Would you recommend I use Bitrate Viewer then?

@Former user

. . . . Would you recommend I use Bitrate Viewer then? . . . .

Personally I do not need to know the Minimum bitrate so would not use the software Terry linked to.

MediaInfo already tells me what I really need to know - the minimum bitrate information is, IMHO, a superfluous piece of information. The most important bitrate is the Maximum - this is determine by what the device that the video is playing on from the type of media the file is on - I touched on this in your topic about uncompressed AVI files on USB stick.

The default bitrate settings, in the export dialogs, are already optimised for best quality vs file size, performance and maximum compatibility for different devices depending on which export preset you select. There is very little to gain using higher bitrate settings.

There is no universal one size fits all for playing video files, however the most universally playable format is MP4 with h.264 video codec and AC-3 audio.

HTH

John EB

@Former user

. . . .

The default bitrate settings, in the export dialogs, are already optimised for best quality vs file size, performance and maximum compatibility for different devices depending on which export preset you select. There is very little to gain using higher bitrate settings.

John EB

That has totally not been my personal experience. My MP4 exports were initially poor quality and very splotchy compared to the source clips and even how it appeared within Magix before I even learned about how to modify bit rate. The default was about one-tenth of the values MediaInfo reported for my source clips.

I'm not saying my experience is typical but there is more than one thread on this forum with complaints about export quality which have been resolved with increasing bit rate. It appears to me the default is hardcoded based on a resolution and doesn't even begin to look at the actual bit rate of your movie scenes. So yeah, if you start with crappy video then I guess the defaults will be ok.

@ReefHound

Hi

. . . . It appears to me the default is hardcoded based on a resolution and doesn't even begin to look at the actual bit rate of your movie scenes. . . . .

Not quite, you can adjust and save presets for both specific devices and export as you wish see the video below - note the example is a dummy SD web export preset and the settings I used are for this example only they are not ones I would use for exporting.

As you can see in the list of export presets I have three custom ones 1080p Web, 720p Web and DVD Architect AVC which I use regularly.

Note: your dialog may look different if you are using the MainConcept codec, however the principles are the same.

HTH

John EB

I thought we were talking about "defaults" not adjusted presets?

@ReefHound

Hi

I think you missed the point of my last comment above - the defaults are a starting point - if you do not like the results the default settings are giving, you can adjust them and create your own default settings.

Also from my comment to @jak.willis in a this topic:

Start with one of the preset settings and then, if you see issues in the video eg blockiness, increase the Average and Maximum bitrate settings by small increments eg if a bitrate of 6000/8000 shows blockiness then increment to 7000/9000 and test again, repeating as necessary until you are satisfied with the result.

HTH

John EB

I already said I didn't like the results and resolved it by changing the settings. You were saying the built-in defaults are "already optimized" and there is "little to gain" by changing them. That could discourage anyone from doing exactly what you just suggested - increment and test until satisfied. That was my point, that if the results are not satisfactory then adjust the settings.

@ReefHound

Hi

I think you missed the point of my last comment above - the defaults are a starting point - if you do not like the results the default settings are giving, you can adjust them and create your own default settings.

Also from my comment to @jak.willis in a this topic:

Start with one of the preset settings and then, if you see issues in the video eg blockiness, increase the Average and Maximum bitrate settings by small increments eg if a bitrate of 6000/8000 shows blockiness then increment to 7000/9000 and test again, repeating as necessary until you are satisfied with the result.

HTH

John EB

So if I wanted to make a complete replica of a video file, could I do that by simply using mediainfo to find out the maximum bitrate, and encode it at that same bitrate using CBR?

@ReefHound

Hi

I think you missed the point of my last comment above - the defaults are a starting point - if you do not like the results the default settings are giving, you can adjust them and create your own default settings.

Also from my comment to @jak.willis in a this topic:

Start with one of the preset settings and then, if you see issues in the video eg blockiness, increase the Average and Maximum bitrate settings by small increments eg if a bitrate of 6000/8000 shows blockiness then increment to 7000/9000 and test again, repeating as necessary until you are satisfied with the result.

