Re: Best Mac Encoder? - Opinions?

Glenn,

I've read several posts, and seen testing done with bitrate viewers on Compressor files showing some significant fluctuation of the video encode bitrate. If one chooses a high VBR max (like 7500-8000), a spike in the encode can bump it to a point that when combined with the audio, exceeds the dvd spec limit of ~10 Mbps. Unfortunately the time you find out that is the problem, is often during the build. Since you can't just fix the spike, it requires re-encoding. Just because you have never had it happen, doesn't mean that it doesn't. If one doesn't push the upper end of the encode, or uses CBR, then they might not experience very often if at all. I don't personally use Compressor (I don't think the quality matches up with what I get with PC 2). I'm a PC man who recently got into using the Mac last Spring for authoring. I don't really have an axe to grind either way, but Procoder is better and much faster. Better yet, my authoring machine isn't tied up encoding (which can seem like forever with Compressor even on a fast machine). If I run across the post that had links to tested files, I'll post it. It's buried somewhere on the Apple forum.

Jim