Today’s editors have learned that getting the most out of software compression tools comes with the job description. Every NLE bundle includes software specifically designed to encode video content for the Web or DVD. Most of these applications include a wealth of presets, but getting the best possible image is never as easy as a single mouse click. This situation is made more confusing by the ever-increasing number of formats required for everything from mobile devices to high-definition DVDs. Two respected encoding companies, Sorenson Media and Telestream, have recently updated their offerings—breathing new life into the compression tools available to editors.

Sorenson Media is known for its Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite software, as well as the Sorenson Video and Spark QuickTime and Flash codecs. Telestream made its name with FlipFactory hardware encoding and the Flip4Mac QuickTime component, which first enabled Apple users to encode Windows Media 9 files. Telestream acquired Popwire’s Compression Master technology for the Mac and has rebranded the product line as Episode and Episode Pro.

Squeeze is available for both Mac OS X and Windows operating systems, but Episode products are for the Mac only. Both application families are now Universal binaries, so they can run on Apple PowerPC and Apple Intel desktop and notebook computers. This update for Sorenson Squeeze has also brought with it a significant speed bump (Sorenson claims a threefold performance increase) compared to the non-Universal 4.0 version. In addition, a version of Sorenson Squeeze comes bundled with all Avid Media Composer and Xpress Pro purchases. Both companies sell several configurations, based on the compression options and formats that best fit your needs, ranging in price from about $250 to just under $1,000.

Compression for DVDs
Rather than describe the litany of features available in each product, I conducted a small shoot-out to test various formats. As a working editor, I hardly ever give clients tape anymore. I have to encode either review-and-approval Web movies or MPEG-2 files for DVD authoring. So my first test was to compare the performance and quality of both Telestream’s Episode Pro and Sorenson’s Squeeze in encoding DVD-compliant files. As a control, I used Apple Compressor 2 and Innobits BitVice, which has been my “go to” software for high-quality DVDs. I edited a test sequence (DVCPRO50 codec) in Final Cut Pro and exported it as a QuickTime movie. This test sequence consisted of a series of 24fps film clips mixed with video shot on a Panasonic AG-DVX100A.

The first step was to create two custom presets at 7Mb/s (a data rate of 7 megabits per second) and 4Mb/s using one-pass constant bit rate (CBR) encoding. Variable bit rate (VBR) encoding applies heavy compression on static scenes, like a graphic or “talking head,” and less compression on complex shots, like a fast camera pan. Unfortunately, most encoders do a poor job of transitioning between complex and static shots. If you use VBR encoding, you’ll frequently see artifacts where the picture momentarily breaks up into large image blocks, called macro block errors, at these shot transitions. In the worst case, these errors might be visible for almost a full second. Macro block artifacts are also quite visible in dissolves and fades to and from black. This flaw is less of a factor with CBR, but you cannot stuff as much material onto a DVD with CBR encoding. I also tend to use a high video data rate, like 7Mb/s, for the best possible quality.

Audio adds to the total data rate that a player can handle; I mitigate this factor by using only compressed, Dolby-encoded AC-3 audio files. As a result, I have a high-quality video that still plays well on most modern—and cheap—DVD players. The newest encoders all do a pretty good job with high data rates, so the lower-quality 4Mb/s setting was intended to be more taxing.

MPEG-2 Encoding Results
My testing generated eight files. Encoding times were about the same for both Squeeze and Episode Pro. Compressor was faster and BitVice a lot slower. Since I did this test on a PowerBook G4, the actual times aren’t important; a PowerMac G5, MacBook Pro or Mac Pro would all be faster. The bottom line is that encoding speeds are fast using either Episode Pro or Squeeze.

The interesting part is that none of the four applications created a file that was identical in luminance and color to the original. Compressor and Episode Pro were the closest match; Squeeze was darker, with more contrast and saturation. At the 7Mb/s setting, all looked pretty good, though Episode Pro and Squeeze appeared to have fewer artifacts than Compressor or BitVice. At the 4Mb/s setting, both review products were far better than my two control applications.

