My 1080p50 --> 1080p50 and DVD Workflow

[Scallywag]

Hi.

I am using Edius since v6, so i am a little bit new to this.

My Camera is capable of recording in 1920x1080p50.

After some testings i am using a workflow as you can see below.
(I was not very happy with Edius internal H.264 encoder)

1. Importing original files to edius
2. creating proxy files (because my computer is to slow for editing in realtime)
3. exporting final edit to Canopus HQ online (fine)
4. importing final edit in Staxrip
5. exporting with Staxrip and x264/AAC to 1920x1080p50 with --crf 18 setting
6. FINISHED!

For SD-Output only:

7. Importing final edit (Canopus HQ) TMPEG Mastering Works
8. Exporting to MPEG2/PAL with HQ Setting and Lanczos resizing for very sharp SD-output


What do you thing about my worklflow? I am very happy with the quality, but is there any way to make it better or more easy?

Thank you guys :)

[mattie]

I do exactly the same - export HQ avi into staxRip which uses X264 engine.

Best workflow I have found yet.

I wish edius would support VFW codecs then we could get access to the x264 codec directly within edius.

Anyways - for now this is about the best way to get high quality MP4 files.

x264 is THE BEST encoder engine out now - and its free in StaxRip!
Even TMPGEnc use this in their latest software (thats not free!)

[Jerry]

Don't forget MPEG 2 HD still works and looks great. It is soooo much faster to produce a BD with MPEG2 HD than with any H.264 encoder. If you need to push more onto the disc, yes, H.264 works well. But, why go to all of the extra effort when you can knock out your project hours faster if you are not filling a disc.

[mattie]

Don't forget MPEG 2 HD still works and looks great. It is soooo much faster to produce a BD with MPEG2 HD than with any H.264 encoder. If you need to push more onto the disc, yes, H.264 works well. But, why go to all of the extra effort when you can knock out your project hours faster if you are not filling a disc.

most 264 files are for uploading to websites (youtube,vimeo,etc) and Mpeg2 files are simply too big compared with MP4

[Jerry]

As I said, if you are not filling the disk to it's
max, there is no need to sit there waiting
for encoding.

[Scallywag]

Yes, you're right!

If i need quick and high compressed files, MPEG2 ist a very good thing.
But i always use 80Mbit CBR because i dont know what VBR Setting is safe to use with 1080p50.

Maybe 50Mbit VBR is very good, but i dont know. what do you think?
Can i go with 50Mbit for transparent quality out of edius?
Or do i have to use external encoders?

Don't forget MPEG 2 HD still works and looks great. It is soooo much faster to produce a BD with MPEG2 HD than with any H.264 encoder. If you need to push more onto the disc, yes, H.264 works well. But, why go to all of the extra effort when you can knock out your project hours faster if you are not filling a disc.

[Scallywag]

Yes, X264 is the best encoder available.

I use crf18 for high quality output and archiving.
For resized 720p i use crf23 because quality is still very good and the files are very small to share it.

:)

I do exactly the same - export HQ avi into staxRip which uses X264 engine.

Best workflow I have found yet.

I wish edius would support VFW codecs then we could get access to the x264 codec directly within edius.

Anyways - for now this is about the best way to get high quality MP4 files.

x264 is THE BEST encoder engine out now - and its free in StaxRip!
Even TMPGEnc use this in their latest software (thats not free!)

[Jerry]

48 is the max under the BD spec....unless
something has changed.
I use
35k max
25-30k average
5k minimum
these work fine in both Mpeg2 HD and AVC.

[Scallywag]

Hm, 25-30k average? thats low bitrate encoing. what kind of encoder are you using?
the internal encoder produces artifacts in 1080p50. are you encoding for blueray? BD supports 25p or 50i only, so you only have half resolution in hight and 25-30mbit is ok.

48 is the max under the BD spec....unless
something has changed.
I use
35k max
25-30k average
5k minimum
these work fine in both Mpeg2 HD and AVC.

[Jerry]

Blu-Ray has a max of 48mbps combined audio and video, of which 40 can be video and the rest audio. You can put any combination of audio and video as long as it doesn't exceed the max.

Here are some screen shots to look at.
Procoder 3

MPEG 2 HD


H.264


Edius Encoder-CBR You can use VBR as well.


Adobe Media Encoder
Mpeg 2 HD


H.264


My use of 35k was incorrect. It is 35mbps. I have always said k...my bad.
These are settings that work.

It is great that your camera will shoot 50p. What distribution media is using that format? Certainly not BD in full raster. You will end up going to a different format for distribution which defeats the purpose of that whole 50 60 p thingy.
It is always best to shoot, edit, convert and deliver in the same format and frame rate from the beginning to the end of a project.

There are other encoders that use similar settings.
VBR is used to get extra space out of a disc. CBR works just fine but I prefer the ability to adjust for blacks and titles without having to use the full bitrate at that spot.

You said the internal encoder in Edius produces artifacts in 50p. Are you going to BD 1280x720 with that? If it is for BD that is the only resolution that will work with 50p.
AME is slow as well and the Main Concept encoder is so so in CS4. I understand it is much improved in CS5.5.

X264 is a very good encoder but it takes way to long to produce a disc. With adjustments to the Mpeg 2 HD bitrates extra room is made available. But if you are trying to squeeze every little drop out of a disc, x264 or TMPGE 5 will do the job.

As far as the best encoder, I don't know. I still would prefer Cinecraft any day of the week. http://www.cinemacraft.com/en/index.html

[Scallywag]

Well, i dont want to create any discs for my own. i use a external mediaplayer that supports 1080p50. i use 1080p50 for my archive and 720p for my friends, but distribute only mkv files on BD and DVD. no need to author a bd, beacause i dont like bd. :)