VisualHub

An agency client bashed me over the head today for telling them they needed Flip4Mac and Episode to do things like .wmv and mpeg2 streaming conversions from our 10Bit Uncompressed SD and HD Masters.

Their IT guy sent me a mail re VisualHub. "Fast conversion from nearly every video format" for $23. The user's guide simply states "all QuickTime Codecs" plus a list of nearly everything else on the planet.

Ok, so we downloaded the trial version and started testing it on a G5 with some 30 sec commercials in 10Bit PAL 576i and DVCProHD 1080i50 (with both QT and FCP QT wrappers). It works. And really, really fast. And does batch conversions. And has a highly useful stich function (got to be the world's fastest way to assemble a show reel). etc. etc. etc. etc. It wasn't a full test, just a quick testdrive, but very impressive.

Am I dreaming or are QTPro, Compressor, Flip4Mac, Episode, et al suddenly obsolete?

Clay

According to my Graphics-Mac-Guru Dude...YES...kinda.

He hasn't touched Cleaner or Sorenson Squeeze or Flip4Mac in months since he got Visual Hub.

He still uses Compressor for getting files from FCP to DVDSP because of the workflow, though. And he's used Compressor to upres SD stock footage to HD recently...so that's the "kinda". (He used Shane's recipe)

He hasn't said if he's done any bench-type tests for overall quality, however, so I can't say for certain if the other apps have anything over Visual Hub quality-wise, but none of his clients have complained, so that's somethin'....

deb

I am about to swear by it. I have been using it since my Compressor and Motion quit on me for good. I have re-installed them, put new system, tried everything and Compressor didn't come back to life. So, I switched to VisualHub. Fast, reliable, manageable (sizes and other custom settings) and I am happy as a camper.
The price is right and the results have been impressive.

Visual Hub only does WMV8. It does not do WMV9. WMV9 is a MAJOR quality improvement over WMV8.

If you don't have high quality demands WMV8 is fine but I really want to push the best quality at the most effecient bit rate.

I wasn't aware of the WM8 limitation, I've been using it mostly for H264.

I first started using it it as an offline solution for batch encoding different formats and resolutions of the same file to share internally between editors and producers etc. But over time I've been using it more for outputing the final files for web distribution and I'm moving in that direction for MPEG2 encoding as well.

Initially it was just hard to believe that such a simple little application that is so inexpensive could compare with Sorensen, Flip4Mac, and Compressor, but it does.

As they say in VisualHub -- GoNuts!

This is a very useful application whose developers have a sense of humor and it just works, every time.

Visualhub is intuitive, great and screaming fast (maybe up to 2 times faster than compressor??). I?ve been using it a lot lately.

For serious encoders it might not be enough. No batch processing with several different output settings for each file. Also, you cannot set the keyframe interval freely. It?s a major setback if the footage has a lot of movement (handheld cameras etc.). Other than that.. it rocks!

Thanks for all the feedback. Going to do some more testing next week.

$23. Amazing.


Clay

well it is fast and generally easy to use but i wonder why there is no tab for .mov or qt.

i check the box for h264 and got mp4. maybe i missed something.

after using this once i know that compressor is far far from obsolete. this program does not have the tweaking of compressor. compressor allows you to use efx/filters. i would say they are about 4 versions away from being as good as compressor 1.

still a good one to have i will probably buy it in a few weeks just to have a back up.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

You can do a fair amount of tweaking in the advance tab. I don't think anyone is recommending VH to replace Compressor, but its a lot faster and as ClayC said, "$23. Amazing."

What's amazing is that you think a $23 application is only four version away

yeah 4 vesions away for 23 buck you do have a strong point young nasbith.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"