HTH

John EB

So if I wanted to make a complete replica of a video file, could I do that by simply using mediainfo to find out the maximum bitrate, and encode it at that same bitrate using CBR?

@Former user

How can you do a complete replica if you choose to encode it again?

A complete replica would be a simple copy and paste job. If you have edited though, then the files have to be re-encoded to form a cohesive constant video. The nature of reproduction of any kind is inherently flawed but whether it is noticable is another matter. If there was no compression at all in the encoding, then in theory those parts not needing resampling because of an edit could be reproduced without any loss of information. But the nature of most video codecs is that they compress to make the files of a useable size. Massive amounts of data need massive amounts of storage space and lots of processing power with little gain in quality.

@Former user, @CubeAce

Hi

. . . . So if I wanted to make a complete replica of a video file . . . .

For a more meaningful answer we need to know the following:

1. What format and resolution is the original file -
   
   copy and post the MediaInfo data info on the video file, from the Text view, not screen shots they can be too small to read clearly.
    
2. What editing has been done to the video
    
3. What is your target device for playback.

Also see this comment by Scenestealer (Peter) in a similar topic.

John EB

@Former user

How can you do a complete replica if you choose to encode it again?

A complete replica would be a simple copy and paste job. If you have edited though, then the files have to be re-encoded to form a cohesive constant video. The nature of reproduction of any kind is inherently flawed but whether it is noticable is another matter. If there was no compression at all in the encoding, then in theory those parts not needing resampling because of an edit could be reproduced without any loss of information. But the nature of most video codecs is that they compress to make the files of a useable size. Massive amounts of data need massive amounts of storage space and lots of processing power with little gain in quality.

Yeah but can’t I just re-encode with the same settings and use the same bitrate as the original?

Yeah but can’t I just re-encode with the same settings and use the same bitrate as the original?

You can but it may not be necessary. Your camera probably records at it's max bit rate which may not be needed for your video. One thing John and I do agree on is you just have to test because there is no magic number that is right for all videos. And if testing with settings, it makes sense to start out at the default and work your way up. Using a higher bit rate than needed will not improve quality but will increase the file size. As posted before, you also need to consider your intended use and output file size.

Yeah but can’t I just re-encode with the same settings and use the same bitrate as the original?

You can but it may not be necessary. Your camera probably records at it's max bit rate which may not be needed for your video. One thing John and I do agree on is you just have to test because there is no magic number that is right for all videos. And if testing with settings, it makes sense to start out at the default and work your way up. Using a higher bit rate than needed will not improve quality but will increase the file size. As posted before, you also need to consider your intended use and output file size.

Thank you for your response.

Well, yesterday I performed a test. What I did was choose a video file of mine and checked it’s maximum bitrate in mediainfo. From there I then re-encoded that same file using that same maximum bitrate, using CBR. And the resulting file seemed identical (quality-wise).

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . My current processor is an Ivy Bridge processor . . . .

Odd, the tables I was looking at said your processor was Sandy Bridge, checked on Intel site and you are correct.

My original comment (slightly modified) still stands - changing to a Sandy Bridge processor you would not be significantly better off - you would still have no HWA, and, IMHO, the increase in performance from the processor is not significant enough to warrant the change.

. . . . When I try Peters solution I get a dialogue box saying 'Can't connect to device'. . . . .

When you select the red Record button below the Preview monitor and choosing record DV/HDV, that is correct, and you should click the OK/Cancel buttons on the error dialogs, you should then be prompted to download and install the codec.

If you do not get the prompt then you already have it installed.

Note: Peters instructions are for the MPEG-2 codec which is different to the MEPG-4 codec which is installed from the Help, Install extra content dialog as shown below and is selectable in the Program settings, Import/export tab

HTH

John EB

 

Can you take this conversation elsewhere please, as it is not relevant to the topic of this thread.

@Former user

Hi

My apologies - the OT topics are now hidden.

John EB