Video Tutorial: Video Encoding - Smallest File Size & Highest Quality w/ Free Tools

[ViciousXUSMC]

Hey long long requested is a tutorial on how I encode my videos. They always come out visually identical to the original and super small in size (small enough to email as an attachment in many cases)

It was way too complicated back in the day when I used to do everything via command line and download/use each program individually but now with great GUI front ends that use the same tools I do I was able to make a user friendly tutorial.

This information is good stuff, I am sure you can learn something and increase your quality of videos many times over with my techniques unless you are already very savvy with video editing/encoding.

This covers info on both using a video editor like Sony Vegas, and how to go directly from Fraps files to a final encoded single file ready for youtube with no editing.

Enjoy.

Download this file directly - http://rapidshare.com/files/44587712...g_Tutorial.rar (95mb)






YouTube - Video Encoding Tutorial: Smallest File Size & Highest Quality Using All Free Tools

[Forge]

Great tutorial, Vicious. I've always wondered what steps encoders took to scrunch down their file sizes. Now I know. I do notice that you're doing this on a desktop, and it took about fifty minutes for the encode. What kind of hardware are you packing, so I can have an idea. I mean, I'm not going to be encoding anytime soon, but I'd like an idea.



Also saw you have Shakugan No Shana 2 nestled somewhere. Looking forward to Funimation's release.

[ViciousXUSMC]

Q6600 @ 3.6ghz

the x264 encoding will max all 4 cores @ 100% during the entire duration of the encode as it is infinite threaded and will use all available cpu resources.

The Lagarith encode uses like 60/70% of my CPU on all 4 cores.

If you do not see the CPU @ 100% during x264 encoding that means something else is holding back the encode (like HDD write speed) I use pretty high quality settings, so it would be less cpu intense to use more lax settings.

I was on the Magicka forums and some guy was asking for encoding help, using the default H264 encoder settings from Sony Vegas for a 10minute long 1080p clip he got almost a 4GB final file.

Also I found the default H264 encoding for Vegas changed the video colors some (made them darker) so I had to make this tutorial to show I can make a 14 minute video also @ 1080p well under 1GB else people would call me out as a liar.

Since this 28min video is only just over 100MB when I get home I will probably upload it to a filehosting site so it can be downloaded for direct viewing and highest quality, youtube kind of kills off the quality/clarity of the small text even in 1080p and it has a horrible time steaming 1080p for me.

One more minor recommendation from me. Dont be bold and assume a 64bit video editor is the best. If your like me and use codecs that are not "the norm" many only have x86 variants you can not load your files in the editor. I captured this tutorial with Camtasia using MSU's Lossless Codec (better than Camtaisas default, its a free download) but not realizing that it is ONLY 32bit and on my desktop I only have 64bit video editors.

So I was not able to edit this tutorial footage, I had to encode it directly into MeGUI just like I showed how to do with the FRAPS files at the end.


I have to say honestly to this day I have not seen files floating around compressed as good as mine, even "scene" videos and stuff usually are at least 2x larger than they need to be for the same quality.

I must sound pretty full of myself lol, not trying too but being honest. Guys at like Doom9 know 50x more than me, but I just never see any videos from them. Also just like any enthusiast forum they take things to a whole different level. Like a normal encode setting for them might be like 10 for quality on Placebo preset. Takes 2 full days to encode one movie.

Same way you ask for headphones here and get a recommendation for $100 and go to headfi and get one for $1000 lol. So here is my "middle man" settings that knows enough about the stuff to be talking about it and yet not obsessed with it.

The MeGUI guys are the ones that deserve the biggest praise IMO, I just was the guy that brought the information to public use and simplified it into a tutorial.

Other free encoders similar to MeGUI you can look at.

HandBrake, StaxRip, AviDemux, RipBOT

[orange193]

Great post im also encoding using MeGui in my core2duo laptop and im looking forward for the new SB laptops. In a 24 minute 720p anime at high settings for MeGui how many minutes will it take when I am in a for example Core i7 SB laptop?

[ViciousXUSMC]

Just depends, but it should be about 2x faster if your i7 is close to the same clock speed and nothing else is slowing you down.

If you use a lot of filters or have a slow HDD that can slow it down and keep the cpu from reaching 100% load.

Something to note there is a 64bit version of x264 and even a 64bit version of MeGUI & Avisynth (need them all) and if you use 64bit it can be like 15% faster.

I just use 32bit because its more compatible, as many Avisynth filters are only 32bit.

[trvelbug]

bookmarked. thanks for the info and +1

[masterchef341]

I prefer the term "visually transparent"

[Forge]

Thanks to Vicious, I'm encoding like nuts. It's not nearly as complicated as I thought.

[masterchef341]

so wait, can i get the nutshell process here? I'm not sure what is special about having a 1080p video come in under 1 GB for 14 min... what are we comparing it against?

Some things to note:

- The fraps recorder is not lossless. It is advertised as "near lossless". That is exactly the same as "not lossless" and "lossy". All encoders have to strike a balance between encoding time, image quality, and file size. Fraps finds its balance on fast encoding, large file size, and high image quality. It is absolutely lossy, though.

- as long as your final upload to youtube is under 20 GB, you should not re-encode anything if you can avoid it. You can use virtualdub (free, open source) to stitch together fraps files perfectly without reconversion.

- x264 is the best thing since sliced bread if you want to do lossy video compression. It is the answer as far as I'm concerned. It has the flexibility and control to let you decide the balance of the encoder. If you can wait a long time to encode, you can get very high quality files and very small file size. Generally, the results with x264 are significantly better than other encoders and the resultant files have extremely high compatibility. Handbrake, in particular, is a good x264 encoding tool with GUI and CLI variants.

- just as a metric, x264 encoded blu rays with very high quality and very long encode times at full resolution can come in under 4 GB depending on your audio settings. On average, maybe 8 GB. The original blu ray format video is usually about 25-30GB.

[Abula]

Thanks a lot for the video and for sharing all your tips. + rep

What would you use for ripping Blu Ray (legally owned) into smaller files with full mutli channel audio, without losing to much quality?