Hi evrybody 😄
¿Should I encode (in Vegas 15) with Magix AVC or X264vfw? I want the best possible quality. I dont care about the file size.
¿What's the main reason to use one or another?
Greetings frome México.
X264vfw is larger and lower quality than Magix AVC because the AVI wrapper does not allow b-frames.
X264vfw is larger and lower quality than Magix AVC because the AVI wrapper does not allow b-frames.
😮 So, why some people use x264 to render h264 from Vegas?
Because they can, Oscar. Compression-to-quality metric is no better than a DVD, whereas x264 (not vfw), can compress 5x more efficiently.
II want the best possible quality. I dont care about the file size.
Following that misapplied idealism you should render uncompressed AVI, not long-gop interframe.
But if you actually want to play and share your video, that is another story.
I use x264 (through MeGUI, rendering in mp4 container). But not x264vfw (in avi container).
My comparison shows that x264 gives better quality on relatively small bitrates (below 30Mbps) than MagixAVC.
I find it interesting that in Magix SVPro 15, when you click on render options, it says use "Sony AVC/MVC" for highest quality....etc. for Internet. It doesn't say that for Magix AVC/AVC MP4. Could be an oversight when they redid the program, but why would I choose something that's less than the "highest quality?"
FWIW: I've been using x264vfw to render 3D side-by-side full, and 3D top/bottom full VR, videos. I write the video to an mp4 file and the audio to the avi file, then combine them using FFMPEG. The video is copied in FFMPEG, but the audio re-encoded.