Mainconcept's mpeg2 encoder is considered the best mpeg2 encoder there is.
Theese days it seems to be only available as "MainConcept Live Encoder MPEG-2"
I wonder if that has still the same engine/encoding quality which was used in "pro coder studio" or "reference" which was held in such high regard in several of "lordsmurf"'s posts.

I am looking for a high quality 64bit mpeg2 encoder which is able to import avisynth scripts.

For MPEG4 it is pretty easy to do high quality bluray compliant encodes with free ffmpeg or x264 but for MPEG2 the majority has pretty lousy quality theese days. HCencoder was probably the best but wasn't updated in ages and is limited to 32bit. Tmpegs latest Mastering and Authoring works is also a shame when it comes to mpeg2.

-- merged --

Dear lordsmurf,
I was reading some of your threads/posts about MainConcept having the best mpeg2 encoder out there.
Would you say that this is still the case and would suggest buying the latest MainConcept Live Encoder MPEG-2 from their website or would you suggest sticking to older versions such as MainConcept Reference 2.2 ?
If you have older versions of main concept for sale which are up to par with newer ones (only for DVD compatible mpeg2 encoding ) I would be interested :-)
looking forward to hear from you
all the best
regards

This got buried in open tabs. :depressed:

Yes, MainConcept Live Encoder MPEG-2.

Hmmm... not sure about scripts. Reference didn't really import .avs either. I really never tried, because I'd do 2-pass encoding. I'd suggest using VirtualDub to run a new lossless from Avisynth work, then let MainConcept crunch that lossless to the MPEG.

I would, simply because it worked well, and there has been no changes to MPEG-2 encoding for at least a decade now. It's mature. It's gray-haired mature! :laugh: