CineForm. These compress more than the lossless codecs. But they are visually lossless in many (most?) instances. These are often used as editing intermediates as well.

Then there are the high compression lossy codecs. In order of increasing compression (meaning more compression at similar quality, or better quality at the same amount of compression):

Xvid
VP8, x264
VP9, x265

These are good for your final product (assuming they meat your player requirements).

Finally there are a bunch of legacy codecs which are of no use anymore. Cinepak, Intel IYUV, Microsoft RLE, Microsoft Video 1.

2) Are they good codecs for editing vdeos in general?

See #1

3) And what do they do?

See #1

[killerteengohan]

Like Jagabo said, they are all for compressing the video.

They are all for compressing the video, but some are for playback on specific devices or software. Not all of them will be compatible with all devices and software. A couple of those I have never heard of, but x264 is probably the most compatible on the list next to xvid in my opinion. You shouldn't need xvid unless your wanting to watch your video on ancient hardware/software.

If you want very good quality at an average file size, I would recommend x264
If you want good or average quality at a smaller file size, I would recommend x265
If file size is of no concern, and you just want quality, then I would recommend x264 with a very high bitrate of 16,000 - 30,000kbps for HD, and 2500kbps - 3500kbps for SD. That or lossless x265/uncompressed. Lossless will be a VERY large file size though, and is probably not worth it.

[Guernsey]

I see. Are x264 a 10bit and 8bit codecs similar to each other? And what about the FFMPEG ones?

[jagabo]

I see. Are x264 a 10bit and 8bit codecs similar to each other?

One uses 8 bits per channel, the other 10. Support for 10 bit h.264 isn't very wide. For example, if you have a TV with a built in media player that supports h.264 MP4 files it probably will only play 8bit. I would avoid 10 bit h.264 encoding.

And what about the FFMPEG ones?

What about them? I already gave you a list of increasing ability to compress video. And generally, encoding speed decreases with amount of compression. For example, x265 takes much longer than x264. Pick the one that's fast enough for you and is supported by your playback software and hardware. If you don't know what you're doing -- stick with x264 (8 bit) and x265 (8 or 10 bit).