MP4 bitrate in DaVinci?
 

Hi I am using DaVinci to encode mov file from Hybrid to MP4 from VHS tape. What bitrate I should use in resolution 1920x1080? When encoder is set on auto bitrate is 80 mb/s which results quite big file. I am doing like in this tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKYNqZdqawc&t=31s

I have been going straight to MP4 from Hybrid and just using RGB adjust in hybrid to make RGB changes instead of an NLE. The only thing I don’t like about it is I don’t know how to get an RGB scope onto hybrid so I eyeball it.

I did try the method you linked to and it takes quite a while. The resize method he uses is very resource intensive.

1920x1080 from VHS and with 16:9 aspect ratio? Why? Digitize to avi interlaced (whatever format. I found mjpeg works OK in most cases at least for space reduction) and then convert to H.264 mpeg 4 progressive.

I honestly do not know how people can watch Youtube videos for 45 minutes. Who has the time for that? I sure don't.

Perhaps refer to the exact timecode that is pertinent to your problem.

Ditto. :unsure::screwy:

Not in the 2020s. Really not even the 2010s. It's a 1990s codec that was displaced in the 2000s by better lossless codecs, or even MPEG.

Yes, but 8 bit YUV and 10 bit even more requires very large archive space. Of course they can and should be used for valuable tapes before conversion and saved in archive. MJPEG is compromise, maybe not the best.

HDD space is really cheap. 35 gigs an hour isn’t that expensive to archive considering the price of HDD space.

AVI 8bit with MJPEG compression is about 18gb per hour. AVI with uncompressed 8bit YUV is about 70gb per hour. If you have 2 films it is not a big problem, otherwise you may consider it is too large. So MJPEG is compromise.

P.S. And multiply by 2 if you are using Raid 1 with different brand HDs (I do) for archive. There are many cases when MJPEG quality is more than enough. At least for me.

Huffyuv is about 35gb/hour, so that's the compromise. Lossless vs. compressed (MJPEG) vs. uncompressed.

I don't necessarily endorse archiving Huffyuv, nor MJPEG. Huffyuv is intended for intermediary, including the capture step. It's merely a waypoint between source and destination.

MPEG-2 720x480/576 @ 4:2:2 @ 15-25mbps is extremely adequate. The main differentiator there is GOP length.

More than 8 bits for consumer analog sources is silly, waste of space and time. Only in some extreme (near-absurd) scenarios would you need the extra data.

Even SSD space is cheap now, compared to drive space per TB of 15-25 years ago. HDD cheaper, of course -- for now.

Well, but if only for intermediary, there is not a big difference 35 or 70gb/hour because it will be converted anyway.
But if you probably want to save a copy for some restoration later final MPEG4 or whatever will not be useful.
So original format used for capture should be saved. I found MJPEG compression is not so bad, but it is for me :)

No, there's a difference. 70gb/hour requires 2x load/swap, and is a real drag on the system. I/O bottlenecks, preview is messy.

MJPEG isn't really bad, but not widely supported for many years now. And then MPEG compression is better. I just wouldn't suggest it for somebody new to all of this.

For the OP you may not want to try and copy a video tutorial too closely. Especially with filters. I like his channel too but you it’s a good idea to look into each thing.

So capturing to huffyuv is correct? What to do next with the file? With what software converse to mpeg 2? I tried with tmpgenc authoring works 7 demo but for DVD purpose file bitrate is max only 9,2 MB. It’s that correct? If no what other software I should use?

Huffy is recommended for capture. It’s a lossless codec which means what it doesn’t lose information during encoding.

Selur’s Hybrid is good for filtering and encoding to a lossy codec but it doesn’t do MPEG 2. Most people encode to H.264 (MPEG 4 container) and upload to YouTube and/or watch on VLV. If you are uploading to YouTube use an aspect ratio for square pixels and deinterlace. Most go to a HDD instead of a DVD in 2025.

The people that still use MPEG2 do it at higher non DVD bitrates. H.264 compresses better at lower bitrates. With Mpeg2 it handles interlace better where H.264 doesn’t handle interlace well because of the way it is compressed.

If you don't mind the upload time, YouTube has no problem accepting uncompressed (or losslessly compressed, like Huffyuv or Lagarith) video sources. Compressing it to H.264 will only lead to quality loss when YouTube re-compresses it for playback.

Davinci Resolve won’t accept a lot of lossless codecs. It will accept FFV1 and visually lossless codecs like PorRes and Dnxhr.

If that's what you're doing and it's working, then yes.

Take your lossless capture into Hybrid for QTGMC and your crop/resize/borders. Keep your Hybrid output lossless for archiving along with your original capture.

It depends what you're trying to accomplish. Do you know what codec and container you want to export to? Example: H264 .MP4 -- Then you can do a few short test encodes to find the balance of quality versus size that works for your project. You can use DaVinci Resolve for some, but not all.

Agreed. Just a question of upload bandwidth and time.

That's one of the reasons why you capture lossless, go through Hybrid lossless, and go through NLE lossless and save master edits lossless. Only time you need to compress and sacrifice quality is if you have to use lossy delivery formats at the end.