Cinema Craft Encoder for Mac
 

Anyone using this?
http://www.omni-cinemacraft.com/prod...ncodermp.shtml

I have been extremely disappointed with the SD-DVDs that we get from our XDCam HD masters. So far I've tried Sorenson Squeeze 5 (encoding and burning), Compressor (encoding), DVD Studio Pro (encoding and burning) and Toast 9 (encoding and burning).

Go for it! Not sure on the Mac side, but on PC it's the Cadillac of all software encoders; the pro version is often used in Hollywood productions.

I've been interested in that sucker as well. Curious as to the workflow with it. Just export out of your SD timeline straight to it and that's it?!

It's listed as a plug-in for Compressor so I imagine the workflow would be to export to Compressor and then you just have all of the Cinema Craft options in addition to those offered within Compressor. I think Cinema Craft does the actual encoding vs Compressor although you can take advantage of the streamlined Final Cut/Compressor interface. This is all conjecture as I haven't used it yet. Would love to hear from someone who has actually compared encoding quality between Cinema Craft vs Compressor alone in a Mac environment.

All I have is the old SD only version on PC - the results make other encoders look like VHS copies...

Personally I can't tell you much about the Mac version but I recommended CCraft to a Mac/FCP friend and he bought it recently; he is on vacation right now, coming back to Atlanta I believe next week. I will share his experience after I talk with him.

It did a pretty good job on Spiderman 3... it should make you happy too... (see other movies encoded with it at http://www.omni-cinemacraft.com/dvdreviews.shtml). And it has been used on some of the most recent BlueRay titles as well, see http://www.omni-cinemacraft.com/hd-dvd-reviews.shtml... probably not the version you will be buying but still, nothing else comes even close to it.

Thanks for your replies Ervin. I REALLY wish the Mac Plug-In could handle Blu-Ray encodes as well as SD-DVD. I hope that is coming soon. Also- I wish I could afford the Hollywood version (which I'm pretty sure is hardware based) because most movie releases to SD-DVD look great. I look forward to your friend's analysis on CCraft with Compressor vs just Compressor by itself. Thanks.

I managed to reach my friend via e-mail in London, the UK... here's what he responded.

"Cinema Craft is great. I'm encoding at 6 passes max 9800, min 7000, avg. 8000 and it looks awesome.

I have it as a Plug In for "Compressor" (Apple's app for conversion).

Workflow is really straight forward. I just add the videos to the conversion queue and I let it do its thing."

Have had great experiences with CC encoder SD version on the PC. I am still using it on my SD editor but have not upgraded to the Blu-ray yet.

I've never heard or seen a bad word said about Creative Craft encoders.