User’s Guide

Version 1.10
Custom Technology Corporation
2-12-4 Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0093 Japan

e-mail: [email protected]
web site: http://www.cinemacraft.com/
web site: http://www.ctech.co.jp/

Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 User’s Guide

Version 1.10

Edition
2008 January Revised Video trimming section.
2006 July First edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, electronically

or mechanically, in any form or by any means, including copying, recording or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from
Custom Technology Corporation.

Information contained in this publication is believed to be accurate and reliable.

However, Custom Technology Corporation shall not be responsible for any in-
fringement of patent rights or other rights of a third party arising out of use of
this information.

Cinema Craft is a registered trademark of Custom Technology Corporation.

Microsoft, Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft

Corporation. Adobe and Premiere are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated. Intel, Pentium and MMX are registered trademarks of Intel Corpo-
ration. Celeron is a trademark of Intel Corporation. AMD and AMD Athlon are
registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. QuickTime is a trademark
of Apple Computer, Inc. HASP is a registered trademark of Aladdin Knowledge
Systems Ltd. Company names and product names contained in this publication
are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies. The symbols
TM and are
R not indicated in this publication.

The specifications on this software and information contained in this manual may
be changed without prior notice.
Contents

1 Getting started 5
1.1 How to run Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Main window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Command line options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4 Precautions on input files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2 Input file setup 15

2.1 Combining movie files for one MPEG output . . . . . 16
2.2 Select external audio file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.3 Video trimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3 Basic encoder setting 21

3.1 Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3 Output files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.3.1 Video file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3.2 Video information file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3.3 Pulldown information file . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3.4 Audio file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.4 Audio setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.4.1 Bitrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.4.2 Add CRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.4.3 File size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.4.4 Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.4.5 Sampling frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.4.6 Audio run out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

i
ii CONTENTS

3.5 Encoding mode setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.5.1 Output type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.5.2 Encoding method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.5.3 Output stream type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.5.4 V/C (VBR/CBR) : Fluctuation of the bit allo-
cation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.5.5 Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.6 Video information file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.6.1 Creating video information file . . . . . . . . . 32
3.6.2 Renewing the video information . . . . . . . . 33
3.6.3 VBR bit allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.7 Frame size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.7.1 Area setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.8 Frame rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.9 File size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.10 Bitrate and Q.factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.11 Pulldown setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.11.1 Pulldown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.11.2 Inverse 3:2 pulldown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.11.3 Auto 2-pass detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.12 Aspect ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.13 Deinterlacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

4 Advanced video setting 45

4.1 Setting GOP configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.1.1 Picture type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.1.2 GOP sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.1.3 GOP header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.1.4 SEQ header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.2 Add sequence end code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.3 Encode the last frame as an I frame . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.4 DVD Video multiangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.5 Close all GOPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.6 Disable auto I frame insertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.7 Equalize each GOP’s bit length . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.8 Disable adaptive Q-matrix switching . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.9 Panscan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.10 Output top field first stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
CONTENTS iii

4.11 Offset line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

4.12 Luminance level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.13 Quantization scale type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.14 Quantization matrices setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.15 Packet size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

5 VBR bit allocation 57

5.1 Bitrate / Quantization scale graph . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.1.1 Bitrate graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5.1.2 Quantization scale graph . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.1.3 Operation of graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.2 Bitrate settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.2.1 Global bitrate settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.2.2 Local bitrate settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.2.3 Keep the previous bit allocation . . . . . . . . 65
5.2.4 Apply the changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.2.5 Cancel the changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.2.6 Update the graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.3 GOP information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

6 Picture settings 69
6.1 Entry list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.1.1 Adding an entry to the list . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.1.2 Operation buttons for the list . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.1.3 Saving/Loading the entry list . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.2 Simple setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.2.1 Material types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.2.2 Complexity of material . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.2.3 Parameter sets of Simple setting . . . . . . . . 74
6.3 Detailed setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6.3.1 Caption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.3.2 Low and High filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.3.3 Vertical filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.3.4 Dithered quantization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.3.5 Quantizer characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.3.6 Letterbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.3.7 Intrablock DC precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.3.8 Block scan order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
iv CONTENTS

6.3.9 Fades on a static scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

6.3.10 Black screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.3.11 Progressive frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.3.12 Monochrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.3.13 Save/Load a parameter set . . . . . . . . . . . 80

7 Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting 81

7.1 Overview of the setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
7.1.1 How to find the pulldown phase . . . . . . . . . 81
7.1.2 Pulldown list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
7.2 Modifying the pulldown list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
7.2.1 Explanation of the pulldown list . . . . . . . . 83
7.2.2 Operation buttons for the list . . . . . . . . . . 85
7.2.3 Viewer windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
7.2.4 Current point and its phase . . . . . . . . . . . 86
7.3 Phase calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
7.4 Threshould setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
7.4.1 Pulldown information file . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
7.4.2 Progressive frame pairing . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
7.4.3 Repeat field tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
7.4.4 Initial setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
7.4.5 Apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
7.4.6 Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
7.5 Saving/Loading the pulldown list . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
7.6 Effects of chapter points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
7.6.1 Improper frame for a chapter point . . . . . . . 93

8 Chapter setting 97
8.1 What is “Chapter” ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
8.2 Creating chapter list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
8.3 Creating chapter list file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
8.4 Loading and saving chapter list . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

9 Optional settings 101

9.1 Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9.1.1 Reading method for QuickTime movies . . . . 101
9.2 Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
9.3 Setting extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
CONTENTS v

9.4 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

10 Template settings 107

10.1 Applying template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
10.2 Operation at template setting window . . . . . . . . . 108
10.3 Operation at encoder setting window . . . . . . . . . . 110
10.4 Editing template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
10.5 Deleting template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
10.6 Editing template list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

11 Encoder control list 115

11.1 Creating and saving encoder control list . . . . . . . . 115
11.2 Loading encoder control list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
11.3 Editing encoder control list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
11.3.1 Editing ECL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
11.4 Encode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

12 Adobe Premiere plug-in 119

12.1 The basic operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
12.2 Encoder settings on plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
12.3 Encoder settings for plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

13 Removing Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 129

14 Troubleshooting 131
14.1 VBR bitrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
14.2 VBV buffer overflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
14.3 Mux buffer overflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
vi CONTENTS

MPEGLA Statement:
Use of this product for encoding video information for the purpose of pro-
ducing prerecorded video programs products for commercial sale or rental
including by way of examples and without limitation, digital video disk and
digital video tapes, or for the purpose of storing encoded video programs
for distribution by a video server is expressly prohibited without a license
under applicable patents marked on this product, or on the container, user
documentation or specification sheet for this product.
Introduction

Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 is a program for converting movie files

to an MPEG-2 (or MPEG-1) files at high-speed with high picture
quality. This manual explains the functions and manner of use of
Cinema Craft Encoder SP.
For details on the basic operation and the terminology of the op-
erating system and on the detailed technology of MPEG, refer to the
respective manuals and guides.

Operation environment

The following hardware and software are required to use Cinema Craft
Encoder SP2.

• A computer with a processor that supports SSE or Enhanced

3D Now !
• 512MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows XP
• QuickTime 7 for encoding QuickTime files
• Adobe Premiere Pro/Pro 1.5/Pro 2.0/Pro CS3 to use plug-in
version

1
2 CONTENTS

Specifications
Compression method
System ISO/IEC 13818-1 | ITU-T Rec. H.222.0
(Program Stream only)
ISO/IEC 11172-1
Video ISO/IEC 13818-2 | ITU-T Rec. H.262 (MP@ML)
ISO/IEC 11172-2
Audio ISO/IEC 11172-3 (Layer 2)

Output video format

Encoding method Constant Bitrate (CBR) (One pass)
Constant Bitrate (CBR) (Multipass)
Variable Bitrate (VBR) (One pass)
Variable Bitrate (VBR) (Multipass)
Bitrate maximum 15 Mbits/sec
Frame rate 23.976/24/25/29.97/30 (frames/sec)
Aspect ratio SAR 1:1, DAR 4:3, DAR 16:9 or DAR 2.21:1
GOP configuration I, P frame interval (M) : 1 ∼ 3
I frame interval (N) : max. 15 (a multiple of M)

Output audio format

1
Bitrate 64/96/112/128/160/192/224/
256/320/384 (kbits/sec)
Sampling frequency 32/44.1/48 (kHz)
Quantization bits 16 bits
Mode Stereo, Joint Stereo, Dual channel and Monaural

Input file format

The following descriptions are for the standalone version.
1 In the case of one channel, the bitrate is half of each.
CONTENTS 3

Video
AVI files AVI 1.0 (including reference file)
AVI 2.0
OpenDML
frameserver (Avisynth, VirtualDub)
QuickTime files mov files
DV (dif) files
Still-image (sequence) Bitmap files
Targa files
Tiff files
PNG files
JPEG files
Audio
Wave files uncompressed ones only
AIFF files uncompressed ones only
Chapter 1

Getting started

1.1 How to run Cinema Craft Encoder

SP2
This section focuses on standalone version. See page 119 for Adobe
Premiere plug-in version.

Figure 1.1: Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 Startup Screen

The basic steps for encoding files with Cinema Craft Encoder SP2

5
6 CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED

are as follows (explanations for each parameter are described in the

following chapter).

ΠStart Cinema Craft Encoder SP2. To start the program, do one

of the following:

• Double-click the icon of Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.

• From Programs of the Start menu, select Cinema Craft
Encoder SP2.
• Start Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 from command prompt.
See 1.3 Command line options on page 12.

 Select files you would like to encode (AVI, QuickTime, etc) and
load them in the main window of Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.
To load the files, do one of the following:

• Select a file (or files) from Explorer, and drag it (them)

onto the main window of Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.
• Select Add in the Edit menu or shortcut menu.
• Click the button in the toolbar.

Figure 1.2: Shortcut menu

Ž Open Encoder setting window and set the parameters for

encoding. To open Encoder setting window, do one of the
following:

• Double-click a file in the list of the main window.

1.2. MAIN WINDOW 7

• Drag a file onto the main window while holding down the
SHIFT key. Then the file is loaded in the list and Encoder
setting window appears at once.
• Choose a file in the list of the main window, and select
Setting in the Edit menu or shortcut menu.
• Click the button in the toolbar.

 Start encoding. To start encoding, do one of the following:

• Click Encode now button on the Encoder setting win-

dow. Only the file currently setting parameters will be
encoded.
• Select a file (or files) in the list of the main window, and
then select Encode Selected Items in the Edit menu or
shortcut menu. Only the file(s) selected in the list will be
encoded.
• Select Encode in the File menu, or click button in the
toolbar, or press F5 key. Then all of the files loaded in the
main window will be encoded.

When encoding starts, the window as shown in Fig. 1.3 ap-

pears. Also, an icon as shown in Fig. 1.4 is displayed in the
notification area. If you click this icon, the screen of Cinema
Craft Encoder SP2 can be erased from a desktop. Click this
icon again to re-display the screen of Cinema Craft Encoder
SP2. If a mouse cursor is carried on this icon during encoding,
a progress percentage is shown.

 When encoding ends, the window closes.

‘ To end Cinema Craft Encoder SP2, click the close button at

the upper right of the main window, or select Exit in the File
menu.

1.2 Main window

When you start Cinema Craft Encoder SP2, the main window (Fig. 1.5)
will appear. On the main window, the list called Encoder Control List
8 CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED

Figure 1.3: Window during encoding

Figure 1.4: Icon in the notification area

Figure 1.5: Main window

1.2. MAIN WINDOW 9

is displayed. An entry in the list holds parameter settings for one out-
put. You can encode the entries one by one, or batch-encode all of
the entries in the list. (See also how to start encoding in Section 1.1
described above.)

The columns of the list show the information listed below. And
you can change the order of the columns by dragging one.

Title Shows the name of the entry. Initially,

the source file name is displayed.
Files Shows how many files are input for an output.
Frames Shows how many frames are to be encoded.
Duration Shows the duration to be encoded.
Video Encoding mode and bitrate
Audio Encoding mode and bitrate (for MPEG Audio)

 To see more detailed information, select Property in the short-

cut menu (Fig. 1.2).
 About The operations of Encoder Control List, see Chapter 11
(page 115).
 The order of columns of the list are changeable by dragging a
column.

File menu

Figure 1.6: File menu

File menu is used to open and save the project file called an ECL
file, to start encoding, and to close the application.
10 CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED

Edit menu

Figure 1.7: Edit menu

Edit menu is the same as shortcut menu. Please read Chapter 11

(page 115) about operation of the encoder control list that uses this
menu.
Setting opens the Encoder setting window. Append opens the
subwindow used when combining two or more input files. Property
opens a window that display the detailed information on input and
output files.

View menu

Figure 1.8: View menu

Selection of Toolbar displays a tool bar on the upper part of an

encoder control list. Selection of Status Bar displays a status bar on
the lower part of the list. The status bar displays currently selected
template name.
1.2. MAIN WINDOW 11

Selection of Grid shows the grid on an encoder control list, a chap-

ter list, a pull down list, and the entry list of the picture settings
window.
In Duration menu, the display unit of Duration of an encoder
control list can be changed into Milliseconds or a Timecode.

Option menu

Figure 1.9: Option menu

Option menu is used to setup a setting about reading of an input

file, an output folder, extensions, and others settings. For details,
please see Chapter 9 (page 101).

Template menu

Figure 1.10: Template menu

A click of Setting will display a template selection screen. For

details, please see Chapter 10 (page 107).

Help menu

Figure 1.11: Help menu

The version number of a program can be checked.

12 CHAPTER 1. GETTING STARTED

1.3 Command line options

You can also start Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 by typing cct2.exe
or cct2.com from command prompt, and the following command line
options are provided. (cct2.com outputs the encoding information
on the console window.)

-auto Starts a program and encoding immediately.

-batch Starts a program and encoding immediately
and quits a program when finished.
-ecl filename Loads specified ecl file1 .
-t template name Specifies a template.
filename Specifies an input file.

