Re: Choice Between MPEG2 and H.264 for Authoring?

H.264 is MPEG4, which is a more efficient codec from a space standpoint. In other words, at lower data rates, it will produce superior quality video than MPEG2. At higher data rates, there is a rolloff, and the quality differences are difficult to differentiate. Both produce great results at 25Mbps, which is what I like to shoot for. The only downside of going with H.264 is that render times take quite a bit longer, and the processing power needed to decode is higher, but will not be a problem for Blu-Ray players. I can't think of a good reason to author to MPEG2, unless you are extremely restricted on time for renders, and H.264 will take too long, but for normal situations, the quality benefits outweigh any downsides.