TMPGEnc 2-pass vs VBR CQ Method

[Arnnie]

The word is that VBR CQ encoding gives better results than 2-pass VBR encoding in TMPGEnc. This would be handy, with encoding times cut in half.

My question is how can you accurately predict an mpg's file size prior to encoding when using the VBR CQ method.

Are there any templates people would be happy to share?

Cheers

Arnnie

[banjazzer]

The only way with CQ is to do 2-3 test encodes of what is hopefully a representative sample, and then scale up to find out what the final size is likely to be. The longer the test encodes, the more accurate will be your prediction. Basically you are looking for a filesize of ~790MB, or rather multiples thereof, depending on how many discs you will be using. My settings for CQ are max bitrate=2496, min bitrate=750 and quality setting varies between 75 and 85. I never drop below 75, and I've never found the need to go above 85. A useful place for further information on this method is to be found at http://www.svcd.cc/index.htm

However, whether CQ is better is a moot point, and already as I type this hordes of irate multi-pass VBR enthusiasts are bearing down on this thread. 8) If you have a couple of days spare, check out the thread " battle of the CBR/VBR/CQ modes" in the advanced section.

Hi Banjazzer

I use similar settings as you except I tend to up the Q value to around 85-90.
A question I have is, do you have problems with blocks on the starts of movies eg black screen & credits?

I recently encoded 2 movies with VBR CQ

1)Planet of the apes 16:9- came out excellent, I was amazed by the quality.

Also encoded with 2pass VBR, CQ encode was better plus much faster.!!

2)Inferno 4:3-dissapointed(I´m very fussy) the backrounds if you get really close to the screen were blocky at times, sitting in a chair 2m away it looks perfect.

Also encoded with VBR 2pass, the 2 pass encode was better

Arnnie- Most of the time there is not much in it quality wise between VBR Xpass & VBR CQ. Like banjazzar said with VBR CQ you need to do a few test encodes to optimise the output size of the encode.

I always aim at about 45mins per CDr80min so my settings are usually around 300-3300 Q 85-90 + Audio 224k

With my VBR 2pass av about 2500-2600
min 300 max 3300

cheers

[banjazzer]

A question I have is, do you have problems with blocks on the starts of movies eg black screen & credits?

I never get any chance to watch any of the stuff I make, so I don't notice. 8) No, I've not really noticed this, but maybe I am less discerning?. Do you have *enable padding not to be lower than minimum bitrate* ticked, as I imagine this could be a problem with credits etc?