What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

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TommyTLG
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What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by TommyTLG » Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:40 pm

Hi, I was wondering what codec would be the best one to use?
I tried using the Microsoft Video 1, but it makes some textures + the text box look a bit different than they do on my 3DS after recording.

Is there possible to download codecs for it? And if so, how do you do it?

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raphael
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Re: What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by raphael » Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:02 pm

Hey,

I would recommend Lagarith for capturing. It has no quality loss whatsoever (i.e. the video will look exactly like on the 3DS, pixel-for-pixel), but it requires a fairly decent CPU (but not a monster CPU).
If Lagarith's output gets too big, you can also use h264. You can save a lot of space, but the quality won't be as good as with Lagarith.

Those two codecs come with an installer, so you only need to download the file and execute it.

Hope this helps!

Rayquaza3010
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Re: What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by Rayquaza3010 » Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:40 am

I use XVid. Good quality, small files.

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raphael
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Re: What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by raphael » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:43 am

I'd be careful about using Xvid. I've seen some quality comparisons, and Xvid always seems to look worse than x264.

Example 1, Example 2.
Of course, benchmarks always lie, so you should compare the quality of those two codecs by yourself. However, Xvid will probably lose.

Both SpeedDemosArchive and even the evil pirates switched to x264.

Then again, I highly recommend using a lossless codec like Lagarith for capturing. If you directly capture to a lossy codec like x264, then you have to encode your video again after editing it. Encoding the same video twice with two lossy codecs reduces the quality even more.

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TommyTLG
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Re: What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by TommyTLG » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:49 am

Thanks!
I downloaded the Lagarith codec :)
File sizes are no issue, I got a 2TB external harddrive (which is almost used up, but still)

Rayquaza3010
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Re: What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by Rayquaza3010 » Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:51 pm

raphael wrote:I'd be careful about using Xvid. I've seen some quality comparisons, and Xvid always seems to look worse than x264.

Example 1, Example 2.
Of course, benchmarks always lie, so you should compare the quality of those two codecs by yourself. However, Xvid will probably lose.

Both SpeedDemosArchive and even the evil pirates switched to x264.

Then again, I highly recommend using a lossless codec like Lagarith for capturing. If you directly capture to a lossy codec like x264, then you have to encode your video again after editing it. Encoding the same video twice with two lossy codecs reduces the quality even more.
And how can I install x264? I don't find any working installer.

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raphael
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Re: What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by raphael » Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:39 pm

This one should work: x264vfw

If you can't maintain a stable framerate with it, open the configuration dialog and check the "Zero Latency" option. If that doesn't help
change the "Preset" setting from "Medium" to one of the faster values.

To improve/decrease the quality :) :
Set the "Rate control" option to "Single pass - ratefactor based (CRF)" and adjust the "Ratefactor" slider.
According to the FFmpeg wiki a ratefactor of 18 means "visually lossless; looks the same or nearly the same as the input", and increasing the ratefactor by 6 doubles the bitrate, while decreasing by 6 halves the bitrate.
You can also try changing the "Tuning" option to "Animation" .

borg19of82
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Re: What's the best codec to use? (Best quality)

Post by borg19of82 » Wed Jun 01, 2016 11:33 pm

Interesting that I tried the x264 and Lagarith but I see no difference at all. Maybe my eyes just can't see. Even when i slide the ratefactor bar I see no diff.

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