Encoding Settings / Variable Bitrate or Constant?

[ToxMox]

I'm wondering what is the best way to encode to make it so that the videos process quickly on SmugMug but still maintain the best possible quality? The specs page in the Wiki doesn't mention whether the bitrate should be VBR or CBR.

Thanks,
Dave

If anyone uses Adobe Premiere to export their videos using either the Adobe Encoder or the Mainconcept HD Pro plugin and have discovered good settings for both 740x480 DV footage (which I size to 640x480 for SmugMug) and 1080i AVCHD footage (which I size to 1280x720 according to the wiki for HD) Please please please share your good settings :)

[ToxMox]

No love?
Anyone posting HD videos recorded on a Canon Vixia HF10/100? Those are the clips I'm especially trying to playback nicely on SmugMug.

[scwalter]

No love?
Anyone posting HD videos recorded on a Canon Vixia HF10/100? Those are the clips I'm especially trying to playback nicely on SmugMug.

I was waiting for someone else to answer too...

I use Premeire Pro 2.0 and I just use the Export>Movie and then choose Quicktime h.264 at 1280x720. I usually need to lower quality to about 40% to get the file size under 512MB. I don't think the quality with this method is very good, but the encoding is reasonably fast and I haven't found time to explore all the other choices in the Adobe Media Encoder.

I can't wait until CS4 comes out so I can get some better export options (I skipped the CS3 version).

-Scott

[BradfordBenn]

I am basing this opinion on what I have heard from listening to audio compression schemes, and watching bad compression on video feeds. Variable or Constant bit rate being best depends on the material being presented. My understanding of the Variable Bit Rate (VBR) is to allow for the use of a lower bit rate for simpler sections of the material and higher bit rate for the more complex sections. The main reason for this is to reduce file size and to reduce the bandwidth used to some degree.

However there are a few tradeoffs:

Most encoders make their best guesses of what is simple and what is complex, you might not agree
While streaming material, the variable rate can cause jerkiness as the bandwidth to deliver to the receiver might not be able to catch up (my work around is to let the whole thing download before watching/listening)
The image/audio is probably not going to be the same through out the entire piece. It could be that the bit depth is reduced for a portion so the color just does not look right or something might not sound right.
The file size can be very much reduced


I do not know how SmugMug is handling the file management and streaming so I can't address which is better for their servers. I just know about the trade offs from CBR to VBR from the audio world.

[ToxMox]

Brad,

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I guess I made my question a little vague.

According the wiki the cutoff for where SmugMug re-encodes hi-def is 1280x720 3.2Mbps H.264. So basically to have better quality video I would like to do VBR with a high of 5-8Mbps and an average of 3.2Mbps. Now what I am wondering is that if I do that will the average of 3.2Mbps keep the file within spec or will SmugMug consider that to be above 3.2Mbps and re-encode it? I'm sure somebody at SmugMug knows the answer to this.

[ToxMox]

After looking at some of my video files uploaded to my account it seems as though SmugMug uses VBR to re-encode. Still would like to know ideal settings to have the best possible video without the need for SmugMug to re-encode it.