USAGE:
Case 1 It starts a program and encoding f:\a.avi and f:\b.avi 2
with a template “NTSC DVD”3 .

cct2 -t "NTSC DVD" f:\a.avi f:\b.avi -auto

Case 2 It starts a program and encoding with the direction of f:\c.ecl 4 ,

and quits a program when finished.

cct2 -ecl f:\c.ecl -batch

Case 3 It outputs verbose log to log.txt in addition to the act of

case 2.

cct2.exe -ecl f:\c.ecl -batch -verbose > log.txt

1 Aboutan ECL (Encoder Control List) file, see page 115.

2 If
an input movie is located in a current folder, the full path description is
not necessary.
3 Templates should be created in advance, see page 107.
4 ECL file should be created in advance.
1.4. PRECAUTIONS ON INPUT FILES 13

1.4 Precautions on input files

Note that Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 cannot read AVI or Quick-
Time files without appropriate codec5 for them. Also, QuickTime 7
is required to read a QuickTime movie.

5 Codec is an abbreviation for Coder-Decoder.

Chapter 2

Input file setup

An input file setting is needed when one of the following applies.

• Combine two or more files and output one MPEG file.

• Input an audio from another file.

• Trim the source video.

To perform input file setting, select the target item in the list of
the main window, and then select Append in the shortcut menu to
show the subwindow displayed in Fig. 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Sub window to add extra files

15
16 CHAPTER 2. INPUT FILE SETUP

2.1 Combining movie files for one MPEG

output
Select input files in the same way as operation in a main window.
When all the files are registered into a subwindow, click OK but-
ton and return to a main window. You can see the number of files
registered at the Files column of the list of main window.
In Fig. 2.2, four files are registered into the subwindow. When
returned to the main window, the value of the column of Files is 4.

Figure 2.2: Four files are added in the subwindow

Figure 2.3: After returned to main window

f You can combine input files only when frame size and
frame rate are the same.
2.2. SELECT EXTERNAL AUDIO FILE 17

2.2 Select external audio file

Video and an audio can be inputted from separate files. The input
audio file should be either uncompressed Wave file or uncompressed
AIFF file.
To specify an external audio file, click a target item in the list of
subwindow, and then select Audio in the shortcut menu (Fig. 2.4)
to show Audio window. In the Audio window, select Use external
audio file, and then specify an audio file name. You can also select
an audio file from common dialog box by clicking right-hand side of
the text box.

Figure 2.4: Shortcut menu of subwindow

Figure 2.5: Audio input window

To synchronize audio with video, select Sync with video check

box.
When a synchronization is chosen as video, an in point is specified
and it is a way of a video file. When this option selected, video and
audio will be in sync even when video is trimmed.

2.3 Video trimming

For each of the specified input file, video trimming can be performed
by frame number or timecode.
18 CHAPTER 2. INPUT FILE SETUP

To trim video, open Video trimming window shown in Fig. 2.6

by double-clicking an item in the list of subwindow, or select an item
in the list of subwindow and select Trimming in the shortcut menu.

Figure 2.6: Video trimming window

When you open the Video trimming window, the viewer window
also appears to help search points. On the title bar of the viewer
window shown is the frame number. The frame number 0 indicates
the first frame. Use the upper slider or directly change the frame
number or timecode of Current fields to find a trim point, and then
click In or Out to set the point.
Frame numbers for input file and output file are displayed sepa-
rately. Next to the frame number for input file, time and duration of
the frame are displayed. While each frame duration is the same for
AVI file, QuickTime file may contain frames with different durations.
Note that In point is inclusive and Out point is exclusive. For
example, if you set 0 as In point and 300 as Out point, Cinema
Craft Encoder SP2 encodes 0th frame through 299th frame.
2.3. VIDEO TRIMMING 19

 Using the slider, you can only move to the last frame. If you
set that frame as an Out point, the last frame will be missing.
So please make sure to specify the (last + 1) frame as an Out
point in this case.

Chapter setting

In the Video trimming window, you can also specify chapter points.
The pictures at chapter points are encoded as I pictures.

Movie playback setting

To enable movie playback on Video trimming window, select En-

able movie play if possible in the Option menu of subwindow
(Fig. 2.7).

Figure 2.7: Option menu of subwindow

 Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 does not playback still-image se-

quence in the current version (1.00.00.01).

Operation buttons

Use the following buttons to operate movie play.

20 CHAPTER 2. INPUT FILE SETUP

(QuickTime only) Play backwards.

Play forwards.
Step backward. Shows the previous frame.
Step forwards. Shows the next frame.
(QuickTime only) Double speed play backwards.
Double speed play forwards.
Stop playback.
Return to top.
Go to end.

Changing playback speed

During movie playback, you can change the playback speed by moving
the Speed slider. Move the slider to the left to slow down, and to
the right to speed up. You can specify the top speed by changing
Max speed value. The mimimum speed will be inverse number of
the maximum speed.
Chapter 3

Basic encoder setting

This chapter explains the parameteres of Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.

To set parameters, open Encoder setting window. To open the
window, please refer to section 1.1 (page 5).

3.1 Title
Specify a title that is shown in the list of the main window. Appro-
priate title will make the Encoder Control List (the list of the main
window) easier to follow. This setting does not affect encoding.

3.2 Timecode
Since a timecode is not generally included in both AVI and QuickTime
files, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 generates a timecode internally and
embeds it in MPEG stream.
Timecode should be tied to a frame number at Timecode setting
in the Encoder setting window shown in Fig. 3.1.
Initially, the first frame (frame number 0) is tied to the timecode
01:00:00:00. Although you can change this setting, you should avoid
using the timecode 00:00:00:00 since this value has special meaning to
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 especially when you perform Pulldown
or Inverse 3:2 Pulldown.

21
22 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

Figure 3.1: Encoder setting window

3.3. OUTPUT FILES 23

If you need a dropped frame timecode, select DF check box.

3.3 Output files

Specify output files and their types here at Output files field. There
are 4 types of output files listed below.

• Video file
• Video information file
• Pulldown information file
• Audio file

To set or change the name of output files, click ... button to show
a dialog box and specify the file name there, or directly type the file
name in the text box.

Figure 3.2: Output files setting

 You can specify the default output folder. How to change the
default folder for output files is descibed at 9.2 Specifying a
folder for output files on page 101.

 You can change the default extensions of the output files. How
to change an extension is described at 9.3 Setting extensions
on page 103. However, concerning audio files, only the extension
of MPEG-1 audio can be changed.
24 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

3.3.1 Video file

Specify an output video file name. When Multipass VBR is se-
lected in encoding mode, you can save the video output into two files
alternately. One is for an odd number of times of encoding (1,3,5,...
passes), another is for an even number of times (2,4,6,...). If you
specify different names for two video files, you can at least keep the
encoding result of the previous pass even if you cancel encoding. The
file name for 2,4,6,...passes should be specified in the text box of
(Second Pass).

3.3.2 Video information file

Specify a video information file name. Video information file (VAF
file) is used when multipass encoding and VBR bit allocation setting.
This file will be automatically created when multipass encoding, or
you can create it before VBR bit allocation setting. If you need the
video information file in advance, select 1-pass CBR or 1st pass
of VBR (1-pass VBR also will do.) in encoding mode, and set
the parameters as similarly as possible to ones for multipass encoding
that will be done later.

 See page 32 Create the video information file for more

detail.

3.3.3 Pulldown information file

Specify a pulldown information file name. Pulldown information file
(i32 file) holds the information for inverse 3:2 pulldown.
It will be used when you carry out Auto 2-pass detection (see
page 44 Auto 2-pass detection). You also need this file to apply
the changes of Threshold setting of Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting
(see page 42 Inverse 3:2 pulldown).
The pulldown information file (i32 file) will be created automati-
cally when you carry out encoding with Inverse 3:2 pulldown op-
tion.
3.4. AUDIO SETTING 25

3.3.4 Audio file

Specify an output audio file name. You can select either MPEG-1
(Layer2) audio, Wave, or AIFF file as the output audio format. If
you select Wave or AIFF file, the output audio stream will not be
compressed.

3.4 Audio setting

3.4.1 Bitrate
Set the bitrate for an MPEG Audio stream. The initial value is 256
kilobits/sec. (half for monaural).

3.4.2 Add CRC

Select whether to add CRC data to an MPEG Audio stream. When
SVCD or VCD is selected in encoding mode, you cannot change this
setting.

3.4.3 File size

The estimated file size for the output audio is shown here. When you
output System Stream, please look at the File size of Video setting
(see also page 38 3.9 File size).

3.4.4 Mode
Select the channel mode for an MPEG Audio stream.
• Monaural
The left and right channels are mixed and encoded as monaural.
• Joint stereo
Encoded in joint stereo format. Joint stereo is a special stereo
format for MPEG Audio. In this mode, the differential informa-
tion on sound volume between the left and right is encoded as a
balance signal. Encoding quality is slightly better than stereo.
26 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

• Stereo
Encoded in stereo.

• Dual channel
Encoded in dual channel mode.

3.4.5 Sampling frequency

Select a sampling frequency for the output audio stream. Since it
affects audio quality, it is recommended not to change it from original
rate except when necessary.

3.4.6 Audio run out

The length of output audio stream can be equal to or longer than that
of video stream. If the value of Audio run out is positive, audio
stream will be longer by the specified frame length.
This setting is intended to be used to output Wave or AIFF audio
file that is to be fed to Dolby Digital Encoder, which may require
extra audio to fill its access unit.

3.5 Encoding mode setting

The encoding mode is set by selecting option buttons located in upper
right of Encoder setting window. Each mode is described below.

Figure 3.3: Video encoding mode

3.5. ENCODING MODE SETTING 27

3.5.1 Output type

Select one from the output types listed below.

• MPEG-2
• MPEG-2 for DVD
• MPEG-1
• SVCD
• VCD

MPEG-2
Outputs MPEG-2 video stream. Image quality is better than that of
MPEG-1, but MPEG-2 decoder or software DVD player is needed to
play it back. It is especially appropriate for interlaced sources.

MPEG-2 for DVD

Outputs DVD compatible stream. If the resolution of the source file
(frame size and frame rate) does not match with DVD standard, it
will be automatically converted.
When used as Adobe Premiere plug-in, make sure to specify audio
sampling frequency to 48,000 Hz on Adobe Premiere side.

 If output frame is greater than input frame, picture will be

located at top left corner and extra area will be black-filled.
Centering or resizing can be done on Area setting window.

 In DVD mode, when you select VBR, 9,800 kbps is always

written as maximum bitrate in the sequence header of output
MPEG files whatever value you may set. It is for more flexible
bit allocation to achieve higher quality. However, some author-
ing softwares seem to calculate the bitrate for a DVD using this
9,800 kbps as video bitrate. And when multiplexing with PCM
audio, they consider the total bitrate out of DVD acceptable
range 10.08 Mbps. If your authoring software has this problem,
please select MPEG-2 mode. Then the maximum bitrate in
the sequence header will be the value you specified. Note that
28 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

image

Figure 3.4: Frame size extension and picture location

actual bitrate does not exceed your maximum bitrate setting

even if 9,800 kbps is written in the sequence header.

MPEG-1
Outputs MPEG-1 video stream. Windows media player can play
back MPEG-1 files without additional DLLs, but image quality is
not as good as that of MPEG-2. MPEG-1 does not support interlace
encoding.

SVCD
Outputs Super Video CD compatible stream. If the resolution of the
source file does not match with SVCD standard, it will be automati-
cally converted.
When used as Adobe Premiere plug-in, make sure to specify audio
sampling frequency to 44,100 Hz on Adobe Premiere side.

 If output frame is greater than input frame, picture will be

located at top left corner and extra area will be black-filled.
Centering or resizing can be done on Area setting window.
(See Fig. 3.4.)

VCD
Outputs Video CD compatible stream. If the resolution of the source
file does not match with VCD standard, it will be automatically con-
3.5. ENCODING MODE SETTING 29

verted.
When used as Adobe Premiere plug-in, make sure to specify audio
sampling frequency to 44,100 Hz on Adobe Premiere side.

 If output frame is greater than input frame, picture will be

located at top left corner and extra area will be black-filled.
Centering or resizing can be done on Area setting window.
(See Fig. 3.4.)

3.5.2 Encoding method

Select one from the encoding methods listed below.

• 1-pass VBR
• 1-pass CBR
• Multipass VBR
• Multipass CBR
• 1st pass of VBR

1-pass VBR
Outputs VBR (variable bitrate) stream encoded in a single pass. This
mode allows you to specify Q.factor and minimum and maximum
bitrates, however, average bitrate cannot be specified. The bitrate of
each GOP will be varied, and quantization scale will be kept constant.
However, certain movements of quantization scale may occur to keep
the bitrate limits.
File size in 1-pass VBR mode shows you possible largest size.

 About Q.factor, see 3.10 Bitrate and Q.factor described

later.

1-pass CBR
Outputs CBR (constant bitrate) stream encoded in a single pass. The
bitrate will be kept constant throughout the stream.
30 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

Multipass VBR
Outputs VBR (variable bitrate) stream encoded in multiple passes.
The bitrate will be varied to keep constant quality of the image .
It can be selected only when you select MPEG-2 or MPEG-2 for
DVD.

 See also 3.6 Video information file on page 31.

Multipass CBR
Outputs CBR stream encoded in multiple passes. It is provided to
create the stream for multiangle DVD.

 See also 3.6 Video information file on page 31.

1st pass of VBR

It is provided to create the video infomation file for Multipass VBR.
This mode allows you to specify minimum and average and maximum
bitrates.

3.5.3 Output stream type

Select between the two output stream types listed below.

• Elementary Stream (ES)

• System Stream (SS)

Elementary Stream (ES)

Outputs a video file and an audio file separately without multiplexing.
It cannot be selected when you select SVCD or VCD.

System Stream (SS)

Outputs a single file with multiplexed video and audio. If MPEG-2
is selected, the output is a program stream. It cannot be selected
when you select one of VBR modes.
3.6. VIDEO INFORMATION FILE 31

3.5.4 V/C (VBR/CBR) : Fluctuation of the bit

allocation
In VBR streams, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 performs bit alloca-
tion balancing the quality of image on its own valuation basis. The
valuation basis can be changed by V/C value between 0 and 100.
The initial value is 30. As V/C becomes smaller, a stream becomes
more like VBR keeping the quality of the image with heavily up and
down in bitrate. As V/C becomes larger, a stream becomes even like
CBR keeping the bitrate constant but without stability of the image
quality.

 It is not applied to CBR stream.

 When the distortion of complicated part is more noticeable than

that of flat part, smaller V/C value may improve image quality
of complicated part. On the other hand, when the distortion
of flat part is more noticeable, larger V/C value may bring the
better result. Although you can also adjust the setting for a
certain part of the footage one by one at Local bitrate setting
in VBR bit allocation (see page 57), V/C parameter can
change the bit allocation through the footage more effectively
at a time.

