Pros and Cons of VfW AVC
A list of the pros and cons to using VfW over the various other encoder solutions. Pros: 1. VfW is considered the easiest and most familiar method for general video encoding, and is therefore compatible with many VfW encoding guides. 2. Requires no additional software, components or GUIs, the vast majority of which are sporadically updated, buggy, bulky, and require installation of even more software components (like runtime libraries, .NET 2.0, etc). The VfW and any encoding app of your choice is all you need to encode. 3. Very versitile-- because it is VfW (and defaults to the AVI container), no additional splitters need to be installed. One installation of ffdshow is the only thing required to play your encoded files in ANY directshow-compatible player of your choice (the vast majority of players, including WMP, are directshow based). 4. Compatible with any and all VfW-supporting programs and players. There are quite a few of these popular pieces of software out there, VirtualDub perhaps being the most noteworthy. 5. Large userbase--roughly 50% or more of AVC-users use it for their encoding needs (according to 3rd party polls, estimates, etc), so it has a large community following. 6. Often supported naturally by TV-capture cards! These capture cards don't support the other bulky, self-contained GUIs. 7. One of the only ways to produce QuickTime compliant AVC streams, and by far the easiest. 8. Easily editable with all VfW-compatible editing applications (including VirtualDub and many paid softwares). Other encoder solutions produce files which CANNOT be edited (or even played well), the resulting files being locked-down. VfW/AVI files are intrinsically editable and are therefore compatible with virtually all AVI editing applications. 9. Gives you the freedom to encode to AVC using your favorite VfW encoding software, the same software that works with every other VfW codec, regardless of when it was modified, what other codecs it supports, etc, all with the same programs that work with everything else! Virtually every program that supports XviD and DivX encoding support AVC encoding, too--with VfW! This is certainly not true of the other limited/limiting standalone GUIs and applications which do everything differently, and rarely support the same codecs. 10. Much more uniform. All option names and settings are the same in all of the VfW downloads, no matter what program is using it. You'll never have to learn arbitrary new software, terminology, or processes. Once you learn how to configure the VfW, you'll never have to re-learn or tinker around with other (potentially buggy) programs trying to get the same settings. 11. VfW makes for a very good (and easy) transition from XviD encoding. It's simply the best way to start out if you've ever encoded to XviD, DivX, etc before--making the switch is just a matter of selecting the AVC VfW instead of XviD/DivX/etc from the encoder list. 12. The VfW interface is aesthetically pleasing ;) Choice. Freedom. Stability. Control. All in one free, uniform, easy-to-use package: VfW. Cons: 1. Like XviD, not entirely "standard" compliant streams produced. But did that ever stop XviD? 2. Depending on B-frame settings, a few frames of delay may be introduced in the beginning of the stream. ------------------------------ ...and of course, the Doom9 community hates its guts, so you may be beheaded if you seek VfW help there. Just maybe. ;)