Treme S03E07 HDTV x264-ASAP

3x07 -- nov 04, 2012 -- promised land
3x08 -- nov 11, 2012 -- don't you leave me here
3x09 -- nov 18, 2012 -- poor man

why is this 852 megs?

because it's an hour and ten minutes.

the last 5 episodes have all been 59 minutes (give or take a few seconds) and the largest of them as
been only 500 megs. based on 500 megs for 59 minutes this should be around 600 megs for 70 minutes,
not 852. sorry, but something is definitely wrong here.

i agree, when they can do a 90 min mp4 moving in less than 700mb this should be no more.

there is no simple one line answer.

in brief...

the focus is on quality...using x264/mp4 (or mkv) and a specific crf setting (crf constant rate
factor). in most cases the resulting file size is quite a bit smaller than the previouisly used xvid/avi 350
mb standard, but not always.

the old xvid method had a fixed file size and vairable quality. the new x264 metheod uses a fixed
quality and a variable file size. file size is tied to the complexity of the source material (i.e. still vs.
moving, grainy vs solid, number of colors, etc.), and how much compression can be applied to any
given frame and maintain the fixed quality level using constant-rate-factor (crf).

if you're really actually looking for an answer to your question, start here...

crf guide (constant rate factor).
http://pastebin.com/bjyeveai

the sd x264 tv releasing standards 2012.
http://scenerules.irc.gs/n.html?id=2012_sdtvx264u1.nfo

and a handful of other general resources...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/video_codec
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/xvid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/x264
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/h.264/mpeg-4_avc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/display_resolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bit_rate#video

this episode made me cry. in a good way.

i understand all of that, but it doesn't really address the issue which is why this one specific
episode is so much larger than it needs to be or any of the previous episodes (taking into account
the additional 10-11 minutes of run time). i downloaded the episode from a different site that comes
in at a little over 500 megs and it is just as high of quality as any of the previous 4 or 5
episodes so i stand by what i stated previously. i don't understand why this one specific episode
needed to be higher quality than previous ones. there wasn't anything that required it in the
episode. if someone needs or desires higher quality then download the 720 version instead of
bloating this one unnecessarily.

then re-read what i wrote. the answer is in there. i'm not making this up. it really is.
if you don't understand the tech behind how the videos are made then fine...most people
don't. like i said, there is no simple one line answer. fully understanding how it all works
can take weeks, months, and years to absorb.

you asked why is the sky blue.
i gave you the science behind why the sky is blue.
and you reply, i understand all of that, but it doesn't
really address the issue which is why is the sky blue.
*it* does address why. you just don't understand *it*.

let me start by saying thanks for taking the time to provide all of that information. while i have a
fairly good understanding of why different scenes need different encoding parameters i can always
learn more about the specifics which is what i am attempting to do here.

but you seemed to have missed my point entirely. i wasn't asking about why you need to encode at a
higher bitrate in a general sense. i understand that the climactic battle scene in one of the
transformers movies would need a considerably higher bitrate to deal with all of the movement and
the amount of details involved than a classroom scene of 30 students or a scene of a family of 4
sitting at their dining room table having a leisurely dinner. i also understand how dark scenes
require a higher bitrate than a daylight scene. i have an extensive background in still photography
from when we used actual film, including developing, printing, and photo manipulation and
specialized in low light work with flash. you don't need to understand all of the technical details
about why a specific bitrate (or other settings) is necessary to comprehend that. what i was asking,
and still am is where is the big battle scene that warrants a 50% higher bitrate for this specific
episode compared to the rest of the episodes this year and why it required a constant bitrate
instead of variable? this one episode was encoded at app 1,500 kbs constant bit rate while the rest
of the season was encoded at app 1,000 kbs variable bitrate.

i don't have a problem with a higher bitrate (and larger file size) when it's appropriate and
necessary. i just don't see anything in this particular episode that warrants it personally and was
hoping that someone could clarify that for me. all i'm trying to do is learn and understand, not
insult anyone or cause a problem.

as for asking why is the sky blue, that is not at all correct. what i was asking is more on the
lines of why is the sky a different shade of blue today than yesterday when i already understand why
it is blue in the first place. i would be wanting to know what aspect of the weather and/or other
specific variables is causing the difference.

i hope i have made things a little clearer as to the intent of my posts about this issue. if not,
then let's just drop it without any hard feelings.

i don't know diddly about any of the technical stuff, but could the 'big battle scene' have been the many mardi gras parades
with hundreds of people moving about in brightly coloured costumes, and the scenes of the indians in their elaborate outfits?