3.5.5 Pass
Specify a number of encoding passes. You can set the number up to
99.

 See also page 32 Create a video inforamtion file.

3.6 Video information file

The video information file (VAF file) is necessary for multipass en-
coding. The information in this file is used for the calculation de-
scribed below. And when you open VBR bit allocation window
(see page 57), the video information file should be created in advance.
32 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

Multipass VBR
Generally at least two passes are required to create a VBR stream
fit the average bitrate to the specified one. On the first pass, the
complexity of images is scanned and recorded to the video information
file. Then on the next pass, encoding will be carried out calculating
the bit allocation for each frame using the video information gathered
during the first pass. In multipass encoding, this information will be
modified again and again to achieve the higher quality of image.

Multipass CBR
In CBR mode, the more passes will result more constant and stabler
bit allocation for GOPs, and also the bit allocation for each picture
in a GOP will have been modified to achieve the higher quality of
image.

3.6.1 Creating video information file

When you carry out encoding without existing video information file,
a single pass for creating the file will be added first automatically. So
the number of passes actually done will be one more than specified.
When creating the file automatically, 1-pass CBR will be done for
Multipass CBR, and 1st pass of VBR for Multipass VBR.

When you carry out encoding with Create new option, an existing
video information file will be discarded and new one will be created
in the same way.
 If you do not recreate a video information file after changing
some parameters and try to encode using the existing video
information file, you may encounter an error. (For more detail,
see Renewing the video information described below.) To
avoid the error, delete the exising video information file or select
Create new when encoding.
When you create an video information file before multipass encod-
ing, select 1-pass CBR or 1st pass of VBR (1-pass VBR also
will do.) in encoding mode, and set the parameters as similarly as
possible to ones for multipass encoding that will be done later.
3.6. VIDEO INFORMATION FILE 33

 VBR bit allocation (see page 57) is the only setting that
requires you to create a video inforamtion file in advance.

3.6.2 Renewing the video information

Parameters recorded in a video information file are ones that have a
great impact on encoding. And if the information is different from the
actual parameter setting, it cannot fulfill its function. So a video
information file must be renewed after changing the param-
eters listed below. To recreate a video information file, delete the
exising video information file or select Create new when encoding.

 input files to be combined

 mapping between a frame and a timecode
 In points and Out points
 chapter points
 frame size and frame rate
 pulldown setting
 inverse 3:2 pulldown setting
 letterbox (on picture settings)
 intrablock DC precision (on picture settings)
 block scan order (on picture settings)
 progressive frame (on picture settings)
 black screen / monochrome (on picture settings)
 GOP configuration (N, M, GOP header interval, sequence header
interval)
 quantization scale type
 quantization matrices setting

In addition to the list above, a video information file should be

recreated when you made a substantial change in bitrate setting. The
change of bitrate setting may not cause an error, however a renewed
information file will bring the better results in limited number of en-
coding passes. When an average bitrate is increased twice or more or
34 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

decreased less than half, it is better to recreate the video information

file.

3.6.3 VBR bit allocation

In Multipass VBR mode, you can specify average, minimum and
maxmum bitrates throughout the footage. And moreover, you can
specify different bitrate in a certain part of the footage using VBR
bit allocation window. To open the window, you need a video in-
formation file created in advance. About the setting on VBR bit
allocation window, see page 57.

3.7 Frame size

Specify a frame size of output video file. It must be a multiple of 16
for both width and height. When the value is not a multiple of 16, it
will be changed automatically.
When MPEG-2 for DVD is selected, the width must be either
720 or 704. If output frame is greater than input frame, picture
will be located at top left corner and extra area will be black-filled.
Centering or resizing can be done on Area setting window.

3.7.1 Area setting

By specifying the region of interest for both input and output frames,
you can do cropping, blanking, zooming, and locating settings. Also,
you can select interpolation method and mirroring axis.

Setting information
In this field is displayed current area setting information.
Cropping Shows cropping area of input frame
Blanking Shows blanking area of output frame
Zooming Shows the rate of enlargement of output frame
Offset line Offset line can be changed here.
(For details, see Offset line on page 51)
Field order Indicates whether field order is reversed or not
3.7. FRAME SIZE 35

Figure 3.5: Area setting window

36 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

 The sum of the value of top cropping and offset line is the actual
lines that cut out from upper part.
 Please make sure to select Output top field first stream in
Video setting window if and only if the field order is reversed.
(See Output top field first stream on page 51.)

Source file

(x,y)

trimming h
area

Figure 3.6: ROI of source file

Frame size Displays frame size of source file

Region of interest
(x,y) Enter top left point of source ROI
(w,h) Enter width and height of source ROI

The picture of input file is cut out from (x,y) with size (w,h).

 If cropping is not necessary, set (x,y) = (0,0) and (w,h) being

original frame size.

Destination file

Frame size Displays frame size of output file

Region of interest
(x,y) Enter top left point of destination ROI
(w,h) Enter width and height of destination ROI
3.7. FRAME SIZE 37

The picture of specified size (w,h) is displayed in the specified

position (x,y). Press Move to center button to move picture to
center.

(x,y)

image h
area

Figure 3.7: ROI of destination file

 If (w,h) is smaller than output frame size, remaining area will

be black-filled.
 If (w,h) of input file and (w,h) of output file differ, picture will
be resized to fit output ROI.

Interpolation methods
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 provides four interpolation methods for
resizing picture:
• Nearest neighbor
• Linear interpolation
• Cubic interpolation
• Lanczos interpolation
The nearest neighbor algorithm is the fastest, while other methods
yield higher quality results, but are slower.

Progressive frame
If Progressive frame is selected, resizing is performed per frame,
otherwise, per field.
38 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

 This option does not affect progressive frame flag.

 To extract one field from interlaced source, select this option to-
gether with Nearest neibor, and then halve the output height.

Mirroring
Selecting Horizontal axis mirrors the source image about a horizon-
tal axis. And selecting Vertical axis mirrors the source image about
a vertical axis.

3.8 Frame rate

Select the frame rate of output video file. If input and output frame
rates differ, frame insertion or frame skip will occur. To avoid this,
clear Rate conv option. However, it will change duration of output
video file, and will be out of sync with audio unless Sync with video
is selected.

 If both MPEG-2 for DVD and 23.976 are selected, pull-

down is automatically selected to convert frame rate to 29.97
fps.

3.9 File size

An estimated file size for the video is shown. When you output System
Stream, it will be calculated including audio.
Since Bitrate and File size are linked together, if you change the
file size, the average bitrate will be calculated automatically.

The file size can be displayed in one of the units listed below:

• B (bytes) Shows file size in bytes. Since bitrate can be set

only in kbps (internally, multiple of 400 bits), some errors are
inevitable.

• kB (kilobytes) Shows file size in kilobites (103 = 1, 000 bytes).

3.10. BITRATE AND Q.FACTOR 39

• KiB (kibibytes) Shows file size in kibibytes (210 = 1, 024

bytes).
• MB (megabytes) Shows file size in megabytes (106 = 1, 000, 000
bytes).
• MiB (mebibytes) Shows file size in mebibyte (220 = 1, 048, 576
bytes).

 When 1-pass VBR is selected in encoding mode, the possible

largest size will be shown.

3.10 Bitrate and Q.factor

Each encoding mode requires the parameters for bitrate setting as
follows.

Encoding mode Avg Min Max Q.

MPEG-2/DVD (1-pass VBR) -   
MPEG-2/DVD (1-pass CBR)  - - -
MPEG-2/DVD (Multipass CBR)  - - -
MPEG-2/DVD (Multipass VBR)    -
MPEG-2/DVD (1st pass of VBR)    -
MPEG-1  - - -
SVCD  - - -
VCD - - - -

Avg, Min, Max, Q. indicate average bitrate, minimum bitrate,

maximum bitrate, and Q.factor, respectively.

Bitrate
Bitrate indicates bits per second. The higher the bitrate, the better
the quality but larger the file size. (1 kilo bits is regarded as 1,000
bits.)
For example, if the average bitrate is 6,000 kbits/sec and the movie
length is 2 hours, the file size of encoded video elementary stream is:

2 × 60 × 60 × 6000 × 1000 ÷ 8 = 5, 400, 000, 000 bytes

40 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

(To convert from bits to bytes, it is divided by 8.)

 An upper bitrate limit for SVCD is 2460 kbps.

 A bitrate for VCD is always locked at 1150 kbps.

Q.factor
Q.factor is a parameter unique to Cinema Craft Encoder, and can be
set only when 1-pass VBR mode. Cinema Craft Encoder calculates
quantization scales for each picture type (I,B,P) using Q.factor.
When you set Q.factor, refer to the following table.

Q.factor Description
1 ∼ 40 achieves a higher quality of image
but a lower compression rate
40 ∼ 80 Standard
80 ∼ 120 achieves a higher compression rate
but a lower quality of image
120 ∼ disregards a quality of image

3.11 Pulldown setting

When creating a NTSC video from a film, it is necessary to convert
frame rate from 24 fps to 30fps (60 fields/sec). 3:2 pulldown is a
common method for this convertion. And the 3:2 pulldowned source
will be encoded efficiently and achieve better result applying Inverse
3:2 pulldown.

 When you apply 3:2 pulldown, do not set 00:00:00:00 as a time-

code for the first frame.

 When you apply 3:2 pulldown, Output top field first stream
should be selected. If the source is bottom field first, you should
also confirm that Offset line is 1 or odd number.

 When you output DVD video stream with this option, GOP se-
quence should be M=3, N/M=4. To specify GOP sequence,
3.11. PULLDOWN SETTING 41

click Advanced button in the lower right of the encoder set-

ting window. About Advanced video setting window, see
page 45.

3.11.1 Pulldown
Select this option when you convert film source at 24 (23.976) fps
into NTSC video at 30 (29.97) fps. When it is selected, Inverse
3:2 pulldown will be also applied automatically. This setting will
be allowed when output is MPEG-2 format file and 23.976 or 24 is
selected as Frame rate.

2:3 or 3:2
In 3:2 pulldown method, 2 fields are added to fill 10 fields (5 frames)
of video that make 4 frames of film.
You can select the pattern of where to add fields between 2:3 and
3:2. (See Fig. 3.8)

1 2 3 4 24 fps 1 2 3 4
copy copy copy copy

10 fields

1 2 3 4 5 30 fps 1 2 3 4 5

Figure 3.8: 2:3 and 3:2 pattern

 If the total number of encoded frames is a multiple of 4, the play

back time of the source and the output will be same. However,
if it cannot be divided by 4, the gap of the play back time
will be caused between the source and the output. And how a
remainder when devided by 4 will make a number of frames is
different between 2:3 and 3:2. (See the table below.) So it will
be better to alternate 2:3 and 3:2 patterns if you encode the
source devided into multiple streams.
42 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

Number of frames left Number of frames to be encoded

when devided by 4 2:3 3:2
1 1 1
2 2 3
3 4 4

 In plug-in version, frame rate setting of Premiere should be

23.98(24) fps.

3.11.2 Inverse 3:2 pulldown

If the source is 3:2 pulldowned NTSC footage, you can expect im-
provement in the quality by applying Inverse 3:2 pulldown.
The 3:2 pulldowned footage has only 48/60 = 4/5 of information
compared to those not 3:2 pulldowned. Inverse 3:2 pulldown de-
tects and avoids encoding redundant copied fields, then encoding ef-
ficiency will be gained and the image quality will be improved with
more allocatable bits.

 If the source is letter boxed, you can except upper and lower
black areas from 3:2 pulldown detection to make the detection
more precise. The setting for a letterbox source is on Picture
setting window. See page 78 for more detail.

 When you select Inverse 3:2 pulldown, auto 3:2 pulldown

detection will be done when encoding. If you would rather set
pulldown patterns manually or would like to confirm the result
of auto detection to modify, click Settings button to open the
window for a manual setting. See page 81 Inverse 3:2 pull-
down for more detail.

 3:2 (2:3) pulldowned source is only footage to apply this option.

Other patterns of pulldown such as 2:3:3:2, 2:3:3:2:2 (PAL ¡
NTSC), 2:2 (film ¡ PAL) are not supported.

 When you apply inverse 3:2 pulldown, Output top field first
stream should be selected. If the source is bottom field first,
you should also confirm that Offset line is 1 or odd number.
3.11. PULLDOWN SETTING 43

 When you output DVD video stream with this option, GOP se-
quence should be M=3, N/M=4. To specify GOP sequence,
click Advanced button in the lower right of the encoder set-
ting window. About Advanced video setting window, see
page 45.
 When you apply Inverse 3:2 pulldown against 720 × 486 source
file, see also 12.2 Encoder settings for plug-in program /
Parameters / Inverse 3:2 pulldown on page 126.

Cautions when applying inverse 3:2 pulldown

f The error of pulldown detection causes jerky movement of de-
coded images. If this problem happens everywhere on the de-
coded stream, the material does not seem to suit for pulldown
detection. In that case, clear the Inverse 3:2 pulldown check
box and encode again.
f Do not apply pre-filters to the material before 3:2 pulldown
detection, because it makes the precision of 3:2 pulldown detec-
tion lower. However, there is no problem to use Cinema Craft
Encoder SP2’s internal filters because those filters are applied
after 3:2 pulldown detection.
f If the original images are compressed, deterioration caused by
the compression affects the precision of pulldown detection.
Therefore do not perform heavy compression over the footage.
It is recommended to avoid using codec whose compression ra-
tio is higher than DV codec, and also to avoid recompression
during video editing.
f When multipass encoding, DO NOT FORGET to recre-
ate the video information file if you change some set-
tings in inverse 3:2 pulldown.
f Chapter setting has an impact on inverse 3:2 pulldown opera-
tion. At a frame pointed as a chapter point, the first field of
the frame is forced to be on the top field even disturbing the
proper pulldown phase. If you see the pulldown phase out of
order, confirm and modify the location of the chapter point to
44 CHAPTER 3. BASIC ENCODER SETTING

keep the pulldown phase. However, this rarely if ever effects on

the quality of image. See page 93 for more detail.

3.11.3 Auto 2-pass detection

Auto 2-pass detection will allow you precise Inverse 3:2 pull-
down without editing the pulldown list manually.
When you carry out encoding with Inverse 3:2 pulldown and
Auto 2-pass detection option, auto pulldown detection will be
done and a pulldown information file will be created gathering the
information of each line in the source. Then the pulldown list will be
reviewed using the pulldown information file. If any improvement can
be expected, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 will modify the pulldown list
and add one more pass automatically to renew VAF file.

