October 2007 Archives

In the era of YouTube and sub $1000 pro-sumer cameras, the need for video encoding tools is ever increasing. By in-large, the demand for such tools is no longer a job for the professional. Today, literally hundreds of encoding tools exist. Googling "Video Encoding Tools" yields just under 45,000 results. So how do you know which tool to use?

Today, I'm reviewing a product from Elecard, a little known Russian company. The product, Converter Studio 2.0, is the latest version of their not-so-popular-but-should-be encoding tool.

Converter Studio comes in four flavors depending on the features required.

• Converter Studio (consumer product)
• Converter Studio AVC HD Edition (consumer product)
• Converter Studio Pro (professional standard-definition product)
• Converter Studio ProHD (professional high-definition product)

Most consumers, amateurs and semi-pro encoders will find the features in the first product (Converter Studio) to their liking. My first complaint however is in the names. I wish software companies would standardize on a max of 2-3 versions of a single product. For example, Converter Studio actually has more features, including HD, than the AVC HD edition. The differences in the Professional product offerings is quite obvious; high-def vs. standard-def.

The Interface

Elecard has re-written the entire UI from scratch. This is a huge improvement from the previous 1.2 product. The interface is clean, well-organized and very intuitive. Elecard has done a good job creating an interface that is equally usable by professionals and beginners. It's Apple-ish styled interface reminds me of Final Cut Studio and Apple Compressor, but far simpler.

The Preview Window

As you would expect, the preview window displays the contents of the original source material being encoded. One of the things that I've always liked about the QuickTime player is that you can use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to advance the video frame by frame. So I was thrilled when I tried this in Converter Studio and it worked.

Profiles

Converter Studio comes with an assortment of pre-defined profiles for common applications and devices including Blu-ray Disk, DVD, Sony PSP and Apple iPod. Users can also create their own profiles either from scratch or by using one of the included profiles as a template. Unlike most encoding applications, users cannot overwrite or delete predefined profiles. This is a great feature for the beginner who is just starting to learn the interface. Creating profiles is just as impressive. The enhanced Profiles window shows all available profiles and a high-level overview of what specs make up the profile. This not only is an improvement over previous versions, but surpasses the usability of some of the more known encoding applications like Sorenson Squeeze. Likewise, the Task Parameters window shows all of the details about the current profile as well as the content being encoded.

 

The Main (Concept) Attraction

Like it's predecessor, Converter Studio 2.0 uses the most advanced H.264 implementation in existence. MainConcept supplies among other things, the multiplexer and the encoding engines. A household name among video professionals, MainConcept is consistently winning awards for its superior picture quality. The purpose of this article is to highlight the features of Converter Studio, so I won't get geeky with the specifics of the actual codec. Just know that it kicks some serious ass.

Direct from DVD

Finally, I can now rip directly from a DVD into the multiple formats that I require. Although other applications are available that do this, like Handbrake, no other application gives you a better balance of features, ease of use, and output quality than Converter Studio. Previously I would use DVD Decrypter to rip the DVD, store it as a VOB, Remux it to an MPEG-2 Program Stream, and convert it using Converter Studio as an MPEG-4. Version 2.0 automates a lot of this process and saves drive space because I no longer have to store the VOB/MPEG-2. I've tried this feature on multiple unprotected DVD's and it works flawlessly.

Interlacing is Evil

To quote Alex Lindsey from the Pixel Corps, 'Interlacing is Evil'. This statement is so true. However, a lot of the made-for-TV productions available on DVD are either interlaced or telecined. So it's good to know that Converter Studio has the best deinterlace and inverse-telecine filters I've seen. The inverse-telecine filter was extremely impressive as it automatically determined and adjusted for the various pull-down methods. I've tried to inverse-telecine content using Sorenson Squeeze, Apple Compressor and a boat load of open source tools with moderate to awful results. Converter Studio on the other hand has yet to fail me. In fact, every non-progressive title I've thrown at it has worked - flawlessly! This alone is worth the price of admission.

Is Converter Studio For You?

Converter Studio is ideal for anyone looking for an inexpensive ($240 USD), next generation encoding solution. It's perfect for both beginners and professionals who have existing content who want to repurpose it for use on HD-DVD, Blu-ray, DVD, portable devices, media center appliances or for online distribution. It's an ideal solution for someone who just wants a solution that works, without having to cobble together a lot of open source tools or listen to excuses from commercial vendors as to why their product doesn't work as advertised. Although there are plenty of encoding tools, many are free, this is one application that you SHOULD consider buying.