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scotman

scotman

Well-known member
Guys, I need some help. For some reason I am just not understanding the whole compression, interlaced, HD jargon. I dont think it should be as complicated as I am making it, but could someone explain a few things in lamens terms to me.

1. I record with my DVX100 at 24fps. Is this footage progressive or interlaced?

2. I capture using PPRO CS4 and do my editing etc then export using the ADobe Media Encoder. Should I export an uncompressed avi. If so what settings?

3. (this is where i loose it the most) I import the exported footage into Sorenson 5.0, on export the footage looks like CRAP.

My main usage is for videos to display out of my laptop through a projector.

But I sometimes export DVD's. The main export option I use (preset is Mpeg2) because its decent quality but small file size.

Can someone share with me the best compression settings for Mepg, or should I be using a different format for my computer display.

I always click progressive because thats what I want but is it the best option if my orignal footage isnt progressive.

Please help

Thanks a millsion
 
I wouldn't go to media encoder, just go to export movie.

use settings for mpeg2 for use with computer or just leave it an avi

this should give u a file that is usable in editing in future or playable on computer.

don't like the uncompressed avi, this only works when you use it back to Adobe NLE system.

i think sorenson will work better with the file as a avi then use the sorenson settings to squeeze if needed.

btw, this is not an exact science.

i have asked the same question about best settings and it really is preference depending upon what you are going to do with the clip, i.e. web, dvd, future editing.

also, don't think progressive does anything if you don't shoot in progressive.

if i shoot in 60i, the most i can do is deinterlace for web. placing a 60i footage into a progressive setting doesn't do anything to improve.

i think the basics are, shoot in the closest format you want your footage to be in, then edit in the same format or settings.

anything else is just a work around and comes with lengthy fixes and just compromises quality.
 
1. It's progressive
2. what are you doing? What are you hoping to get out of this step?
3. Unnecessary and totally predictable. You tossed away a bunch of quality at step 2, and are now tossing away a bunch more at step 3. Don't do that.

You are getting NTSC DV files out of your camera. They are 720x480 and they are highly compressed. You can render out from here to any format you need. If you are going to make DVDs then you need to render out Mpeg2 in the appropriate way. If you are going to the web, then you should be encoding mpeg4/h.264 encoded files. If you want to play out over the projector, your computer should be capable of doing that without any more encoding at all.

Mpeg2 throws away a BUNCH of information, and the ONLY time you want to do this is if you are making a DVD.
 
PerroneFord said:
1. It's progressive
2. what are you doing? What are you hoping to get out of this step?
3. Unnecessary and totally predictable. You tossed away a bunch of quality at step 2, and are now tossing away a bunch more at step 3. Don't do that.

You are getting NTSC DV files out of your camera. They are 720x480 and they are highly compressed. You can render out from here to any format you need. If you are going to make DVDs then you need to render out Mpeg2 in the appropriate way. If you are going to the web, then you should be encoding mpeg4/h.264 encoded files. If you want to play out over the projector, your computer should be capable of doing that without any more encoding at all.

Mpeg2 throws away a BUNCH of information, and the ONLY time you want to do this is if you are making a DVD.
Click to expand...


I'm having a hard time following this.#2 How else would he be able to edit his footage if he doesn't capture it in some way? And #3 I always thought Sorenson Squeeze was much better than any other compressor program mostly because it has multipass. If he captures in his NLE and then exports to Sorenson Squeeze with a lossless/uncompressed format and then compressed in Squeeze, I don't see where he is losing quality.
 
boke said:
I'm having a hard time following this.#2 How else would he be able to edit his footage if he doesn't capture it in some way?
Click to expand...

Yes he has to capture. But he may not have to encode out depending on what he's doing. Thus saving an unnecessary transcode.

boke said:
And #3 I always thought Sorenson Squeeze was much better than any other compressor program mostly because it has multipass.
Click to expand...

Every decent compressor I've seen has multipass. Sorensen Squeeze is good, but multipass doesn't make it the "best".

boke said:
If he captures in his NLE and then exports to Sorenson Squeeze with a lossless/uncompressed format and then compressed in Squeeze, I don't see where he is losing quality.
Click to expand...

Not all lossless codecs are lossless. And yes, if he moves his stuff around uncompressed, he's not going to lose anything. But that's a HEAVY burden to pay for most people. I did it for many of my projects until I started using Cineform. Which is not lossless, but I didn't mind what I lost. With HD, I have more and better options now.

To me, the point here is to recognize what the needs are first, then make decisions based on those needs. There is no one best way to do this. If I was going out to the web, I'd capture DV, then encode mpeg4. With DV sized files, 768k should be plenty of bitrate for that, especially if using 2-pass.
 
Lumiere said:
does 2 pass means more quality?I always choose 1 pass on media encoder options..
Click to expand...

2-pass should increase the quality.

The first pass just analyzes the scenes, and attempts to "guess" how many bits should be used for each frame. After all the frames are analyzed, the encoder will take a good guess on where to spend the bits (this is why you have average bitrate, and max bitrate)

The second pass does the actual encode, with the information from the first pass to effectively "spend the bits" where needed to maintain high quality.
 
I wonder something, even if i have raylight codec option on the media encoder options,it says '' did you install matrox codec'' and cancels it.Should i buy a raylight package to export with raylight options?

thanks in advance
 
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