 If you apply the pulldown list that is manually set, do not select
Auto 2-pass detection, or the pulldown list you set will be
discarded.

3.12 Aspect ratio

Aspect ratio is the ratio between the width and height of the screen.
The MPEG-2 playback device (e.g., DVD player) refers to this setting,
and modifies the ratio when outputting the data to a TV monitor. It
does not mean frame size conversion.
DAR (Display Aspect Ratio) works on aspect ratio of the frame.
Available DAR values are 4:3, 16:9, 2.21:1. 4:3 is for a standard TV
monitor. For wide screen materials, 16:9 will be appropriate.
SAR (Sample Aspect Ratio) works on aspect ratio of the pixel. If
SAR 1:1 is selected, the ratio of frame width and height of the output
will be the same ratio as source.

3.13 Deinterlacing
If you intend to playback an interlaced video on a non-interlaced
display (e.g., a computer monitor), artifacts will be seen as jagged
edges. Deinterlacing is useful to reduce such jaggies.
Chapter 4

Advanced video setting

This section describes the advanced video settings. The setting win-
dow is displayed by clicking Advanced video setting button in
Encoder setting window (Fig. 3.1).

4.1 Setting GOP configuration

In MPEG, encoding, playing, editing is based on GOP that consists
of a group of pictures.

4.1.1 Picture type

MPEG uses three types of pictures for spatial and temporal coding,
that is, I, P and B pictures.

I picture (intra-coded picture)

An I picture holds all the picture information on one picture within
itself. It is not necessary to refer to another picture to decode, but
compression efficiency is not good in comparison with other types
of pictures. Therefore, when the bitrate is the same, the picture
quality of a stream of I pictures is lower than that of other types of
streams. To edit encoded streams, however, it is more convenient to
use numerous I pictures.

45
46 CHAPTER 4. ADVANCED VIDEO SETTING

Figure 4.1: Advanced video setting window

4.1. SETTING GOP CONFIGURATION 47

P picture (predictive-coded picture)

A P picture consists of motion vectors referring to previous (just
before) I picture or P picture and differential information between a
picture comprised of these motion vectors and an original picture. To
decode a P picture, referred pictures are required, but compression
can be done more efficiently than I pictures. However, in a sequence
with continual P pictures, a deterioration in the picture quality of P
pictures may occurs with distance from the referred I picture when
decoding. That results from error accumulation in the gap of IDCT1
calculation method between the encoder and a decoder.

B picture (bidirectionally predictive-coded picture)

A B picture consists of motion vectors referring to previous (just
before) I picture or P picture and/or future (just after) I picture or P
picture, and differential information between a picture comprised of
these motion vectors and an original picture. Therefore, to decode a B
picture, referred two pictures are required, but compression efficiency
is even better than that of P pictures. Since a B picture is not referred
by other pictures, continual B pictures do not cause accumulation
of errors unlike the case of P pictures. However, the sequence of
B pictures means the distance from a referred picture, then cause
decrease of the motion compensation effect.

4.1.2 GOP sequence

You can change the GOP sequence modifying M and N/M. M
affects the number of B picture, and N/M does the number of P
picture. You can see the GOP sequence you set above the setting
boxes for M and N/M. The initial setting is M=3, N/M=5.

 Generally, M=3, N/M=5 is used for NTSC DVD, M=3, N/M=4

for PAL DVD.

 When you create a stream for DVD with applying inverse 3:2
pulldown, M=3, N/M=4 should be set.
1 Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform
48 CHAPTER 4. ADVANCED VIDEO SETTING

4.1.3 GOP header

Specify the number of frames to which a GOP header is added. This
value stands for the GOP length. 1 ∼ 15 can be set. Since the GOP
length must be a multiple of N, the value can be limited to 1 × N
in some cases. For example, supposing M=3, N/M=5, the value
becomes N=15, then no other value than 1 × N will be allowed.

4.1.4 SEQ header

Specify how many GOPs between the sequence headers. The initial
setting is 1.

4.2 Add sequence end code

To add the sequence end code, select Add sequence end code check
box. You should not clear this check box except when necessary.

4.3 Encode the last frame as an I frame

This option will achieve a clear image of the last picture of resulted
DVD when you pause the DVD player at the end of the stream.

4.4 DVD Video multiangle

If DVD Video multiangle is selected, the encoder outputs a video
Elementary Stream for multiangle DVD. Multipass CBR is recom-
mended as encoding mode.
It is equivalent to selecting the following three options at the same
time.

• Close all GOPs

• Disable auto I frame insertion
• Equalize each GOP’s bit length
4.5. CLOSE ALL GOPS 49

4.5 Close all GOPs

If Close all GOPs is selected, all GOPs are closed. In closed GOP,
individual frames in a GOP do not refer the frames outside the GOP,
and B pictures can be correctly decoded even in random access mode.

 Even if Close all GOPs is not selected, the GOP at the scene
change point is automatically closed unless Restrict auto I
frame insertion is selected.

 If Close all GOPs is selected, image quality will be slightly

degraded. Therefore, do not select this except when necessary.

4.6 Disable auto I frame insertion

Cinema Craft Encoder automatically detects scene change and en-
codes the first frame of a new scene as I frame. This function is
important for improving image quality. However, if you are to cre-
ate streams for multiangle DVD, auto I frame insertion may cause a
problem since every I frame should be the same position in an each
angle. In this case, select Disable auto I frame insertion to avoid
auto I frame insertion.

 If I frame is inserted, the length of GOP will be changed. If you

would like to keep the constant GOP length, select Disable
auto I frame insertion check box.

 If Disable auto I frame insertion is selected, image quality

will be slightly degraded. Therefore, do not select this except
when necessary.

 Even if Disable auto I frame insertion is selected, I frames

as chapter points will be put in the location you set. When
you create a stream for multiangle DVD, you must be careful
to match chapter points in each stream.
50 CHAPTER 4. ADVANCED VIDEO SETTING

4.7 Equalize each GOP’s bit length

Although slight bitrate movement in CBR is allowed to improve image
quality, Equalize each GOP’s bit length option forces the bit
amount of each GOP to be equal.

 If Equalize each GOP’s bit length is selected, image quality

will be slightly degraded. Therefore, do not select this except
when necessary.

4.8 Disable adaptive Q-matrix switching

Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 (later than 2.67) adjusts quantization ma-
trix automatically to improve the quality of image when Multipass
VBR is selected. However, some DVD player does not support such
MPEG streams as encoded with adaptive quantization matrix, and
may cause the block noise when playback. When you encounter the
problem, you can avoid it with this option.

What is adaptive Q-matrix switching ?

There are some cases that Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 cannot keep
the minimum bitrate. It is considered to be caused by that the lowest
quantization scale cannot raise the bitrate under a single quantization
matrix. To solve the problem, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 automati-
cally creates other matrices cutting the value of each element in the
matrices by half, quarter and so on, and applies another one to pro-
duce a much lower distortion for much higher bitrate. This switching
of quantization matrix can occur at every GOP.
Thus, adaptive Q-matrix switching can improve the quality of im-
age, especially with lower bitrate sources or CG works or the edge of
fading out.

4.9 Panscan
Panscan is one of formats for displaying wide-screen movies on 4:3
TV. In panscan format, the image is stripped off at the left and right
4.10. OUTPUT TOP FIELD FIRST STREAM 51

side of the screen. (In another format called letterbox, black bars
are added at the top and bottom of the screen to fill 4:3 TV screen
instead of cutting off the image.)
If you prefer to create DVD-Video displayed in panscan format,
select Panscan. This setting works on MPEG-2 output.

4.10 Output top field first stream

Specify the field order of output stream. If it is selected, an output
stream is top field first. If not, an output is bottom field first. This
setting works on MPEG-2 output.
It is important to set correct field order, because incorrect field
order causes stuttered motion. To set field order correctly, you have
to care about Offset line setting.

• If the field order is same between the source and the output,
Offset line should be 0 or even number.
• If the field order is different between the source and the output,
Offset line should be 1 or odd number.

4.11 Offset line

This parameter specifies offset line from which encoding starts. In
another words, it implies how many lines should be cropped from the
top. For example, if you set 0, no line is cropped and encoding starts
from the top. When the output is MPEG-2 video, it affects the field
order. If this setting is incorrect, the movement of an encoded video
will be jerky. Please be careful about both field orders of output and
source material. (See also Output top field first stream described
above.)

4.12 Luminance level

Cinema Craft Encoder uses a YUY2 pixel format internally. If the
source format is RGB, the color space conversion into YCbCr will be
performed using this luminance range.
52 CHAPTER 4. ADVANCED VIDEO SETTING

In ITU-R BT. 601-52, the range of luminance is settled from 16 to

235. If this setting is not suitable, you can select “0 to 255”.

When “16 to 235” is specified

RD = 219R + 16 × 256
GD = 219G + 16 × 256
BD = 219B + 16 × 256

77RD + 150GD + 29BD

Y =
216
131RD − 110GD − 21BD
CR = + 128
216
−44RD − 87GD + 131BD
CB = + 128
216

When “0 to 255” is specified

77R + 150G + 29B

Y =
28
131R − 110G − 21B
CR = + 128
28
−44R − 87G + 131B
CB = + 128
28
In any case, decimals in the result of the division are omitted.

4.13 Quantization scale type

When you output a MPEG-2 file, you can select a type for the quan-
tization scale used when quantizing DCT coefficients between Linear
and Nonlinear. Generally, MPEG-2 outputs use Nonlinear.

 MPEG-1 outputs always use Linear.

2 Standards and specifications that can be used to broadcast or interchange

digitally coded television signals.

4.14. QUANTIZATION MATRICES SETTING 53

4.14 Quantization matrices setting

Quantize matrices setting window will appear when you click
Quantization matrices button. You can choose quantization ma-
trices for encoding or create the new one on the window,.

Figure 4.2: Quantize matrices setting window

Preset
Several presets of quantization matrices are provided in advance. You
can list them by clicking M next to preset box and select one.

Preset matrices and their characteristics are the following :

• Standard
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 sets this one as a standard matrix.
It is the matrix that was used for the evaluation of the MPEG-2
international standard algorithm. For natural images, it will be
appropriate.
• MPEG standard
This one is a default matrix under the MPEG-2 international
standard. If Standard does not work as fine as you expected,
it may help you to improve the quality of image with higher
bitrate.
54 CHAPTER 4. ADVANCED VIDEO SETTING

• Smooth (CG etc.)

It will be appropriate for smooth and less noise sources like CG.

• Very low bitrate

It is intended to be used when encoding NTSC or PAL con-
formed source with the bitrate of 4 Mbps or less.

• Ultra low bitrate

It is intended to be used when encoding NTSC or PAL con-
formed source with the bitrate of 2 Mbps or less. Note that you
cannot always lower the bitrate as you would like. How far you
can lower the bitrate depends on your source.

Create quantization matrices

On Quantize matrices setting window, you will see two matrices,
one for Intra block and another for Non-intra block. You can set
these matrices separately. To modify a matrix, type the value directly
on the matrix.

 Allowable range of the value is : 1 to 127 3 .

 (1, 1) element in intra block must be 8 under MPEG standard.

And the buttons below a matrix will help you to modify the value.

• button copies (i, j) element and put them in (j, i) when i < j.

• button copies (i, j) element and put them in (j, i) when i > j.

• Transpose button interchanges rows and columns in a matrix.

It means the interchange of (i, j) and (j, i) elements.

When there is no difference between (i, j) and (j, i) elements, these

three buttons appear to be grayed out and do not work. In other
words, you can see if these is some difference between the elements
or not by the status of the buttons.

3 Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 limits the value to 127 in spite of MPEG standard
255.
4.15. PACKET SIZE 55

To save the matrix you created, click Save button and type the new
name of the matrix. Then you can see it in the list of the presets.

To delete a matrix setting, select one from the list of presets and
click Delete button.

4.15 Packet size

The default value of packet size of program streams is 2048 bytes.
You can change this value.
Chapter 5

VBR bit allocation

When Multipass VBR mode, the parameters such as V/C (see

page 31.), Avg/Min/Max bitrates are allowed as you can see them
on Encoder setting window. In addition to them, you can change
the bitrate setting partly in GOPs on VBR bit allocation window
(Fig. 5.1).
To open the window, click VBR bit allocation button on En-
coder setting window. Then a fluctuation graph of bitrate or quan-
tization scale will appear on VBR bit allocation window. And the
viewer window will also appear at the same time. You can see how
and where the bits are allocated on the graph and the viewer, then
modify the bit allocation or change the picture quality settings calling
Picture settings window.

 The video information file (VAF file) should be created in ad-

vance to open VBR bit allocation window. And Multipass
VBR should be selected in encoding mode.

 The viewer shows the first I picture of the GOP currently re-
ferred.

57
58 CHAPTER 5. VBR BIT ALLOCATION

Figure 5.1: VBR bit allocation window

5.1 Bitrate / Quantization scale graph

VBR bit allocation window will show the calculated plan of bit
allocation that will be done at the next encoding. You can see the
fluctuation of bitrate or quantization scale on the graph. The X-axis
indicates time of source, and the Y-axis indicates bitrate or quanti-
zation scale.

5.1.1 Bitrate graph

To show the bitrate fluctuation graph, select Bitrate option button
(radio button) at the right side of the graph. Then the graph such as
Fig. 5.2 will appear.
Three colored vertical short lines on the graph indicate white as I
picture, green as P picture, and red as B picture. Yellow bar indicates
the average bitrate of the GOP. Blue band in the back means the
bit allocatable band between maximum and minimum bitrate. The
double vertical line is a current time indicator that shows the timecode
point currently referred. And pink vertical line indicates that the
5.1. BITRATE / QUANTIZATION SCALE GRAPH 59

GOP is closed.

