video compression

It has come to my attention that most people forget at least one thing when seeding dvds... the mpeg compression software. you might not think it's important but it is completely since every one uses a different algorythm to compress the videos.

Just like there are several encoders for mp3 material and the best one still is lame encoder, there are several mpeg video ones, the best software one being Cinema Craft Encoder, which is, unfortunately, a bit expensive.

A lot of people use dvdshrink and co, which is a REALLY big mistake, since that software does not encode the video, but transcodes it, which means it won't matter what the frame displays, it will encode it to fit it's specified bitrate, even if the quality is bad at the end. REAL encoders analyzes the pictures and encode properly. how can that be ? just look ... use dvdshrink and 'encode' a video en 1hour, do the same using a real encoding software, it'll be at least 4 hours.

so, this is just a plea to people transfering shows ... PLEASE ... specify which encoders and settings you used.

should anyone need any tutorial to try to use better quality software, go to the most known site about all that ... http://www.doom9.org.

Originally Posted by obcd

Just like there are several encoders for mp3 material and the best one still is lame encoder, there are several mpeg video ones, the best software one being Cinema Craft Encoder, which is, unfortunately, a bit expensive.

Great post!

Specifying the minimum, average (this is the most important figure) and max bitrates is crucial in determining whether I download a torrent. Also, if you use Variable Bit Rate, specify the number of passes that were made.

For people who can't afford the high price of the full Cinemecraft Encoder, there is a scaled down version called CCE Basic. Basically, it's uses the encoder engine of the full version, except it restricts you to 2 passes in VBR. And it's a bargain at around $60

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since that software does not encode the video, but transcodes it

Um... Transcoding is just when you encode something that has already been encoded.

Like WAV - MP3 - MP3, or WAV - Vorbis - MP3, or MPEG2 - XViD - h.264.

yep, and transcoding is bad
because the algorythm does not care about the source picture but only cares about the parameters it was given in the first place.
while encocding,actuallly 'looks' at the source

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Heh. I wasnt aware there was a difference between encoding and transcoding... But thats probably because it might be different in audio and video, as I know more about audio then video.

But still, I always thought transcoding was just encoding something that was already encoded.

Like LAME is an encoder. You encode a PCM WAVE. Then transcoding would be to take another encoder (Vorbis, AAC, MPC, or LAME MP3 again, etc) and encode it again.