What's the best Video Codec?

G

GhostPro

New member
I took a one minute rendered AVI and compressed it into Cleaner XL and created a Real One, QuickTime, and Windows Media movie at the same dimensions and audio settings. The Real One is by far the best compression of the three at near half the file size of the QuickTime MOV. The Windows Media WMV was about 5mb larger than the Real One.

Why do I see so many people using MOV if the other two formats are smaller and better quality?

NOTE: The MOV options are different so I just played around until I got the same quality as the other two formats.
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

I guess one of the first things to consider when encoding something is your intended audience.  You want to provide a file format that the majority of users will be able to view with the least amount of hassle.  Personally, I really really dislike Real.  I consider it old and outdated technology.  Sure, the file plays fine when it's playing off the hard drive, but in my exprerience, it just does not stream well, as it's very prone to image breakup and slowdown.

My first choice would be for windows media format, but that may be simply because I haven't experiemented with quicktime .mov or quicktime's .mp4 formats for some time.  For myself, windows media has the best filesize:quality ratio.  But even that opinion probably just boils down to personal preference; which could be the reason why so many people use quicktime...that and industry hype.

BTW: Welcome to DVXuser!
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

It pretty much comes down to two types these days, QuickTime and Windows Media. The latest WIndows Media 9 series looks awesome, they have made great strides in quality to file size performance, it also allows for 5.1 surround sound.

I also find the uprez function to be quite nice. I have taken my 24p SD files (from the DVX100) and rendered out 720 x 1280 for digital projection (native size of projectors) and the result was very nice.

Michael
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

Im going to say WM9... In my opinion it beats Quicktime and plus Microsoft has partnered with Landmark Cinemas to put in special Digital projectors that can project WM9 in theaters. you can watch some incredible WM9 footage on the BMWfilms DVD.
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

WM9 sure seems to render more quickly, too. I also agree that the quality/filesize ratio makes it the most attractive choice for me, not to mention that I'm a surround-sound junkie. Can't wait for that Bravo Hi-Def DVD machine to hit the markets.
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

When are they going to make a Window 9 encoder for MAC? I just hate moving my files from MAC to PC for the WM9 encode...

Andrew
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

Doesn't a program like Sorenson Squeeze or ProCoder create WM9 on Mac?
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

I thought Procoder was PC only.  I need to check into that..Haven't bought the Sorenson product yet. But I am having difficulting understanding the specs.. It appears that the Windows version supports WM9, but the MAC version doesnt.  Maybe I just need to do my home work.  I haven't been a MAC user but a couple of months...I was sorta hoping for a free product like MS makes for the PC...

Thanks for your thoughts,

Andrew
Crystal Clear Media
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

After checking a little more via the company websites.. It appears as though Procoder is PC only and the Sorenson product for Mac only outputs QT, MP4 and Flash. The Windows version supports those plus REAL and WMPlayer 7,8 and 9....

Andrew
Crystal Clear Media
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

I use ProCoder 1.5 for day to day conversion, it can make beautiful WMV files and QT 5 ( not QT6 ). As for it's QT capability, is much enhanced by the Sorenson 3 codec
The speed is better for converting to WMV, but the picture quality is better in QT5
I do not have procoder 2.0 I cant tell its improvement over 1.5
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

[quote author=MichaelP link=board=Events;num=1077415512;start=0#10 date=02/22/04 at 18:56:16]Oh well, it was a shot... sorry. [/quote]

No problem. I really appreciate your help.

Andrew
Crystal Clear Media
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

For what it's worth, the next major version of Xpress Pro will export WM9 directly with no need for a third party application.

Michael
 
Re: What's the best Video Codec?

My personal preference for the past few years was quicktime with sorenson 3 exclusively.  Best quality .vs filesize of any period.  I really don't care for rm and don't encode using it.  I have to say that since wm9 has been released it is a whole new ballgame.  I started test encoding with their beta encoder when it was available and although it had some serious hitches, the output was remarkable.

Today I do both quicktime/sorenson3 and wm9 for our website.  Mac people are happy and PC guys like it now -- alot complained when I only had quicktime, I think they didn't want to mix apples into their PC ;D

-Rodger
 
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