Figure 5.2: Bitrate graph

5.1.2 Quantization scale graph

Quantization scale affects distortion level. The smaller quantization
scale becomes, the smaller distortion will occur. It means that the
quality of the image will be well kept. On the other hand, the larger
quantization scale will cause the larger distortion and lose the quality
of image.
To show the fluctuation graph of quantization scale , select Q.scale
option button (radio button) at the right side of the graph. Then the
graph such as Fig. 5.3 will appear.
As well as bitrate graph, three colored vertical short lines on the
graph indicate white as I picture, green as P picture, and red as B
picture. Yellow bar indicates the average quantization scale of the
GOP. The double vertical line is a current time indicator that shows
the timecode point currently referred. And pink vertical line indicates
that the GOP is closed.
And you will see the background of the graph is painted in green,
gray or red. These colors implies the quality of the encoded image.
Green implies that you can expect a good result. Gray represents
the acceptable quality. Red means the distortion will be more visible.
The implication is helpful to foresee the quality of results and modify
the settings to avoid the poor quality. Against red painted area, you
can raise the minimum bitrate or apply filters strongly for improving
the quality.
60 CHAPTER 5. VBR BIT ALLOCATION

Figure 5.3: Quantization scale graph

5.1.3 Operation of graph

Switching of graphs

To switch graphs, select Bitrate or Q.scale option button (radio

button) at the right side of the graph.

Changing the upper and lower limit of the graph

To change the upper limit, click − + button in upper left of the

graph. The value of the upper limit is displayed above the buttons,
and the unit of bitrate graph is Mbps. − + button in lower left
of the graph changes the lower limit. The value of the lower limit is
displayed below the buttons. When you change the upper and lower
limit of the graph, the graph will be stretched or squashed vertically.
You can give an appearance you like.

Graph reset

It gives the fixed values for the limits of the graph. In bitrate graph,
#1 gives 40.0 for the upper and 0.0 for the lower. #2 gives 10.0
for the upper and 0.0 for the lower. In quantization scale graph, #1
gives 30.0 for the upper and 0.0 for the lower. #2 gives 15.0 for the
upper and 0.0 for the lower.
5.1. BITRATE / QUANTIZATION SCALE GRAPH 61

Scrolling vertically
To scroll the graph vertically, click ⇑ ⇓ buttons above graph reset
buttons.

Scrolling horizontally
The graph will move horizontally by GOPs, following the current time
indicator (the double vertical line). You can see the current timecode
at Pos in GOP information section located in the lower right of
the window. And timecodes of the edges of the graph are displayed
below the left and right edges of the graph.

To move the current time indicator, there are several ways listed
below.

• Click the location on the graph you would like to go, then the
current time indicator will point there.

• Drag the slider just below the graph.

• To go to the top of the footage, click button below the left

edge of the graph. To go to the I picture (white short line) in
last GOP of the footage, click button below the right edge of
the graph.

• When you click the buttons at the left of the slider, you can
move forward or backward by the time scale of the button you
press. The time scales you can select are 10 min / 1 min / 10
sec / GOP. And negative values move backward, and positive
values move forward. Then the current time indicator will point
the I picture of the destination GOP.

• When you type the destination timecode at the boxes of Set in

GOP information in lower right of the window then click
button, you can put the current time indicator at the I picture
of the destination GOP. Instead of clicking button, dragging
the timecode onto the graph will bring the same result. You can
also move to the just previous referred timecode in the boxes of
Prev by dragging or clicking button. And furthermore, you
62 CHAPTER 5. VBR BIT ALLOCATION

can move to the timecodes in In and Out boxes in local bitrate

settings section as well.

• You can set a frequently referred timecode as a label. Then you

can move there by just selecting the label.

Creating a label

Put a current time indicator on a timecode you would like to

set a label. Type the name of a label in the box below the slider
and click ⇒ button at the right of the box. Then the label will
be put in the label box next to ⇒ button. You can see the list
of labels by clicking M in the right.

Deleting a label

When you delete a currently selected label, click Del button

next to the label box. To select a label, click M next to the
label box to open the list and select one. When you delete all
of the labels in the list, click Del all button.

Moving to a timecode pointed by a label

Click M next to the label box to open the list, and select one.

Viewer window
You can see the image of source at the I picture of currently referred
GOP in the viewer window. And a source file name and a frame
number (0 indicates the first frame of a source file) are displayed on
the title bar of the window. When the multiple files are input for an
output, timecode of the source files will be combined then become
consecutive. However, note that a frame number on the title bar of
the viewer window is not combined one, but shows a frame number
in each source file.
5.2. BITRATE SETTINGS 63

 The image in the viewer is not a result of applying the modified

bitrate setting, but just an image of source to specify the time
point for the parameter setting.

 The image in the viewer comes from source files, however the
timecode of the graph comes from MPEG file. In some cases, it
may make you confuse.
When you apply inverse 3:2 pulldown, amount of frames will
differ between source files and MPEG file. It may cause a gap
of ±1 field between viewer image and the actual time point in
the MPEG file when the referred time point is on some pulldown
phases.
When you apply frame rate conversion (e.g., 3:2 pulldown),
timecodes will differ between source files and MPEG file. In
such case, when you call Picture setting window, you will see
that the timecode is different from one in VBR bit allocation
window. However, you will also see that the frame number of
the viewers are same in both setting windows.

5.2 Bitrate settings

You can modify the bitrate setting throughout the footage or partly,
seeing the fluctuation of the graph.

5.2.1 Global bitrate settings

You can modify the bitrate setting and V/C setting as you have done
on Encoder setting window. The modified setting will be applied
through the footage.

Avg/Min/Max
You can modify the average, minimum, maximum bitrate setting. If
you change the setting, the graph will be updated automatically.

 About the update of the graph, see Update the graph de-
scribed later.
64 CHAPTER 5. VBR BIT ALLOCATION

V/C (VBR/CBR)
You can change a fluctuation of the bit allocation. See page 31 V/C
for more detail.
If you change the setting, the graph will be updated automatically.

File size
An estimated file size for the video is shown.

5.2.2 Local bitrate settings

You can change the bitrate setting in a closed section. And you can
even keep the bit allocation used in the previous encoding in a closed
section, discarding newly planned one.

In/Out points of a closed section

Specify In and Out points of a closed section you would like to change
the bitrate setting. With Exclude out point option, the local bi-
trate will be applied from In to the just previous GOP of Out you set.
Without the option, it will be applied from In to the GOP including
Out point.
To specify In and Out points, you can type the timecodes to the
boxes directly. Or clicking ⇒ button will put the timecode pointed
by the current time indicator into the box. Moreover, dragging the
current time indicator or timecodes in GOP information will put
the timecode in the box.

Min/Max
Specify minimum and maximum bitrate for the closed section. You
cannot set local bitrate values beyond global bitrate settings. How-
ever, local minimum bitrate is allowed to rise above global average
bitrate.
If you change global bitrates after setting local bitrates, you will
see that the blue band for local bitrate settings is not updated and
still out of global bitrates. In this case, actual local bitrate values will
be matched to global bitrate settings automatically.
5.2. BITRATE SETTINGS 65

5.2.3 Keep the previous bit allocation

To keep the bit allocation used in the previous encoding, specify In
and Out points then click Lock button. Once you locked the section,
any changes you made later will not be applied in the section. So,
when you got a good result partly in the previous encoding, you can
avoid loosing the quality of the parts.
In the locked section, the blue band in the back, which indicates
the bit allocatable band between maximum and minimum bitrate,
will disappear.

 When you open VBR bit allocation window, the graph will
show you the newly planned bit allocation for the next encoding,
which is calculated from the video information file (VAF file).
Once you locked a section, the planned bit allocation on the
graph will be discarded and replaced with the bit allocation
used in the previous encoding.

 Even if you lock the bit allocation, the slightest modification

may occur to keep VBV (Video Buffer Verifier) model of MPEG-
2.

5.2.4 Apply the changes

To apply the local bitrate settings and update the graph, click Set
button.

 About the update of the graph, see Update the graph de-
scribed later.

5.2.5 Cancel the changes

To cancel the local bitrate settings, specify In and Out points then
click Reset button.

 When you cancel the changes, the bit allocation in a section

will be back to the initially planned one. That is the one you
saw when you just opened the window. Note that it is not the
cancellation of a just previous change you made.
66 CHAPTER 5. VBR BIT ALLOCATION

 When you point the top of the footage as In and the last I
picture as Out, the cancellation will be applied through the
footage then the graph will be back to the one you saw when
you just opened the window.

 When you make the changes on VBR bit allocation window,

the changes will be written to the video information file imme-
diately. If you need to keep the video information in a step
of changing the settings, you should save the VAF file as an-
other name. Then you can go back to the step when you would
like, not to the initial one by Reset button. To refer to an-
other named VAF file, close VBR bit allocation window to
go back to Encoder setting window, then change the video
information file name in Output files section, and open VBR
bit allocation window again.

5.2.6 Update the graph

When you make the changes, planning calculation for the renewed bit
allocation will start. During the calculation, the indicator next to the
timecode box of the right edge of the graph will turn to [Planning]
from [Clean]. When finished calculation, the graph will be updated
and the indicator will turn back to [Clean]. Note that the graph has
not renewed until [Planning] turns to [Clean].

 If you make the changes during [Planning], just calculating bit

allocation will be discarded and the calculation for the new one
will start.

5.3 GOP information

Pos
Pos shows the timecode pointed by the current time indicator.
In VBR bit allocation window, timecode comes from MPEG file’s,
and the image in the viewer comes from source files.
When you apply inverse 3:2 pulldown, amount of frames will differ
between source files and MPEG file. It may cause a gap of ±1 field
5.3. GOP INFORMATION 67

between viewer image and the actual time point in the MPEG file
when the referred time point is on some pulldown phases.
When you apply frame rate conversion (e.g., 3:2 pulldown), timecodes
will differ between source files and MPEG file. In this case, when
you call Picture setting window, you will see that the timecode is
different from one in VBR bit allocation window. However, you
will also see that the frame number of the viewers are same in both
setting windows.

Set
When you specify the destination timecode in Set box then click
button, you can jump to the I picture of the distination GOP. Instead
of button, dragging the timecode onto the graph will bring the
same result.

Prev
Prev shows the timecode just previously pointed by the current time
indicator. You can move to the timecode by dragging or clicking
button.

BR
It shows average bitrate in a GOP pointed by the current time in-
dicator. Numbers in parentheses shows the minimum and maximum
bitrate of the stream.

Q.
It shows average Q.scale of each picture type (I,P,B) in a GOP pointed
by the current time indicator.
Chapter 6

Picture settings

Picture settings window (Fig. 6.1) will appear when you click Pic-
ture Quality button in the lower left of Encoder setting window
(Fig. 3.1). When you open the window, the viewer window will also
appear.
You can set the filters or the parameters for improving the qual-
ity on the window. Pre-processing such as filters applied by other
softwares may cause a loss of precision in pulldown detection when
inverse 3:2 pulldown. On the other hand, the filters here will be ap-
plied after pulldown detection and does not affect the precision of the
detection.

6.1 Entry list

Parameter sets based on timecode should be put into the entry list.

6.1.1 Adding an entry to the list

To add an entry to the list, do the following :

ΠSpecify the starting timecode for a parameter set at TC from

box. The first entry of the list is TC in that has no entry
number. The first timecode is assigned to TC in. When you
add the later timecode, the entry will get an entry number 1. If

69
70 CHAPTER 6. PICTURE SETTINGS

Figure 6.1: Picture settings window

6.1. ENTRY LIST 71

you select check box for to below TC in, the timecode of the
next entry will be added at the same time.

 To put the TC from timecode into to box, click ⇓ button

in the right. To put the to timecode into TC from box,
click ⇑ button. Dragging the timecode will bring the same
result.

 Set the parameters. The explanation of each parameter is de-

scribed later on page 72. The parameter setting you made will
be applied from the TC from timecode to the timecode just
before the next entry.

Ž Click Set button below the timecode boxes to put the parameter
set into the list as an entry. Then you can see the entry number
in # column of the list, the timecode in the TC, and the caption
in the Description column.

 There is another way to build the entry list: add all of the
timecodes for the entries first, then set the parameters for each
entry later. To set the parameters later, select the entry in the
list then set the parameters. When completed the setting, click
Apply button in the lower right of the window or Set button
below the timecode boxes to update the entry list.

 You can see the image of source of the currently referred time-
code in the viewer window. Note that the image in the viewer
is not a result of applying the parameter set, but just an image
of source to specify the time point for the setting.

 On the title bar of the viewer, a source file name and a frame
number (0 indicates the first frame of a source file) are displayed.
When the multiple files are input for an output, timecode of the
source files will be combined then become consecutive. However,
note that a frame number on the title bar of the viewer window
is not combined one, but shows a frame number in each source
file.
72 CHAPTER 6. PICTURE SETTINGS

6.1.2 Operation buttons for the list

Chapters
It does not give an list operation, but opens the chapter list window.

Del
It deletes the currently selected entry from the list. You can also
delete the entry by Delete key.
When you delete an entry, the duration included in the entry will
be combined to the just previous entry and the parameter set of the
previous one will be applied there.
Note that you cannot delete the entry TC in.

Reset
It deletes all of the entries except TC in.

6.1.3 Saving/Loading the entry list

You can save the entry list to a file in text format or in CSV format.
To save the list, click List Save button. To load the file you saved,
click List Load button.

6.2 Simple setting

There are two ways of setting filters. In Simple setting, a proper
parameter set is automatically chosen by specifying the type and the
complexity of source material. In Detailed setting, you can select
the filters and their values individually. And Simple setting is linked
to Detailed setting, so you can see the contents of a parameter set
of Simple setting in Detailed setting section.

6.2.1 Material types

Select the material type from the following three alternatives.
6.2. SIMPLE SETTING 73

Figure 6.2: Simple setting

• Natural picture
It is appropriate for live-action images.

• Computer Graphics
It is appropriate for smooth images like computer graphics.

• Animation
It is appropriate for high contrast images such as cell animation.

6.2.2 Complexity of material

Specify the complexity of material in 5 levels. When it seems plain
or flat, move the slider to the left. When it seems more complicated,
move the slider to the right.
The examples for choosing a level of the complexity are listed below.
Flat:

• Simple flat picture

• Horizontal motion

Complicated:

• Complicated picture
• Complicated motion
– Zooming
– Surface of the water, flickering flame, stirring leaves in the
wind
– Crossfading between pictures with different motions
74 CHAPTER 6. PICTURE SETTINGS

6.2.3 Parameter sets of Simple setting

The tables below show the parameter sets of Simple setting.

