Whats the best preset?

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Level 1

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Whats the best preset?

I am trying to understand the best presets to use at different times in Compressor (2) when trying to output not only to DVD (SD), but to the web as well. Can someone give some clearification as to what some of the presets are good for...or even a website/book to look more into this information.

I know that if I were to try and cram a couple hours of video onto a DVD, I would use the presets that are very clear in compressor (Best for 90 min / 120 min / etc...). What if I had a 3 min long video and wanted to compress for the best results. I would assume that if I used one of those presets (90 min / 120 min) it would compress it at a much lower bit rate and in turn would end up with more grainy video. I do understand a little biot about bit rates, but not a ton.

Please help me someone! 🙂

Power Mac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.9), 8G RAM

Posted on May 18, 2007 6:57 PM

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Answer 1

May 19, 2007 10:15 PM in response to Jupanzzi

to get good video you are going to have to do some research on the filters available for you in compressor.

i totally freaked out with the preset thinking compressor was crap, but i settled down and did read the help given to me about the filters, and did some web research.

now i can take an hour video that is 4.5 to 7 gb in size and create a h.264 video from that video down to 200-270 mb in size, and the video is totally awesome. i really cannot tell the difference, and cannot see any mouse teeth in high movement scenes.

if you have large video file that is long i would set the markers to a 1 minute or 30 sec clip with a lot of movement, and then experiment with the filters, and other settings. exporting that 30 seconds of my full length video until i got the results that i wanted. then save that setting as your own preset.

it just takes some trial and error. there isn't a wonder setting. i know from experience. it took me about 4 days to get 3 personal presets worked out for myself

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Answer 2

Jupanzzi Author

Level 1

0 points

May 20, 2007 11:42 AM in response to frequent popsicle

Thanks man. Can you explain what the h.264 setting is all about? I notice under most of the presets that its all in Mpeg-2 format. I see under the default settings, you can choose h264 for DVD Studio pro or iPod. Is it the h.264 for DVD Studio pro you refering to? I tried compressing in the h.264 DVD Studio Pro setting and when I try and import intot DVD SP, it says its an incompatible format. Very frustrating!

Another thing im noticing is that after I compress, im getting this kind of choppy motion throughout the span of my video. Is it safe to assume its because I just havent got the right compressor settings?

(**Using Compressor 2**)

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Answer 3

May 20, 2007 1:22 PM in response to Jupanzzi

h.264 is a codec that i use to make the data size smaller so that i can store more movies on my mac mini that is used in the living room via frontrow.

also h.264 is an QT codec that will allow you to do what i have mentioned. go to apple.com and do a search for some info on h.264 or wiki pedia.

as far as the jitters during motion. that is where the filters come into play. I wish i had bookmarked this awesome site that explained mouse teeth and interlacing/deinterlacing.

search google for that interlacing and deinterlacing.

also in creating you own presets you need to click the + sign and choose Quicktime Movie. then you can change to the setting you want by using the tabs at the top right box.

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Answer 4

istara

Level 1

65 points

May 30, 2007 3:13 AM in response to Jupanzzi

H.264 is one of the most advanced codecs around and produces the best quality video for the smallest file sizes.

Its disadvantages are the time it can take to encode, depending on your system. I had a 90min feature film once take 12 hours to convert (using iSquint not Compressor - but iSquint is usually quicker).

With H.264 you often get the option "1 pass" or "2 pass" encode. 2 pass will give you (slightly) better quality but take much longer.

There is also a USB stick that helps speed up the process, see here: http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvturbo - it looks great but I haven't tried it yet.

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