CATEGORY: Multimedia

CBR vs. VBR digital encoding . . . and what it means to you

What it boils down to is that there are different qualities of digital encoding . . . even when going to the same end product like a video DVD.  

Let’s say a client wants to transfer a digital betacam videotape to DVD.  At Video Labs, we have three routes we can follow. 

The least expensive option is to play back the videotape and encode the signal directly into our Pioneer DVD recorder. 

We have three of these Pioneer DVD recorders.  Even though they are not made anymore, they continue to be workhorses fo us.  We like them for a number of reasons, including: they can take component and SDI in, can handle both NTSC and PAL signals, and offer some basic authoring capability.  (And as a side note, an added bonus is that when encoding  SD captioned tapes, these DVD recorders don’t strip the line 21 captioning information in the vertical interval, thereby making for an easy way to carry over captions from a tape to a DVD.  Read more about this in my article: “The Challenges of Subtitles and Captions in DVDs“ ) 

A more expenisve solution for encoding a video would be to digitize the footage into our Final Cut Pro and then use Compressor to create a MPEG2 video and AC-3 audio file, and then create a DVD in DVD Studio Pro, Adobe Encore or Sonic Scenarist. 

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Revisiting anamorphic and aspect ratios . . .

We certainly remain in transitional times in our media field.

And few things illustrate that more than the continuing confusion created by the various aspect ratios that video can be displayed in these days.

SD, HD, 4:3, 16:9, letterbox, anamorphic, wide-screen . . . all terms that you hear mixed together.

My good buddy and tech guru Chris Vazquez wrote an excellent article on this site two years ago about SD anamorphic , and it continues to be one of the most-read articles on my website, but questions still abound, especially when it comes to DVD authoring.

So let’s try to further clarify.

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What are AC-3 audio files?

To quote the site www.fileinfo.com, “AC-3 files, or Dolby Digital audio file format; may contain up to 6 channels of audio, including a subwoofer output (a.k.a. 5.1 surround sound)”

These have been referred to as  ”Audio Codec 3″ or “Advanced Codec 3″ or “Acoustic Codec 3.”

Regardless, this is the file format that was adapted for the audio portion of DVDs and Blu-ray discs.  Just like the mpeg2 files that make up the video portion of a  DVD or Blu-ray discs, the AC-3 files cannot be edited.  That was instituted on purpose of course, as an anti-piracy measure.

(As a side note, remember, in addition to not being able to edit mpeg2 or AC-3 files, you cannot drag those files as accessible elements from a DVD or Blu-ray video disc either: http://tinyurl.com/yj8wy3c)

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The Philosophy of “Creation” and the Appeal of Adobe Illustrator & Quicktime H.264

Why do we at Video Labs www.VideoLabs.net often tell our clients that our preferred format for artwork files are vectors created with Adobe Illustrator?

And why are we talking so much about H.264 files for video?

Allow me to digress for a moment.

From a philosophical point of view, the concept of making something out of nothing has long intrigued me, and of course, that has been pondered by greater minds than mine throughout the ages.

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