Natural
Parameter 1 2 3 4 5
Low - 32 32 24 16
High - - - - -
Vertical filter - - - 6 8
Dithered Q. -Y 8 8 - - -
Dithered Q. -C 4 4 - - -
Quantizer characteristics 24 20 16 12 8

C.G.
Parameter 1 2 3 4 5
Low - 32 32 24 16
High - - - - -
Vertical filter - - - 16 16
Dithered Q. -Y 18 18 12 - -
Dithered Q. -C 9 9 6 - -
Quantizer characteristics 5 4 3 2 1

Animation
Parameter 1 2 3 4 5
Low 32 32 32 24 16
High - - - - -
Vertical filter - - - 6 8
Dithered Q. -Y 18 18 - - -
Dithered Q. -C 9 9 - - -
Quantizer characteristics 40 32 24 16 8

6.3 Detailed setting

In Detailed setting, you can select the filters you need and set their
values individually.
6.3. DETAILED SETTING 75

Figure 6.3: Detailed setting

6.3.1 Caption
Specify the name of the parameter set. The caption you set will be
displayed on Description column of the enrty list when you click
Set button. It is not necessary, but will help you follow the list with
easy name.

6.3.2 Low and High filter

You can set these filters seeing their frequency characteristics on filter
characteristics chart

Low

It is a low pass filter to cut out the higher frequency components at

specific frequencies. It tends to make the image blur or smooth.
76 CHAPTER 6. PICTURE SETTINGS

Figure 6.4: Low and High filter

Cut-off Frequency Move the slider in the left hand.

Allowed range : 4 - 47
Slope Move the slider in the right hand.
Allowed range : 0 - 200
The smaller the value, the flatter
attenuation slope becomes.
The bigger the value, the steeper
the slope becomes.
You can see the slope on the chart.

 The default value of cut-off frequency is 4.5MHz. It will be able

to cut the mosquito noise of almost all the sources with the
frequency. If you set the lower value than 4.5MHz, you should
carefully check the result not to cause a problem.

High

It is a high boost filter to increase gain at specific frequencies. It tends

to make the image greasy emphasising details like edges or lines.
6.3. DETAILED SETTING 77

Turnover frequency Move the slider in the left hand.

Allowed range : 4 - 47
Slope Move the slider in the right hand.
Allowed range : 0 - 200
The smaller the value, the flatter
the slope becomes.
The bigger the value, the steeper
the slope becomes.
You can see the slope on the chart.

Filter Characteristics Chart

It shows the frequency characteristics of High and Low filters you set,
gain (dB) on the vertical axis and frequency (Hz) on the horizontal
axis. When you put the mouse pointer on the chart, you can see the
pointed value in the right. When you set High and Low filters, be
careful about the slope because too steep slope may cause overshoot
or ringing.

6.3.3 Vertical filter

It detects the texture domain and reduces speckle noise, keeping the
sharpness of the edges. The value you can set is from 1 to 64. The
bigger the value, the larger domain will be detected as a texture.

 If your source is interlaced, specify the value 16 or less. If you

apply bigger value, it may cause a jerky motion.

 If your source is progressive or 3:2 pulldowned, the value is

recommended not to exceed 32.

6.3.4 Dithered quantization

It adds a small noise (dither) before quantization to reduce the quan-
tization error and to distribute the remaining error more effectively.
78 CHAPTER 6. PICTURE SETTINGS

It can help you remove contouring artifact1 in fading in/out or in a

gradation of the color. You can set the values for Y (luminance) and
C (chrominance) signals separately.

 The addition of dithers will cause a loss of the quality of

image where there is no contouring artifact. You should
set the value moderately not to exceed 40.

6.3.5 Quantizer characteristics

This is a parameter for the balance of bit allocation between simple
and complicated part. The range you can set is 0 to 100.
As the value becomes closer to 0, a higher bit amount is allocated
to complicated part of the image. As the value becomes closer to 100,
a higher bit amount is allocated to flat part of the image. When the
value is close to 0, the mosquito noise at the edges (noise causing hazy
part along the edges, looking like flying mosquitoes) is less noticeable,
but the contouring noise (noise that looks like contour line patterns,
which appear in flat and wide areas, such as a dark background) is
more noticeable. The opposite occurs when the value is closer to 100.

The optimal setting depends on the footage, but roughly speaking,

16 to 40 is recommended. If the bitrate is relatively high, greater
value may bring better result.

6.3.6 Letterbox
Letterbox is a format to show an entire wide image of movie on 4:3
TV screen, adding black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
If your source is letterboxed, you can improve the precision of 3:2
pulldown detection, specifying these black areas to except them from
the pulldown detection. Or when the noise is on the black areas, you
can remove it and paint them black.
1 noise that looks like contour line patterns, which appear in flat and wide

areas, such as a dark background

6.3. DETAILED SETTING 79

Fill Usage
No Does not paint the area.
Black Paints the specified area black.
White Paints the area white to confirm the proper size of
the area before applying Black.

 The preview of filling is not displayed. So you need to output

a few second duration to see if the white filling areas covers
the black areas of the source without sticking out, then apply
Black.

6.3.7 Intrablock DC precision

Specify the bit precision of the DC coefficient of intra-blocks. 10
is recommended for DVD-Video. This setting works on MPEG-2
output.

6.3.8 Block scan order

Specify how to scan 8 × 8 DCT blocks when coding the quantized
data. This setting works on MPEG-2 output. Generally, Alternate
scan is used for the interlaced source, Zigzag is for the progressive
source. If you select Auto, block scan order is automatically selected
depending on Progressive frame setting (page 80 6.3.11 Progres-
sive frame). When Progressive frame is specified, zigzag scan will
be applied on the frame. When Progressive frame is not specified,
alternate scan will be applied.

 If MPEG-1 is selected, Zigzag scan is always performed since

MPEG-1 does not support alternate scan.

6.3.9 Fades on a static scene

It may improve the quality of the image when you get poor encoded
result of the fading in/out on a static scene.
80 CHAPTER 6. PICTURE SETTINGS

6.3.10 Black screen

Paints the screen black. It can help you to cut the noise on the black
screen.

6.3.11 Progressive frame

Select when the footage is progressive. This setting works on MPEG-
2 output. If you apply Inverse 3:2 pulldown, this setting does not
work.

 Usually, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 tries motion detection or

sampling color information both in fields and frames, then select
one that brings better compression efficiency. When you select
Progressive frame, such operation will be done only in frames.
 If your source is 2:2 pulldowned (film ¡ PAL), it may bring a
better result.
 If you apply this option to interlaced source, it may cause decline
in quality.

6.3.12 Monochrome
It discards the chrominance information and outputs black and white
image.

6.3.13 Save/Load a parameter set

You can save a parameter set to a file in text format or in CSV
format. To save the list, click Settings Save button. To load the file
you saved, click Settings Load button.
Chapter 7

Inverse 3:2 pulldown

setting

When you carry out encoding with Inv 3:2 pulldown option, the
pulldown pattern will be automatically detected. You can see and
modify the auto detected result or build the pulldown pattern list
manually on Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting window (Fig. 7.3). Or if
you know the pulldown pattern in advance, you can load the pulldown
pattern list from a text file.
To open Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting window, click Setting
button in the right of Inv 3:2 pulldown option.

7.1 Overview of the setting

The pulldown phases corresponding to 10 fields that fill 4 film frames
(A,B,C,D) are named as A1/A2, B1/B2/B3, C1/C2, D1/D2/D3.
(See Fig. 7.1) What you should do is to find a proper phase for a
field, then build the list of pulldown pattern.

7.1.1 How to find the pulldown phase

To find a pulldown phase of a field, you should first find a combination
of two fields that makes an original frame of film. When you put two

81
82 CHAPTER 7. INVERSE 3:2 PULLDOWN SETTING

A B C D 24 fps

A1 A2 B1 B2 B3 C1 C2 D1 D2 D3 10 fields

1 2 3 4 5 30 fps

Figure 7.1: Pulldown phases of fields

fields that compose a film frame on another, you can see a progressive
picture without jaggies of interlace artifact.

Figure 7.2: Combinations of fields

When you open Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting window, two

viewer windows will also appear. You can see two combination pic-
tures of temporally neighbored fields at a time, one is a picture com-
bined current and previous field, another is combined current and
next fields. Here just look at Fig. 7.2. Field B3 is a repeat field of
B1, and D3 is also a copy of D1. When you refer B2 field, you can see
the same progressive pictures (combinations of B1/B2 and B2/B3)
on the viewers. When you refer D2, the same progressive pictures
will appear as well. So it can be said that there is a rule that the
same progressive pictures appear when referring B2 or D2. Moreover,
if you refer the bottom field when the same pictures appear, you can
7.2. MODIFYING THE PULLDOWN LIST 83

tell the pulldown phase of the field B2. If the top field, it is D2.
During the single pulldown pattern, you can see the same progressive
pictures every 5 fields.

7.1.2 Pulldown list

When you specify the pulldown phase of the field, put it into the
pulldown list. After putting several entries, you can trim the list by
Reduce redundancy button. Reduce redundancy button will
search the entries that are supposed to be under a single pulldown
pattern and bundle them into one entry.
Information of the pulldown list is recorded in ECL file. When en-
coding, the inverse 3:2 pulldown is carried out following the pulldown
list.

7.2 Modifying the pulldown list

You can see Pulldown list in the left side of Inverse 3:2 pulldown
setting window. Once you carried out encoding with Inv 3:2 pull-
down check, the result of the auto pulldown detection will be listed
up. If you have not carried out encoding yet, only an entry that
indicates auto detection is in the list.

 On Adobe Premiere plug-in program, the result of the detec-

tion is not displayed automatically when you open Inverse 3:2
pulldown setting window. To list the result, you need to load
the pulldown list manually from the file. The pulldown list is
automatically saved as a text file (.txt) with same name and
in the same folder as a video output stream. Click Load button
to read the pulldown list file.

7.2.1 Explanation of the pulldown list

The following table is an explanation of the list.
84 CHAPTER 7. INVERSE 3:2 PULLDOWN SETTING

Figure 7.3: Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting window

 7.2. MODIFYING THE PULLDOWN LIST 85

Column Description
# Entry number
TC Timecode/Field number
(1: top field / 2: bottom field)
Field# Number of fields in the entry
Phase Pulldown phase
A1–D3 pulldown phase of the field
Prog progressive
Video interlaced (not pulldowned part)
Auto auto detection
In the list of the auto detected result, you will
see Auto entry in the last. And the last entry
will point the field next to the existing last TC.

The fields in an entry keep a single pulldown pattern. For example,

look at Fig. 7.3. Two fields in the first entry are progressive, next
6080 fields in the second entry keep a pulldown pattern that starts
from B1 phase.

7.2.2 Operation buttons for the list

You can modify the list using the buttons below the pulldown list.

Buttons Description
Undo Reverses the last change.
Redo Cancels the last undo.
Cache Puts the content of the list into the memory
and keeps it until closing the window.
Recall Loads the list information from the memory.
Swap Puts the content of the list into the memory
and loads the list information from the memory.
Reduce redundancy If there are multiple entries under a single
pulldown pattern, bundles them into one entry.
Discard changes Removes the list, and reloads the initial list.
Delete all Removes the list.
86 CHAPTER 7. INVERSE 3:2 PULLDOWN SETTING

 To delete an entry, select an entry and press Delete key. When

you delete an entry, the duration included in the entry will be
combined to the just previous entry.

 Chapters button does not give an list operation, but opens the
chapter list window.

7.2.3 Viewer windows

When you open Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting window, the two
viewer windows will also appear. You can see two combination pic-
tures of temporally neighboring fields at a time, one is a picture com-
bined current and previous field, the other is combined current and
next fields. On the title bar of a viewer window, combined two fields,
each of which is indicated by a frame number (frame number 0 indi-
cates the first frame of a source file) and a field order and a source file
name, are shown. When the multiple files are input for an output,
timecode of the source files will be combined then become consec-
utive. However, note that a frame number on the title bar of the
viewer window is not combined one, but shows a frame number in
each source file.
For example, when 5B / 6T : test.avi is shown on the title bar,
the picture on the viewer is a combination of 5B and 6T fields of
test.avi. 5B indicates the bottom field of the frame number 5, and
6T does the top field of the frame number 6.
When you refer to the first or last field of the footage, the previous
or next field to make a combination picture does not exist. In those
cases, a black screen will be combined instead of the nonexistent field.
If a black screen is combined, the title bar of the viewer shows -1 as
a frame number and (null) as a source file name such as -1B / 0T
: (null) / test.avi.

7.2.4 Current point and its phase

In this section of the window, you can look into a field and specify a
pulldown phase of it. The field you refer is combined to the previous
and next fields and the combination pictures are displayed on the two
viewer window.
7.2. MODIFYING THE PULLDOWN LIST 87

Figure 7.4: Current point and its phase

Search
When some entries already in the list, you can look for an entry that
meet a condition. If you would like an entry whose duration is less
than or equal to a certain number of fields, type a number of fields in
the upper box of the Search section and click < = . Similarly, for an
entry whose duration is greater than or equal to a certain number of
fields, type a number of fields in the lower box of the Search section
and click > = . If you would like an entry that is not pulldowned
but interlaced part of the footage, click Video button.
When you click a button for search, the current point will move to
the first field of the searched entry. You can select the direction of
search by the option buttons next to ⇑ ⇓.

Specifying the current point

The currently referred timecode should be put in the box in the upper
part of the section. The field order should be selected by the option
buttons next to the timecode box. 1 indicates top field, 2 does bottom
field.
< button moves the current point to the previous field, and >
button moves to the next. button moves to the first field of the
currently referred entry.
There are other ways to insert a time point into the timecode box.
When you click another entry on the pulldown list, the first field of the
entry will be pointed as a current point and its timecode will be put
in the box. Or when you drag a timecode from Phase calculation
section of the window, the timecode will be put in the box.
88 CHAPTER 7. INVERSE 3:2 PULLDOWN SETTING

The field referred here is combined to the previous and next fields
and the combination pictures are displayed on the two viewer window.

Specifying the pulldown phase

The pulldown phase should be specified by selecting an option but-
ton. The possible patterns or pulldown phases are arranged with the
buttons below the timecode box. Click one among them.

 When you move the current point that is under a pulldown

phase sequence of the entry, you can see the phase will also
move. For example, if you are in the entry that starts from B1
phase, when you move forward the current point field by field,
a corresponding phase button will be selected in order such as
B1,B2,B3,C1,C2... Until you specify another phase at a point,
the phase sequence of currently selected entry on the list will be
kept. And if you move to a field that belongs to another entry
by typing a timecode directly in the box, the selected entry on
the list is not automatically moved to an entry that includes the
currently referred field. In that case, when you move forward
the current point by > , the movement of the phase buttons
will kept a phase sequence of the currently selected entry. Be
careful which entry is currently selected.

