Posted: Sat 29 May 2004, 4:10 Post subject: TMPGEnc 3.0
Well, 3.0 of TMPGEnc is out (with the moniker "Xpress" -- how cheesy and cheap sounding). The website says the interface is completely revamped. I was wondering if you've had a chance to play around with it, and if so what you think about it. Also, with a new interface, do you plan on writing a new guide for TMPGEnc?
Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 587 Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Posted: Sat 29 May 2004, 16:26 Post subject:
The free encoder is still at 2.521. If and when it's updated to 3.0, I will update the guide. The commercial version comes with instructions and entitles its owners to product support direct from Pegasys, and since Pegasys isn't paying me to rewrite their documentation, it's up to them to deal with their customers' questions...
I haven't tried version 3 yet. Apparently, it has better support for other formats (Quicktime, Windows Media), which is nice (if it works).
Just thought I would follow up on this. Pegasys has made available a trial version of 3.0 that works for 14 days, so I decided to give it a whirl this afternoon.
So far, I am impressed with the results. The interface takes some getting used to as it is laid out much like their DVD Author program. But once you dig around a bit, you will find all the same, familiar, settings. Be sure to click the "MPEG Advanced" tab once reaching that point in Set Output. I am still using the calculator on here; I have not tried 3.0's wizard settings yet.
I am especially impressed with the VBR encode time. A movie file that used to take 16 hours to analyze and output now takes 7 hours! At least on my computer. I don't know if the engine is better, or if the program is now making full use of hyperthreading technology. I have not done any CBR encoding yet, so I cannot speak on that.
The only glitch I am experiencing thus far involves the field order - 3.0 is not detecting it correctly. Either that, or it never did and just happened to default to Bottom in 2.5. If so, it defaults to Top now.
Anyway, I am loving it so far! And this is only Day 1 of the trial. I'll continue to update should I find problems or anomalies.
Had a look at my 3.0 version 2-pass VBR encode on a 32-inch TV. It disappoints me that I have to report inferior results.
I did a 2-pass VBR, noise reduction, max 8000 avg 4400 min 1750 1I 7P 1B encode of a 100 minute video on 3.0.
I did the same video with a CBR bitrate 4400, noise reduction, 1I 7P 1B on 2.5.
Would you believe the CBR version looks better? The VBR has pixelization throughout and the noise reduction is terrible.
Also, 3.0 seem to add brightness to the picture for some reason. Not sure if it's the noise reduction or not. But the blacks aren't as deep as they used to be, as if someone pumped the brightness up on the TV or something.
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