Is Handbrake better for Blu-ray encoding than Edius?

[John Hooper]

I have read that Handbrake might give better encoding results than using Edius. Is that correct?

If so, if I have a 1920 x 1080 50i PAL timeline project, what is the best workflow to then burn a Blu-ray disc?

[Claire]

Hi John, Handbrake uses x.264 instead of the h.264 that Edius uses. Handbrake iself is one of several gui's (graphical user interface) that allows one to encode in this superior quality format without having to use the command line. It's fine but does need feeding with an uncompressed avi from Edius.

Another gui for x.264 is MeGui which though a bit more complex to use allows the import of a Canopus HQ file so much easier on file space.

Without getting into all the technical side of things though there is now the TMPGenc plugin that does x.264 direct from Edius 7 timeline and there is a preset provided with it for making Blu-ray files, so this is really slick!

In a nut shell, yes Handbrake will produce better quality than Edius for your 1080 50i timeline but I would recommend the plugin instead to avoid having to make the intermediate avi file.

[John Hooper]

Hi Claire,

Thank you for the help.

Although I had heard about TMPGenc, I have never used it. I went to the website, but there seems to be several downloads. Which one do I choose please?

Is it the free version or do I need the paid for one?

When I have used TMPGenc to make the encode, do I then use Edius to burn the Blu-ray?

[Claire]

There is a trial version here John, scroll to the bottom.

Yes, you can use Edius to make the disc just as if you had exported a standard file from Edius. The output from the plugin will be a single file containing both audio and video.

[John Hooper]

Thank you...I will give it a try soon.

[John Lewis]

Whilst this is my experience only, i have hyper T4 cooler on my system with basic 3 other 120 fans. Keep an eye on your cpu temp if using x264
I have abandoned the render several times when using TMPG

[burnandreturn]

Will the Tmpg Video Mastering 5 do everything that the Edius plug-in does?

[Ron Evans]

Will the Tmpg Video Mastering 5 do everything that the Edius plug-in does?

More. It has full complement of filters etc not in the plugin. Just export a HQ or HQX file.

Ron Evans

[Liverpool TV]

I have read that Handbrake might give better encoding results than using Edius. Is that correct?

If so, if I have a 1920 x 1080 50i PAL timeline project, what is the best workflow to then burn a Blu-ray disc?

Hi John.

Unfortunately. Standard HB can't produce Blu-ray video compatible streams, maybe one of the nightly builds can. But they are very flakey and neither produce elementary streams, which is normally used for authoring. If you are talking about BD Rom, then it is fine.

If you use MeGui, this will produce Blu-ray compatible elementary streams. There are downloadable profiles for this, plus built in presets.

This may give you some pointers.

http://forum.grassvalley.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18828&highlight=X264+Blu-Ray&page=5

Also, something to bear in mind. X264 produces H264, it's not an alternative, just a brand. Plus you may find that VM5 with the X264 option may be a lot slower than the free options, and more so as plugin.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Claire]

More. It has full complement of filters etc not in the plugin. Just export a HQ or HQX file.

Ron Evans

What filters do you need Ron? Just curious.. My output file needs no filters, it's complete after the edit.

I don't doubt the bigger box of tricks will have more features but it's not more, in a sense its less because for me the main feature which got me to buy the plugin is because thre is no need to make an intermediate file. Just a couple of mouse clicks in the Edius exporter, type the file name and the file is produced.

The plugin is also slightly faster making the file than MeGui in my experience.

[Liverpool TV]

What filters do you need Ron? Just curious.. My output file needs no filters, it's complete after the edit.

I don't doubt the bigger box of tricks will have more features but it's not more, in a sense its less because for me the main feature which got me to buy the plugin is because thre is no need to make an intermediate file. Just a couple of mouse clicks in the Edius exporter, type the file name and the file is produced.

The plugin is also slightly faster making the file than MeGui in my experience.

In my experience it's the reverse. Anything else that uses the X264 engine, is faster than the plugin.

Claire. When you've noticed the reverse, have you been using the exact same settings in MeGui and the plugin?

In any event, and regardless of workflow or speed. Anyone using the right setups with a X264 based encoder, is going to be producing the best H264 files for any given destination.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Claire]

Alex, but how did you know you used the same settings? I have no way of knowing this since the plugin's output file doesn't show the x.264 settings when examined with MediaInfo, unlike MeGui encodes which do show all that. Maybe this is deliberate by TMPGenc to keep that info confidential?

Plus, the parameters in the plugin's settings use different names to the standard x.264 names so they need to be "translated" and all of them are not present.

Anyway I just did a quick test encoding of a short 1.5 minute timeline to 1080 m2ts.

MeGui fed with a GV HQ AVI : 2m24s
Plugin: straight off the timeline ; 2m20s

No major difference there..

[John Hooper]

I assume you mean me by saying Alex. I'm not Alex.

I suppose Claire read your public profile. It's Andrew isn't it?

[Claire]

Yes, get your profile sorted please.

Knew it was Andrew all the time ;) heh..

[Bassman]

What filters do you need Ron? Just curious.. My output file needs no filters, it's complete after the edit.

Claire, I am not speaking for Ron, but in my experience T5 imparts a bit of a color shift when encoding. When I encode the same clip in Edius and T5, the T5 encode has a shift towards magenta. I use the filters to adjust the color. Also maybe to tweak sharpness a bit as well.

I would want to encode in Edius all the time but progressive footage and DVD do not mix. (always need to do both).