When you build the pulldown list manually or confirm the result
of the auto detection, you should find a field that shows the same
progressive combination pictures on two viewers. Then, if the field is
the top field, you can tell it is in D2 phase. If the bottom field, it is
in B2 phase.

 If the viewers keep showing the same progressive pictures for a

while, it is supposed to be in Progressive pattern, not a part
of the pulldown phase sequence. In that case, you should add a
Progressive entry.

 If you cannot see the same progressive pictures on viewers re-

currently, it is supposed to be in not pulldowned part. In that
case, you should add a Interlaced entry.
7.3. PHASE CALCULATION 89

 If you cannot specify the pattern or phase in a part, add an

Automatic detection entry.

Adding and deleting an entry

When you specify the pulldown phase or pattern for a field, add an
entry to the pulldown list by clicking Set button. To delete an entry,
select an entry in the list and click Delete button.

7.3 Phase calculation

It calculates a phase of a given field from a base point, supposing it
is under a single pulldown sequence.

Figure 7.5: Phase calculation

At first, a base point should be put in the top timecode box in

Phase calculation section. You should specify the timecode and
its field order, and its phase. To specify the phase, click - - button
in the right several times until the caption of the button shows the
phase you would like. Secondly, put the fields that you would like to
know a phase in 3 boxes from the bottom. You can caltulates three
points at a time.
If you specify a base point, a phase of a given point will be auto-
matically calculated. Without a base point in the top box, when you
select a phase at one of given fields by clicking the phase button, the
field will become a base point and phases of other fields are calculated.
 The second box from the top shows the currently referred field.
 A number next to the phase buttons shows how many fields
apart from a base point.
90 CHAPTER 7. INVERSE 3:2 PULLDOWN SETTING

Operation buttons for the calculator

⇒ Inserts the currently referred timecode

into the box.
< Moves the current point to the previous field
> Moves the current point to the next field.
- - , A1 - D3 Specifies a pulldown phase.
⇑ Put the result of calculation into the box of
Current point and its phase section.
Searches for an entry including the field in the box.

 You can drag and insert a timecode in the box of Current

point and its phase into a box in Phase calculation. And
you can also drag and insert a timecode from a box in Phase
calculation into a box in Current point and its phase.
However, the information of a field order and a pulldown phase
will not be copied.
 When you use < > button at the top box, the phase button
will show a same phase in another field order. That is, if you
see A1 on the button then click > , the field order changes
to the bottom field and you will see C1 on the button. If B1
phase, you will see D1 . Note that the phase button of the
top box does not follow the pulldown sequence in order.

7.4 Threshould setting

You can change the threshold values for rebuilding the pulldown list.
If you carry out Auto 2-pass detection, you should set them before
encoding. After the auto detection, you can rebuild the pulldown list
by changing the threshold values.

7.4.1 Pulldown information file

When you carry out encoding with selected Pulldown info file check
box, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 will look into every interlaced field
7.4. THRESHOULD SETTING 91

Figure 7.6: Threshold setting

and analyze the correlation with the fields listed below and record the
information to the pulldown information file. The extension of the
file is .i32.

• 2 fields apart
• 1 field apart
If you can see close correlation with a field apart from 2, it will be
supposed an interlaced frame. If close correlation with a next field,
it will be supposed a progressive frame. Two parameters described
later specify at which threshold correlation will be considered close.

7.4.2 Progressive frame pairing

It specifies the threshold correlation between fields that can make a
progressive frame. The default value is 80 (%). The larger the value
become, the closer correlation is required and the more frames will be
encoded as interlaced. The smaller the value, the more frames will be
encoded as progressive. Note that an incorrect combination of fields
may be allowed to be encoded as a progressive frame with too small
value. On the other hand, too large value may cause a decline in the
coding efficiency. The value between 70 and 90 will be recommended.

7.4.3 Repeat field tolerance

A repeated field of 3:2 pulldown should be basically the same as an
original field that is 2 fields apart. However, it tends to become differ-
ent because of filtering or the compression when editing or recording.
This value specifies the difference threshold to which extent the differ-
ences can be ingnored between a repeated field and an original field.
The value between 4 and 16 is recommended.
92 CHAPTER 7. INVERSE 3:2 PULLDOWN SETTING

7.4.4 Initial setting

Sets the values back to the initial ones. The default values are Pro-
gressive frame pairing = 80 and Repeat field tolerance = 6.

7.4.5 Apply
It rebuilds the pulldown list applying the threshould values. It just
changes the list information. To apply the changes to VAF file, you
need to carry out encoding.

 To carry out this button, i32 file is required.

7.4.6 Detail
It outputs the inverse 3:2 pulldown information to a text file. The
content of the inforamtion is listed below. It will be useful to modify
a chapter point.

• Information of every field recorded in i32 file

• The result of auto 3:2 pulldown detection
• Combination of fields that will be encoded as a frame

7.5 Saving/Loading the pulldown list

Saving the pulldown list
You can save the pulldown list to a file in text or CSV format. To
save a list, click Save button, and type a file name.

Loading the pulldown list

You can load a pulldown list saved to a file using Load button. When
you know the pulldown pattern in advance, it will be efficient that
you make a pulldown list in text or CSV format and load it.
In a pulldown list file, a timecode, a field number and a pulldown
pattern should be in a line. The formats are the following :
7.6. EFFECTS OF CHAPTER POINTS 93

text format CSV format

01:00:00:00.0 Prog 01,00,00,00,0,Prog
01:00:00:01.0 B1 01,00,00,01,0,B1

 Be careful that the notation of field number differs from that

on the setting window. In a pulldown list file, 0 indicates the
top field and 1 indicates the bottom field.

 About the description of the pulldown pattern, see Explana-

tion of the pulldown list on page 83.

 If a pulldown phase does not match a field number in an entry,

a pulldown list cannot be loaded correctly.

 If you load a pulldown list when some entries are already on the
list, the entries in a file are added leaving the existing entries.

7.6 Effects of chapter points

Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 gives priority to putting a chapter point
at the location specified over keeping a proper pulldown sequence.
Even if the source keeps a simple pulldown sequence through the
footage, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 will break it and replace it with
video or progressive sequence to put a chapter point. (However, if
the interval between chapter points becomes less than 6 frames, you
will not always put a chapter point there.) If the pulldown list is
unexpectedly untidy with so many entries, it may be caused by the
chapter points put in the improper locations. When you encounter
the case, it will be better to check the chapter points. If you need
some modifications, you can call chapter list window by chapters
button.

7.6.1 Improper frame for a chapter point

Chapter points on bottom field first frame
If a chapter point you set is on B3/C1 or C2/D1 frame (see Fig. 7.7),
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 cannot perform inverse 3:2 pulldown at
that point. And if a chapter point you set is on D2/D3 frame, Cinema
94 CHAPTER 7. INVERSE 3:2 PULLDOWN SETTING

Figure 7.7: Combinations of fields

Craft Encoder SP2 does not perform inverse 3:2 pulldown at that
point in order not to make the frame bottom field first. In both cases,
B3/C1 and C2/D1 frames are encoded as interlaced video. Therefore
it is recommended that you set chapter points only on A or
B frames.

Chapter points on C or D frame

When the source is 24p, you should specify chapter points using the
timebase of 24 fps even if you would like to apply 3:2 pulldown while
encoding. Looking at Fig. 7.7, you will see that the C and D frames
will be encoded as bottom field first. Since chapter points must be on
top field first frames, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 rearranges the pull-
down pattern if you set a chapter point on C or D so that the target
frame will be encoded as A or B. If you don’t like this rearrangement,
avoid setting a chapter point on C or D frame.

 If you apply 3:2 pulldown provided by Cinema Craft Encoder

SP2, it’s better setting chapters only on the frames that meet
the conditions below.
7.6. EFFECTS OF CHAPTER POINTS 95

Pattern Reminder of frame number divided by 4

2:3 0 or 1
3:2 0 or 3

 To see a pulldown list resulted from 3:2 pulldown by Cinema

Craft Encoder SP2, once carry out encoding, then select 29.97
and click Setting button next to Inv 3:2 pulldown check box
to open Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting window. Note that
you cannot change the pulldown list resulted from 3:2 pulldown
by Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 to apply when encoding.

A frame made of split fields

In Fig. 7.7, video frames B3/C1 and C2/D1 combine the fields that
is not proper pair for a progressive frame, and shows not a clear
image but a confusing picture mixing two images. You should avoid
setting a chapter point on such frame made of split fields.

 You can easily confirm a frame whether it is made of split fields

or not when you refer a chapter point on any viewer window.
Chapter 8

Chapter setting

To set chapter points, click Chapters button in Encoder setting

(Fig. 3.1 on page 22) window to show Chapter list window (Fig. 8.1).
You can also open Chapter list window from Picture settings
window or Inverse 3:2 pulldown setting window.

Figure 8.1: Chapter list window

97
98 CHAPTER 8. CHAPTER SETTING

8.1 What is “Chapter” ?

DVD players offer random playback using an index called “chapter”.
In MPEG, since a playback starts only at I frame, a chapter point
should be encoded as I frame. And a sequence header and a GOP
header will be inserted and a closed GOP (each frame in the GOP
does not refer to the data outside the GOP) will be made up to play
back at a chapter point smoothly.

 This setting is to insert an I frame for a chapter at any location

you would like. To use it as a DVD chapter, you need to set it
in your authoring software.
 When you apply 3:2 pulldown of Cinema Craft Encoder SP2
and select timecode for the base unit, you should set a chapter
point by original timecode used in the source (23.976 fps or 24
fps). And a chapter point should be set 6 frames apart from
the previous one. If closer than 6 frames to another, it can
happen that Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 refuses the location of
the point.
 About the cautions for chapter setting when applying inverse
3:2 pulldown, see page 93.

8.2 Creating chapter list

When you open Chapter list window, the viewer window will also
open to show the source image of the specific time point. On the
title bar of the viewer window, the file name of the source is shown.
When you select timecode as a base unit for Frame search, a frame
number of a reference point (frame number 0 indicates the first frame)
is shown as well.

 The base unit of the time is timecode only.

 There are not a slider for the viewer and a playback button
here. To search a source image of a time point, click up and
down arrow buttons next to the box for the timecode or type a
specific timecode in the box.
8.2. CREATING CHAPTER LIST 99

 When the multiple files are input for an output, Chapter list
window will show you combined timecode of them. However,
note that a frame number on the title bar of the viewer window
is not combined one, but shows a frame number in each source
file.

Adding a chapter point

To search a chapter point with the viewer, click up and down arrow
buttons next to the box for the timecode or type a specific timecode
in the box. When you find the time point of the chapter, type a
chapter name in the text box on the right of the timecode box and
click Register button. Then the time point is set as a chapter point
and added to the chapter list. To apply changes you have made, click
Apply button. OK button will also apply changes and then close
the window.

 A chapter name you enter here will not be embedded in output

MPEG, however, it will help you follow a chapter list.

 A chapter name is not essential item for chapter setting.

Modifying a chapter name

Select a chapter point in the list, then modify the name in the text
box and click Set button.
To apply changes you have made, click Apply button. OK button
will also apply changes and then close the window.

Deleting a chapter point

Select a chapter point in the list, then modify the name in the text
box and click Delete button.
To apply changes you have made, click Apply button. OK button
will also apply changes and then close the window.
100 CHAPTER 8. CHAPTER SETTING

8.3 Creating chapter list file

When you know the timecodes for chapter points in advance, it will
be efficient that you make a chapter list in a text or CSV format and
load it.
In a chapter list file, a timecode and a chapter name (not essential)
should be in a line. The formats are the following:

text format CSV format

01:00:00:00 Chap1 01,00,00,00,Chap1
01:00:01:00 Chap2 01,00,01,00,Chap2
01:00:02:00 Chap3 01,00,02,00,Chap3

8.4 Loading and saving chapter list

You can export a chapter list to a file in a text or CSV format. To
export a list, click Save button and specify a file name. To load a
chapter list file, click Load button.

 If you load a chapter list when some entries are already on the
list, the points in a file are added leaving the existing points.
Chapter 9

Optional settings

In this chapter, we describe parameters that can be set from option

menu.

9.1 Input
In Input page, you can set parameters that relates to file input.

File decoding
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 tries first to decode a movie file in YUY2
format. If it works, it can skip color space conversion into YCbCr,
which causes loss of image quality, (But all of the movie files cannot
be decoded in YUY2 format.) By clear Try decoding in YUY2
format of the page shown inFig. 9.1, you can avoid this action. How-
ever, it is not necessary to change it unless you find some problems
decoding in YUY2 format.

9.1.1 Reading method for QuickTime movies

Since the frame rate of QuickTime file may change in the middle of
the stream, some frames may be used more than once, and some may
not be used at all. To avoid this, select Read frames at constant

101
102 CHAPTER 9. OPTIONAL SETTINGS

Figure 9.1: Input setting tab

frame rate check box. Note that some QuickTime files may not be
properly read with this option.

9.2 Output
Select the default output destination of a stream from the following:

• Same folder as input file

The same folder as an input file
• Current folder
The current folder selected when Cinema Craft Encoder SP2
starts
• Folder specified below
The specified folder

 This setting will be applied to the source files loaded later.

When you load a source and open Encoder setting window,
9.3. SETTING EXTENSIONS 103

Figure 9.2: Output setting tab

you will see the folder specified here in the textbox of Output
files section.

9.3 Setting extensions

You can change extensions for the following output files.

• Encoder control list

• MPEG-2 Video elementary stream
• MPEG-1 Video elementary stream
• MPEG-2 Program stream
• MPEG-1 System stream
• MPEG-1 Audio elementary stream
• Video CD
• Super Video CD
• Video information file
104 CHAPTER 9. OPTIONAL SETTINGS

Figure 9.3: Extensions setting tab

9.4 Miscellaneous
Log file
To outpu a log file, enter a log file name and its log level. The log will
be appended to the specified file every time you carry out encoding.

How to see the log file.

Log level 1 includes the following information:

• Version number of the program

• Input file names
• Output file names
• Codec information
• Encoding start time
• Encoding end time
• Performance
9.4. MISCELLANEOUS 105

Figure 9.4: Misc setting tab

• Source duration
• Elapsed time
• A breakdown of time elapsed

In addition, log level 3 outputs the following information:

• Encoded frame numbers and field numbers at every GOP en-

coded.
• cur: Average bitrate of current GOP.
• avg: Average bitrate so far.
• I: Q scale of I picture in a GOP.
• P: Average Q scale of P pictures in a GOP.
• B: Average Q scale of B pictures in a GOP.
• (closed/open): Whether the GOP is closed or open.
106 CHAPTER 9. OPTIONAL SETTINGS

Action when encoding is finished

Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 can shutdown the system or play sound
when finished encoding. However, this setting will not work when
you selected Encode Selected Items.

