cheap MPEG-2 encoders

[Lonley Driver]

Actually if you're looking for a good direct Analog - MPEG2 Encoder you might want to take a look at the Canopus MVR1000.

http://www.canopus.com/US/products/MVR1 ... vr1000.asp

It's pricey ($600), but I've been quite happy with mine, and the quality is quite good. Basically it's great for archiving, but not for editing.

Oh, and if you care it comes with a little DV-MPEG app, and a premier plugin so you can do hardware mpeg encoding.

-David

[tomj]

I can't answer the question, but I feel I have to say something since my name was mentioned : ) Besides, one of the Mac editing brethren needs to respond.

Yes, I know you lot get Cinewave ^_-

The term "lossless compression" is, to me, one of the funniest things I've heard in awhile. It's one of those trendy video terms that means absolute bunk in the real world. If you don't find it amusing, just think about it for a few minutes. This is why, if you want lossless video, you go with an uncompressed card. If you can't work in uncompressed video, you can't work in lossless.

Yes you can. CPU grunt is cheap, disk is cheaper still. DV->HuffYUV->SDI or digital component is apparently quite acceptable - economy of storage, no recompression artifacts, 4:4:4 YUV or RGB storage. Which can't be bad. No, you don't get 10-bit storage - but Digibeta doesn't actually handle 10 bits anyway, though D5 does...

Professionals don't edit in MPEG-2 because it's still quite unstable, and hasn't achieved the quality of uncompressed video.

Um... surely they don't edit in MPEG-2 (IBP form) because you can't cut the video losslessly? I would point out Betacam SX is MPEG-2 IB-framed at 18Mbps, with a GOP length of just two frames so that it's reasonably editable, and fully editable MPEG-2 requires twice the bitrate of DV to achieve the same quality - presumably this is where IMX comes in, though at least that's progressive rather than interlaced so it compresses better. Meanwhile Digibeta rules with DCT-based compression at 88MBit. You want uncompressed, it's D1 or D5, which though good is horrendous in cost. HD-D5, moreover, is I-frame MPEG-2 at something like 140Mbit, though Panasonic seem to quite like DVCPRO-HD at 100Mbit, but then they would, wouldn't they.

(I don't think D2 or D3 count for these purposes, being composite digital...)

But a good analog capture card can still get a lot better quality. I said GOOD analog capture. That's SDI, kids.

Like http://www.digital-rapids.com/Products_PCICards.html you mean? ^_^

I would love one of them - but atm, HuffYUV editing of MPEG-2 sourced material is all I can afford.

I'll be ignored, I'll be flamed, or I'll be laughed at.

"None of the above." ^_^