Squeeze has a very specific look in the darker areas. Compare an image such as the painted, metallic texture of a solid-colored car or a blue sky with some gradient values. Squeeze tends to look smoother and have fewer artifacts, such as macro blocks and mosquito noise (JPEG-style digital noise around the edges of an object). Both Episode Pro and Squeeze yielded good results, but I’d have to give points to Episode Pro for color accuracy; however, the overall pleasing appearance might make others prefer Squeeze. If the color issue bothers you, Squeeze has a set of adjustment filters. It’s easy to correct this by using a Lighten filter. Changing the default to Contrast = Disabled, Brightness = 2 and Gamma = 33 gave me results fairly close to the original media.

High Definition
Episode Pro and Squeeze both include presets for various HD formats, including H.264, MPEG-2 and WMV. Episode Pro is the only one so far that encodes VC-1, the official standardized SMPTE version of Microsoft’s WMV 9 HD codec used in HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. Unfortunately, the industry is far from ready to deliver reliable authoring tools for these formats, so it’s not worth testing right now. I’m writing before NAB, so new announcements will change the situation, but for now, my advice is that those folks wanting high-definition DVDs guaranteed to play for a client should stick to a professional authoring/replication facility.

Web Movies
Both applications will allow you to author a wide variety of files for the Web and mobile devices. They’ll do WMV, Flash, QuickTime, H.264 and Real Media files. I like H.264, but I tend to avoid it because most PC users don’t keep their QuickTime installations current enough to play it. Episode Pro gives you a ton of file formats, codecs and wrappers. You’ll have to dig a little for the more common QuickTime codecs when creating custom settings as they are buried under a couple of layers of option tabs. Squeeze, on the other hand, gives you easy and direct access to the whole list of QuickTime codecs available on your system.

Neither company was very consistent in their labeling or even codec disclosure. For instance, Sorenson labels its H.264 settings as Apple AVC, not H.264. On the other hand, Squeeze makes it clear that Flash uses the Spark codec and Flash 8 uses the On2 VP6 codec. Conversely, Telestream identifies the H.264 presets but doesn’t identify the On2 VP6 codec in its Flash 8 settings.

I ultimately tested a variety of QuickTime, WMV 9, MPEG-4, H.264 and muxed MPEG-2 files using Episode Pro and Squeeze, as well as Compressor with the Flip4Mac component. Encoding times and quality for a 1Mb/s 320x240 file were all similar, though I’d have to give the overall edge to Squeeze using the Sorenson codec.

An important step in encoding for the Web is to deinterlace files prior to encoding, since computers display moving video progressively. Squeeze apparently deinterlaces smaller files by default even when no deinterlacing filter is applied. This feature is disabled with MPEG-2 DVD files but still occurs with other Web files. You can disable this function by applying a filter and unchecking the deinterlace filter tab. I liked the overall default look of Squeeze better than Episode Pro on smaller files, partially due to this default function.

When you get to a larger file, like a 640x480 muxed MPEG-2 designed to be embedded into a PowerPoint presentation or Web site, quality deinterlacing is a real factor. Despite the extensive filter controls in each application—especially Episode Pro—I was dissatisfied with the deinterlacing results of each. I actually got the best quality when I took the extra step of deinterlacing the movie in Apple Shake prior to encoding in either Squeeze or Episode Pro.

Other Features
Sorenson Squeeze uses an optional watch folder for automatic batch processing of incoming source files, and there’s even a built-in utility to capture DV camera video over FireWire. Sorenson Media recently announced SqueezeHD XCEL 2.0, a PCI-X and PCI Express (PCIe) plug-in card for real-time MPEG-2 and accelerated H.264 encoding. For its part, Telestream has introduced Pipeline, a network-accessible SDI ingest device. Episode can be scaled up to Telestream’s Episode Workgroup for distributed high-volume encoding. A new feature in Episode Pro 4.3 (introduced at NAB) will be desktop compression Widgets—similar to Compressor or Photoshop Droplets.

It’s impossible to pick a clear winner between these two. There is no single application that is clearly superior in every one of the media formats. One might be best for H.264 while another for Windows Media. You have to test for your needs and create custom settings that are right for the formats you use, but in either case, Telestream Episode Pro and Sorenson Squeeze won’t disappoint as the “go to” solutions for your all-around encoding needs.