Optimization
Generally, SSE2 instruction set will improve the processing speed.
However, some of the processors will lose the performance with SSE2.
If you encounter the case, remove the check of this option.
Chapter 10

Template settings

You can keep frequently used parameter sets as templates up to 36.

And you can export them to CSV files.

Figure 10.1: 6 templates are registered

107
108 CHAPTER 10. TEMPLATE SETTINGS

10.1 Applying template

To set up a template, select Setting in Template menu to show
Templates window. When an input file is registered to main window,
the template selected here is applied.

Use the last used parameter set

A parameter set last used are applied.

Use the selected template

You can select a template from the template list. In Fig. 10.1, six
templates are registered.

 The currently selected template is shown in the status bar of

the main window.

10.2 Operation at template setting win-

dow
Initially, the templates listed below are registered. You can create a
new template modifying one of them.

Standard The initially provided setting

NTSC DVD Standard + frame rate (29.97)
NTSC DVD w IVTC Standard + Inverse 3:2 pulldown
+ GOP (M=3, N/M=4)
NTSC DVD multiangle Standard + DVD Video multiangle
PAL DVD Standard + frame rate (25)
+ GOP (M=3, N/M=4)
PAL DVD multiangle PAL DVD + DVD Video multiangle

ΠSelect Setting in Template menu of main window. In Tem-

plates window, select Use the selected template, and then
double-click an item in the list to show Template setting win-
dow (Fig. 10.2).
10.2. OPERATION AT TEMPLATE SETTING WINDOW 109

Figure 10.2: Template setting window

110 CHAPTER 10. TEMPLATE SETTINGS

 Change parameters.
Ž Save the template.

When adding to a template list

Click OK button and return to Templates window. The tem-

plate is registered as the name that you entered at Title text
box. Keep in mind that the existing template with the same
name will be overwritten.

When saving to a file

Click Save button to show a common dialog box, then enter a

file name and a template name, and then click Save button to
save it to the file.

10.3 Operation at encoder setting window

ΠOpen Encoder setting window and set parameters.
 Click Save button to show Save parameters window (Fig. 10.3).

When adding to a template list

Select Save to template, and <Create new template...>,

and then click OK button. When Template name setting
window appears (Fig. 10.4), enter template name, and then click
OK button to close the window.

When saving to a file

Click Save button to show a common dialog box, then enter a

file name and a template name, and then click Save button to
save it to the file. In this case, the parameter set is not added
to the template list.
10.3. OPERATION AT ENCODER SETTING WINDOW 111

Figure 10.3: Save parameters window

Figure 10.4: Template name setting window

112 CHAPTER 10. TEMPLATE SETTINGS

10.4 Editing template

To edit a template, follow the instructions below:

ΠSelect Setting in Template menu in the main window. Select

and double-click an item in the list you want to edit and show
Template setting window.

 Modify parameters.

Ž Click OK button to save the setting.

 To edit a template exported in a file, click Load button in the

Template setting window to load the template.

10.5 Deleting template

To delete a template, follow the instructions below:

ΠClick the template from Template menu in Select and double-

click an item in the list you want to edit and show Template
setting window.

 Select an item you want to delete in the list, and then press
Delete key.

 If you delete all of the templates, initially provided 6 templates

will be automatically add to the list when you re-open the win-
dow.

10.6 Editing template list

To edit the template list, follow the instructions below:

ΠSelect Setting in Template menu in the main window and

open Template setting window. Select an item in the list you
would like to change the position, and then click buttons
in the upper right of the list to move up and down.
10.6. EDITING TEMPLATE LIST 113

 Click OK button to save the setting.

 To add a template to the list from file, click Load button in

Templates window.
Chapter 11

Encoder control list

Encoder control list is the list of encoding setting informations for the
input files loaded in the main window. You can save it as a project
file called ECL file.

 An extension of ECL file is initially set as .ecl, however, you

can change it. How to change an extension is described at 9.3
Setting extensions on page 103.

 See page 126 to save ECL file from plug-in.

11.1 Creating and saving encoder control

list
Encoder control list is created by the following procedure.

ΠLoad the files to be encoded into the main window, and set the
parameters for them. About the basic operation, see Chapter
1 Getting started on page 5.

 After setting all of files to be batch encoded, select Save as

from File menu of the main window or click button.

115
116 CHAPTER 11. ENCODER CONTROL LIST

11.2 Loading encoder control list

To load he saved ECL file, do one of the following:

• Drag an ECL file on the main window of Cinema Craft Encoder

SP2 from Explorer.
• Select Open in File menu of Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.
• Click the button in the toolbar of the main window.

11.3 Editing encoder control list

To load the saved ECL file, do one of the following:

• Drag ECL file(s) onto the main window from Windows Explorer.

• Select Project from Open of the File menu.

• Click button in the top of the window.

11.3.1 Editing ECL

Shortcut menu

When right-clicked on the list of main window,

a menu as shown in the left figure will appear.
(It’s the same as Edit menu.)

• Encode Selected Items

Encodes the selected items in the list.

 To encode all of the items, select Encode in File menu,

or click button in the toolbar of the main window.
11.3. EDITING ENCODER CONTROL LIST 117

• Add
Adds an input file to the end of the list.
• Setting
Opens Encoder setting window to modify parameters for the
selected item.
• Append
Opens a subwindow. In the subwindow, you can input mul-
tiple files to combine and produce one MPEG file. Also, you
can trim each movie file by double-clicking an item or selecting
Trimming in the shortcut menu to show Video trimming
window.

 For details, please see Chapter 2 Input file setup.

• Up
Moves up the position of the selected file in the encoder control
list . This command cannot work if the selected file is already at
the top. The same operation can be done by clicking button
in the toorbar in the main window.
• Down
Moves down the position of the selected file in the encoder con-
trol list. This command cannot work if the selected file is al-
ready at the bottom. The same operation can be done by click-
ing button in the toorbar in the main window.
• Copy
Copies and adds the selected file in the encoder control list.
The same operation can be done by clicking button in the
toorbar in the main window.
• Delete
Deletes the selected file(s) in the encoder control list. The same
operation can be done by clicking button in the toorbar in
the main window.
• Property
Shows the detailed information of input files and output files of
the selected item.
118 CHAPTER 11. ENCODER CONTROL LIST

 When you select two or more files in the encoder control list,
only Encode Selected Items, Add and Delete commands
are available.

11.4 Encode
To encode all of the items in the list, select Encode in File menu,
or click button in the toolbar.
To save a pulldown list to an ECL file, re-save the encoder control
list after finished encoding.
Chapter 12

Adobe Premiere plug-in

This chapter explains Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 for Adobe Premiere
Pro. To setup Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 for Adobe Premiere, select
the check box for Adobe Premiere and specify the install destina-
tion on Install option dialog of setup program.

12.1 The basic operation

To use Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro,
follow the instructions below.

ΠFrom File menu, select Export, then select Movie... to open

Export Movie dialog box. (Fig. 12.1 on page 120)
 Click Settings... button and open Movie Export Settings
dialog box (Fig. 12.3 on page 122).
Ž Click each item in the list of Export Movie Settings window
to check parameters. After checking the following contents, click
OK button and return to Movie Export window.

General

• File Type
Select General from the left menu, and select Cinema

119
120 CHAPTER 12. ADOBE PREMIERE PLUG-IN

Figure 12.1: Movie Export menu

Figure 12.2: Export Movie window

12.1. THE BASIC OPERATION 121

Craft MPEG from the File Type list.

• Compile Settings
Click Compile Settings button to show Encoder Con-
trol window (Fig. 12.4). In this window, specify input/output
ECL file settings and template selection. Also, if Only
show the Encoder setting dialog when the Shift key
is down. is selected, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 will start
encoding without showing Encoder setting window.
• Range
Select encoding range.
• Export
To output audio, select Export Audio option.

Video

Select Video from the left menu, and then check video set-
tings. The parameters that set here will be passed to Cinema
Craft Encoder SP2. Since Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 does not
perform frame rate conversion, set proper frame rate here. In-
correct Pixel Aspect Ratio setting may cause resizing and
blanking.

 To perform 3:2 pulldown (converts film source to NTSC

video) on Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 by selecting Pull-
down, frame rate must be 23.976 for both on Adobe Pre-
miere and Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.
 When using 720 × 486 source for inverse 3:2 pulldown,
frame size must be set to 720 × 486, otherwise, inverse
3:2 pulldown fails. Also, please see Cautions on inverse
3:2 pulldown on page 126.

Keyframe and Rendering

Select Keyframe and Rendering from the left menu, and

then check keyframe and rendering settings.
122 CHAPTER 12. ADOBE PREMIERE PLUG-IN

Figure 12.3: Movie Export Settings window

Figure 12.4: Encoder Control window

12.1. THE BASIC OPERATION 123

Figure 12.5: Movie Export Settings window (Video)

 Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 ignores field order setting in

Rendering Options.
 If you select Deinterlace Video Footage here, don’t se-
lect Deinterlacing on Cinema Craft Encoder SP2, other-
wise, it decreases image quality.
 If you select Add keyframes at Markers, marked frames
will be encoded as I frames. However, to perform 3:2 pull-
down, you must specify I frames at Chapter list on Cin-
ema Craft Encoder SP2.

Audio

Select Audio from the left menu, and then check audio settings.
The parameters that set here will be passed to Cinema Craft
Encoder SP2. Please make sure that settings here match those
on Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.

 Since Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 does not perform sam-

pling frequency conversion, set proper sampling frequency
here. If sampling frequency here does not match that on
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2, encoding will fail.
124 CHAPTER 12. ADOBE PREMIERE PLUG-IN

Figure 12.6: Movie Export Settings window (Keyframe and Render-

ing)

Figure 12.7: Movie Export Settings window (Audio)

12.1. THE BASIC OPERATION 125

 Click OK button and return to Export Movie window.

 Click Save button on Export Movie window (Fig. 12.2 on
page 120), then Encoder setting will open.

Figure 12.8: Plug-in Encoder setting window

‘ Set parameters on Encoder setting window, and then click

OK or Encode Now button to start encoding.

 When OK button is pressed, Cinema Craft Encoder SP2

starts encoding after closing Encoder setting window.
 When Encode Now button is pressed, Cinema Craft En-
coder SP2 starts encoding without closing Encoder set-
ting window.
126 CHAPTER 12. ADOBE PREMIERE PLUG-IN

 When Cancel button is pressed, Cinema Craft Encoder

SP2 closes the window without encoding.

12.2 Encoder settings on plug-in

Most of the settings are same as that on standalon version. However,
please be careful about the following things.

Parameters to be set on Adobe Premiere

Sampling frequency and frame rate should be set on Adobe Premiere.

Parameters to be set on both sides

Audio mode (stereo/monaural), frame size, and deinterlacing setting
exists on both side. Please be careful not to be converted twice. For
details, refer to the previous section.

Cautions on inverse 3:2 pulldown

When performing inverse 3:2 pulldown on 720 × 486 source, cautions
must be made with the Preset Project selection and Output frame
size setting on Adobe Premiere. With any other preset and frame
size, pulldown detection will fail.

Premiere Preset Output frame size

Video for Windows
Pro/Pro1.5 720 (480) × 486
720 × 486
Custom Desktop
Pro2.0 720 (480) × 486
720 × 486

Saving ECL
You can save encoder setting parameters to an ECL file if you select
Create ECL file and specify filename at Encoder Control window
(Fig. 12.4).
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 saves ECL file when
12.3. ENCODER SETTINGS FOR PLUG-IN 127

• OK button on Encoder setting window is clicked.

• finished encoding.

 When Encode Now button is clicked, Cinema Craft Encoder

SP2 does not save parameters to ECL file.
 If you would like to save parameters without encoding, click
OK button, and then cancel encoding.

12.3 Encoder settings for plug-in

Some operations differ from that of standalone program.

f Any viewer windows of Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 are not avail-
able in plug-in program. You should confirm the timecodes
using the monitor of Premiere before opening the window of
Cinema Craft Encoder SP2.
f Plug-in program does not use ECL file, so the project including
chapter list, pulldown list and entry list of picture setting will
not be saved in a project file. You need to save those list as a
text or CSV file manually and load them when setting.
Note that only the pulldown list will be automatically saved as
a text file with same name and in the same folder as a video
output stream when encoding. When you open Inverse 3:2
pulldown setting window to edit a pulldown list, you need to
load this file manually.

 You can load just previous list data, selecting ones at template
selecting window.
Chapter 13

Removing Cinema Craft

Encoder SP2

To remove Cinema Craft Encoder SP2 from the system, do the fol-
lowing:

ΠOpen the control panel.

 Start Add/Remove Programs applet.
Ž Select “Cinema Craft Encoder SP2” from the list box in the
Install/Uninstall page, and click Add/Remove... button.

129
Chapter 14

Troubleshooting

14.1 VBR bitrate

When encoded in VBR mode, actual bitrate may be less than that
specified.

The cause considered

Case 1 The number of encoding passes was not enough to correct
bit allocation.
Case 2 The pictures of the movie was so simple that given bitrate
was not necessary to achive the best quality.

Solution
Case 1
• Increase the encoding pass.
Case 2
• Clear Disable adaptive Q-matrix switching option in the
Video settings window.
• Turn off all of the filter settings.
• Change GOP configuration and increase I pictures. However,
too many I frames may affect picture quality.

131
132 CHAPTER 14. TROUBLESHOOTING

14.2 VBV buffer overflow

Under certain circumstances, VBV overflow may occur during encod-
ing. VBV is a hypothetical decoder that is conceptually connected
to the output of the encoder. Encoder stops encoding when the VBV
causes buffer overflow.

Solution
• Change the GOP configuration (Ex. M = 3, N/M = 5 ¡ M =
3, N/M = 4).
• Increase or decrease video bitrate.
• Change filter settings.
• Edit source movie to eliminate problematic frames.

14.3 Mux buffer overflow

Under certain circumstances, Mux overflow may occur during multi-
plexing video and audio. When it happens, encoding stops.

Solution
• Increase or decrease audio bitrate.
• Change filter settings.
• Edit source movie to eliminate problematic frames.
• Output video and audio separately as elementary streams, and
then multiplex them by using external multiplexer to produce
system stream.