Finally started using Rebuilder/CCE was it worth it?

WOW!!!! This is interesting. I usually just spectate when threads take this direction, but I must ask:

maxxjulie- Do you have something against DVD Rebuilder?

I usually search extensively to gain a consensus on a particular software/process to narrow down the choices. Through my own testing, I find out what works best for me. I must say, maxxjulie, you are in the extreme minority in your judgement of DVD-RB with CCE, HC, or Procoder2. However, it's just that: YOUR judgement. No one can tell you what you see, but I, too, have a 52-inch HDTV, EXCELLENT vision, and my output from DVD-RB with any of the three encoders I mentioned above is outstanding!!!! Maybe you should compare your output to the SOURCE rather than the output of another software.

My technique is very similar to Mort's as in how many passes and when. Actually, Mort is one of the users whose testing and observations helped influence my decision to use DVD-RB when I was new to this.

 

There's this ongoing discussion about compression and percentages, and how one application compresses better than another depending on how many giga-plus bytes it has. The physical size of an original DVD copy does not, after compression, necessarily determine its copy quality. There are other factors that causes a DVD to house more gigabytes. Sound tracks for instance, can add up quite quickly, especially when one considers language translations and encoded audio formats (DD, DTS, or PCM).

Transcoders and encoders do things quite differently. Transcoders work with existing DVDs more or less by seeking to remove parts or frames of it that won't be missed such as to affect the overall visuals. A lot of transcoding involves compressing "B" frames, because they can without too much visual loss, handle a much greater compression rato (50:1) than "I" and "P" frames can (>20%). Then there are action scenes with lots of high speed visuals that require much higher bit rates than slow moving or still scenes do!

A quality comparison of formats can only be made against the same original to be valid.

 

Thanks for the lesson. The percentages I gave were compression ratios fitting video to DVD5 with space for audio already figured by the software. I wasn't going by size in GB, though they were pretty good sized DVDs. Rebuilder did well at those levels. I understand audio isn't compressed and less audio kept lowers compression on video. Any time I compare output from transcoders and encoders the original is the basis for comparison. All I could say without the original is how pleasing the output appears and note any flaws such as pixelation and noise.