alpha7158
May-02-09, 12:46 PM
Quick Post Conclusion:
Use h.264 codec and use handbreak to convert to itI have been playing with many different video conversion tools lately (with links to their sites):
Auto Gordian Knot (http://www.autogk.me.uk/)
Super (http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html)
QuickMediaConverter (http://www.cocoonsoftware.com/)
Media Coder (http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/)
Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/?article=details)
And considering that you all convert videos you will probably apreciate my opinion on what formats / conversion tools are the best.
btw: .avi and .mkv are file extensions that can contain many formats of video (e.g xvid, divx, h.264 ...)
Video Formats:
XVIDI had always been a fan of this codec. It was quick to convert, didn't require a fast computer to play it, the codec was lightweight and easy to install and many encoders were available for it.
I have decided that is it time for me to move away from this codec, and this is why:
You are unable to convert to XVID using multiple cores!!
Better compression can be achieved in different formats
Other (better) formats are now widely playable by default
Apple Mpeg 4 (ffmpeg)In terms of compression this format has a worse file size to video quality ratio than xvid but it has the bonus that is is not only fast to convert to but it conversion tools can make the most of multi-cored computers when converting. Super fast!! I can convert a 2 hour film from dvd to this in 6 minutes!
This codec is fairly simple so it will play well on low spec pc's too.
H.264 Mpeg 4This is the best codec for achieving the best quality at the lowest file size. It also allows applications to use multiple cores when converting which actually makes it faster to encode on a quad-core machine than XVID.
The downside with this codec is that it does take a long time to convert to it (takes me 30-45 mins to convert a 2 hour film). Also you need a reasonably good machine to play a video compressed using it, especially if the vid is in HD.
VP3[/size]This codec is designed for high compression that is easy to play back without a powerfull pc. I am yet to test this format. I believe it is an extension of what is commonly used in flash videos such as youtube... but I may be wrong.
In conclusion: if you want a quick and dirty solution use ffmpeg-mpeg4, if you want best compression to quality: use h.264 mpeg4.
Video Converters:
Auto Gordian KnotIf you are still a fan of xvid/divx then this is the converter to use if you are after simplicity.
SuperThough this is a powerful tool, the user interface is poor and it can be buggy. Supports a lot of formats though.
QuickMediaConverterThis is a good coder if you want a simple layout to convert many formats at the click of a button. It is easy to use to convert video for playback on different devices (e.g ipod).
The downside is that it's advanced mode isn't very good and really isn't all that advanced.
Media CoderI have tried to get to like this program but I just don't. It is very advanced and very customisable which is very very good. It supports a lot of codecs and is great for people who know what they are doing. The problem with it is that it is very buggy. It crashes all of the time and often fails on video formats that it claims to support. Also I don't think that the User inteface is all that intuative.
HandbrakeI have only started using this converter more recently and it has to be said that it is really very good.
good points:
The user interface is very intuitive
It has simple pre-defined conversion settings for novice-users.
It has more advanced options to tweak the conversion.
But is isn't too complex to make it hard to use
It supports multiple cores in its conversion
fantastic for converting from dvd format to a single video file.
Bad Points
It does not support may input/output formats by default. (though this is fine if you only plan to export the video-to-convert from a video editing tool in mpeg2)
It's advanced options are limited.
Note:You can get handbreak to import and convert more formats with libavformat and libavcodec.Conclusion: this is the best tool to use if you are converting a video that you have just edited in premiere or vegas. Just make sure you export from your video editing tools in mpeg2.
Use h.264 codec and use handbreak to convert to itI have been playing with many different video conversion tools lately (with links to their sites):
Auto Gordian Knot (http://www.autogk.me.uk/)
Super (http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html)
QuickMediaConverter (http://www.cocoonsoftware.com/)
Media Coder (http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/)
Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/?article=details)
And considering that you all convert videos you will probably apreciate my opinion on what formats / conversion tools are the best.
btw: .avi and .mkv are file extensions that can contain many formats of video (e.g xvid, divx, h.264 ...)
Video Formats:
XVIDI had always been a fan of this codec. It was quick to convert, didn't require a fast computer to play it, the codec was lightweight and easy to install and many encoders were available for it.
I have decided that is it time for me to move away from this codec, and this is why:
You are unable to convert to XVID using multiple cores!!
Better compression can be achieved in different formats
Other (better) formats are now widely playable by default
Apple Mpeg 4 (ffmpeg)In terms of compression this format has a worse file size to video quality ratio than xvid but it has the bonus that is is not only fast to convert to but it conversion tools can make the most of multi-cored computers when converting. Super fast!! I can convert a 2 hour film from dvd to this in 6 minutes!
This codec is fairly simple so it will play well on low spec pc's too.
H.264 Mpeg 4This is the best codec for achieving the best quality at the lowest file size. It also allows applications to use multiple cores when converting which actually makes it faster to encode on a quad-core machine than XVID.
The downside with this codec is that it does take a long time to convert to it (takes me 30-45 mins to convert a 2 hour film). Also you need a reasonably good machine to play a video compressed using it, especially if the vid is in HD.
VP3[/size]This codec is designed for high compression that is easy to play back without a powerfull pc. I am yet to test this format. I believe it is an extension of what is commonly used in flash videos such as youtube... but I may be wrong.
In conclusion: if you want a quick and dirty solution use ffmpeg-mpeg4, if you want best compression to quality: use h.264 mpeg4.
Video Converters:
Auto Gordian KnotIf you are still a fan of xvid/divx then this is the converter to use if you are after simplicity.
SuperThough this is a powerful tool, the user interface is poor and it can be buggy. Supports a lot of formats though.
QuickMediaConverterThis is a good coder if you want a simple layout to convert many formats at the click of a button. It is easy to use to convert video for playback on different devices (e.g ipod).
The downside is that it's advanced mode isn't very good and really isn't all that advanced.
Media CoderI have tried to get to like this program but I just don't. It is very advanced and very customisable which is very very good. It supports a lot of codecs and is great for people who know what they are doing. The problem with it is that it is very buggy. It crashes all of the time and often fails on video formats that it claims to support. Also I don't think that the User inteface is all that intuative.
HandbrakeI have only started using this converter more recently and it has to be said that it is really very good.
good points:
The user interface is very intuitive
It has simple pre-defined conversion settings for novice-users.
It has more advanced options to tweak the conversion.
But is isn't too complex to make it hard to use
It supports multiple cores in its conversion
fantastic for converting from dvd format to a single video file.
Bad Points
It does not support may input/output formats by default. (though this is fine if you only plan to export the video-to-convert from a video editing tool in mpeg2)
It's advanced options are limited.
Note:You can get handbreak to import and convert more formats with libavformat and libavcodec.Conclusion: this is the best tool to use if you are converting a video that you have just edited in premiere or vegas. Just make sure you export from your video editing tools in mpeg2.