Best program for Mpeg 1??

craftech wrote on 6/10/2003, 9:43 AM
Hi,

I want to do some business card CD's for some actors which will have to include 4-5 minutes of video. The quality of Mpeg 1 is marginal at best, but some encoders must be better than others. Do any of you have any recommendations?

I will be using AutoPlay Media Studio 4 to produce the business cards, but I need a recommendation for Mpeg 1 encoding.

Thanks,

John

Comments

mikkie wrote on 6/10/2003, 10:22 AM
Truthfully I'd consider mpg4 avi's followed by wmv etc. At least mpg2.

In AMS for mpg2 I'd try to include 2 freeware mpg2 decoder files on the CD, register them with windows by calling a simple bat file, then play the program, unregistering the files afterwards on close. It's something I'll be trying in a week or so but haven't gotten to yet -> should work well as I've done similar.

On the other hand, in most any windows environment, creating avi's using the recent MS dmo encoder files might be safer. Basically the winmedia encoder 9 routines in a package that allows them to be accessed like any other encoder, creates an avi that should be compatible with most every wmplayer installed by default with windows when you use their mpg4 version 1.
PDB wrote on 6/10/2003, 10:27 AM
The Mpeg1 encoder I believe is free and gives great results...
mikkie wrote on 6/10/2003, 10:42 AM
You'll see a bit about trials, but the free version has a 30 day trial on the mpg2 functions. Still can't figure out why anyone's still using mpg1 though.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/10/2003, 11:22 AM
I use mpeg 1 (tape 30 minutes DVCPro captes, capture, convert to mpeg 1 to fit onto 1 cd) and the quality looks good even when played back onto TV. This is done with the encoded in Vegas. 320x240, 3,000,000 bitrate, 22khz, 16 bit mono. Plays off a CD great.
Zorro2 wrote on 6/10/2003, 1:14 PM
Try Microsoft Producer - a free program if you own PowerPoint - encodes to Windows Media 9 which is best for business CDs. - forget Mpeg1 for a DC bis-cards! Use WM9.
craftech wrote on 6/10/2003, 2:07 PM
Thanks for all the input:


I use W98SE as do many others. I am not sure about overall compatibility with Mpeg 4, WM9 or the new MS encoder and the "average" computer.
I do know that using Mpeg 1, you can only fit up to 5 minutes worth of video on one of those tiny CD's.
I want to avoid having a client hand these things out (they also contain resume' and headshots) to directors, casting companies, or agents and have them falter on their computers.
I am looking good quality, but compatibility problems will pose more of a threat to a client than marginal video quality.

John
Jsnkc wrote on 6/10/2003, 4:20 PM
Kind of off topic, but I would avoid using the rectangular business card CD's. IF you have to use mini CD's at least use the round 80mm kind, they will give you less playback problems, and they are least likely to spin off the tray and ruin other peoples CD or DVD drives.
craftech wrote on 6/10/2003, 7:42 PM
Jsnkc,

I use the one's with the rounded edges. Thanks though.

John
WildBlue wrote on 6/11/2003, 7:45 AM
I have found the best solution for business card CDs is MPEG1, for two reasons. First, almost any PC can play MPEG1, not so with MPEG2,4 or WM9. Second, compressed AVI files are still too large for a CD Business card. I also have found, through hard experience, that the rounded edged ("hockey rink") CD business cards fit much more easily in the CD-ROM tray, and are thus less likely to cause problems.
mikkie wrote on 6/11/2003, 8:29 AM
"almost any PC can play MPEG1, not so with MPEG2,4 or WM9."

Actually I think the original mpg4 v.1 from MS, the one that started DiVX, is playable on wmplayer 6.4 and up. Mpg1 & mjpg though are not on all older systems - only safe bet there is cinpak or intel to my knowledge. The only *really* safe bet is to have something like the windvd player that came with Spruceup and was memory resident, meaning no writing to the registry, hard drive, or installation as sometimes you can't do this from a CD on a corp machine.

I think that's why flash executables are so common on CDs as autorun routines, but there are so many players out there, something ought to work off of the CD without an install - I'd check out the player here: http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=164452

"I use mpeg 1 (tape 30 minutes DVCPro captes, capture, convert to mpeg 1 to fit onto 1 cd) and the quality looks good even when played back onto TV. This is done with the encoded in Vegas. 320x240, 3,000,000 bitrate, 22khz, 16 bit mono. Plays off a CD great. "

So go to mpg2, SVCD template, change the average vbr settings to somewhere around 1.6 - 1.8M, min to 1M, 128 stereo audio (48?), create an image with VCDEasy, burn 800 meg or so on an 80 min CD, get around an hour or more, plus optionally menus etc. If you use TMPEnc, check out the Kdvd templates for some pretty incredible results.