thanks for the props, dklein.
i'm all about the video geekin'.
been fascinated by it ever since VCD mpgs became popular online, and went from learning all those programs to some of the more complex DVD-related programs out now. (haven't started with Scenarist yet, but i have DVDMaestro down very welll, and most people are really impressed with the stuff i pull off using it.)
i never really used VirtualDub that much, except to extract WAV files from AVI files, in the past... until this year. because i do most editing in Premiere (which needs Type 2 DV .AVI files, as opposed to Type 1), i downloaded the Panasonic DV codec so i could check out VirtualDub. (mostly because i was considering deinterlacing some footage for a DVD project.) BIG mistake. simply put, the Panasonic DV codec sucks a fat one. my source was extremely clean (read: NO grain, only clear crisp picture), and after using VirtualDub with the Panasonic DV codec, the exported AVI files had friggin vertical lines. and not small ones either. probably 12 or so of them starting from the left side of the picture all the way to the right side.
i did a triple take when i watched the test MPEG-2/DVD on my TV, and started wigging out. i pulled out the DV masters and popped them in - looked perfectly fine. went back on the computer, did an MPEG-2 encoding of an original captured DV .AVI, looked excellent... no vertical lines. so then i did some googling about the panasonic dv codec, and got some hits. apparently i'm not the only person who encountered this problem.
but in my searching and reading about the panasonic dv codec, i read up on others as well. read an excellent review with screen caps on multiple codecs and the reviewer showed how the Canopus dv codec rocks the cazbah. unfortunately, Canopus dv codec is generally only available if you get an expensive piece of hardware by them... unless you snag ProCoder 2.
i grabbed it, and i have to say, i may have to start using it (just to re-render the footage). i did a side-by-side test of encoded MPEG-2 video: captured DV. AVI file > MPEG-2 vs. re-rendered with the Canopus dv codec > MPEG-2. the Canopus blew away the straight up video... absolutely brilliant colors (made the original capture look bland, halfway desaturated, and very dull). also, the blacks are nice and rich just as it is on DV-shot footage. (ever watch a DV tape directly on TV vs. a DVD made from the same DV source? the DVD will have duller blacks... it goes back tot he 16-235 colors thing you mentioned.)
i'd definitely say CCE is the way to go (FrameServing or not) for encoding. MainConcept is okay, but i read a detailed review with screen caps regarding ProCoder, TMPGEnc, CCE, and MainConcept. out of those 4, MainConcept was clearly the worst quality of all the encoders. granted, it's not expensive compared to the others (especially CCE or ProCoder), but i could not believe the difference in quality from the screen caps. FYI, ProCoder came in a very close 2nd and TMPGEnc was almost as good as ProCoder, IMO. but i'm not a big fan of TMPGEnc (the MPEG encoder) - it always ran freaking slow on my machines. and right now, CCE 2.70 (even without FrameServing) is a screaming beast for me. my machine will do a 6-pass encoding of 2 hours of footage, which gives me great quality encodes (NEVER a single bit of blocky pixelation or bluriness during fast-motion scenes) in 3 hours.
i could do the 2-pass encoding with MainConcept of the same 2 hours of footage in 1 hour, but i try to keep the quality... and more passes really helps a lot, especially if you're encoding something at bitrates lower than 6000-7000 or so.
sorry for rambling on and on. i don't know enough video geeks, obviously. ;-)
as far as DVD authoring software, DVDMaestro is excellent. a little more difficult to use than some other ones out there, but after getting used to Maestro, it's the main authoring software that i use now. unless i'm just doing a super quick DVD, in which case i sometimes use Ulead DVD Workshop.
i tried using DVD Architect before, but didn't care much for its layout, and it seemed like i had to do "double' menus to do what i wanted (i wanted to have a simple main menu that can go directly to a song selection menu, and i couldn't figure out how to do it in Architect without having to have a link to a menu in between the song selection and main menu, so i uninstalled it pronto).
i've also used Ulead DVD Workshop version 1.3, which is nice... it's mostly drag & drop style, literally. but it has nice features - you can drag & drop buttons (from their collection included with the program), or make the song titles text the buttons. it has a built-in AC3 encoder, which is nice when you need/want to go with AC3. and it has a very easy way of having a "first play" video, i.e. you can have the concert start right up when you pop in the DVD (and then you just can "cheat" and do a menu for the song selection only, hehe), or if you make a little "production" logo or "this is NOT for sale" warning screen or whatever... it's good for that (and can play a menu immediately following the first play video clip). the only real thing that bugged me about Ulead was this: when you're setting the chapter points, it generally always played the preview out of sync. so, i'd just make the chapter points based on the AUDIO source (i.e. 1 second or so before the music starts in a song). and that always worked.
i've read a lot of people swear by DVDLab (standard and/or pro). never used it, but supposedly it's good. i have read its features, and it seems like quite a bargain at the price. but again, never used it.
also, if you're comfotable with Vegas, i don't know necessarily that you should switch to Premiere. unless you just want to try it - and if you did try Premiere and liked it better than Vegas, more power to you. i've never used Vegas, but i know a lot of people like it... a lot.
anyway, PM/email me if you want to go into video more in-depth, or if you need help finding eval. versions of the software.
Topic: Final Cut Express question... cutting a large file in half (Read 2938 times)