The MainConcept standalone Encoder 1.3
- Thread starter sebus
- Start date
sebus,
I purchased a copy last week and installed it. I had no difficulties with the installation or use. I exported a project from Premiere using the MainConcept plug-in with satisfactory results. It is somewhat faster than the 1.2 version as I have a dual AthlonMP box which takes advantage of the new SMP threading model in 1.3.
I have to say that I still prefer TMPGEnc (2.59) for quality. I know some will argue with me on this but MC's lack of a 2-pass VBR encode is a minus in my book. The aforementioned Premiere project ran over two hours and I had to severely cut back on the bit rate (from 6500 to 4000) to make it fit on a DVD. Frameserving the same project to TMPGEnc allowed me to use a 2-pass VBR encode at 6500. The resulting file was small enough to burn. Frameserving quadrupled the encode time but the quality was better.
I also noticed a few glitches with the MC encoder, particularly between drastically different scene changes (from a night shot to full daylight for example). MPEG blocking was quite noticeable for one to one and a half seconds afterwards. I played around with the motion detection settings but was never able to completely eliminate the problem.
All in all I would give the MC encoder a B+. It encodes most input with enough quality to be acceptable and it is fast by comparison. If you have a copy of Premiere 6.5 the $50 upgrade is worth the price. If not, get TMPGEnc for the same price.
-wp
I purchased a copy last week and installed it. I had no difficulties with the installation or use. I exported a project from Premiere using the MainConcept plug-in with satisfactory results. It is somewhat faster than the 1.2 version as I have a dual AthlonMP box which takes advantage of the new SMP threading model in 1.3.
I have to say that I still prefer TMPGEnc (2.59) for quality. I know some will argue with me on this but MC's lack of a 2-pass VBR encode is a minus in my book. The aforementioned Premiere project ran over two hours and I had to severely cut back on the bit rate (from 6500 to 4000) to make it fit on a DVD. Frameserving the same project to TMPGEnc allowed me to use a 2-pass VBR encode at 6500. The resulting file was small enough to burn. Frameserving quadrupled the encode time but the quality was better.
I also noticed a few glitches with the MC encoder, particularly between drastically different scene changes (from a night shot to full daylight for example). MPEG blocking was quite noticeable for one to one and a half seconds afterwards. I played around with the motion detection settings but was never able to completely eliminate the problem.
All in all I would give the MC encoder a B+. It encodes most input with enough quality to be acceptable and it is fast by comparison. If you have a copy of Premiere 6.5 the $50 upgrade is worth the price. If not, get TMPGEnc for the same price.
-wp