As they say, the right tool for the job can make all the difference. The same is true of the software you choose for processing your video files after acquisition. We’re still moving from the end of the process to the beginning as we want to make certain all of our processes are lined up. So let’s talk about software.

Which one should I choose?

The age old question. It depends on a whole slew of little factors that make up your specific situation. I could leave it at that, but I won’t be that vague.

If you have something that you already use to convert to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 and other formats, see if it fits the criteria below, otherwise, read through to the end and I’ll recommend a few of my favorites.

My requirements.

Each piece of software I evaluate for use in my workflow has to do a couple of things.

1. Batch processing.
2. It needs to be able to crop my video.
3. High quality is a must.
4. Various output formats are a necessity as well.

Pretty straightforward, right? Let’s dive in to each of these a little bit deeper so you can get a better understanding.

#1 Batch Processing

Batch processing of files is a necessity for me because I don’t want to have to come back each hour to process videos. After a depo is over, I come back to the office, load the files onto the computer and then begin encoding. The entire depo is done and ready for me the next morning.

This batch processing also saves a ton of time when I am prepping for trial and working with a lot of different media from other videographers. I can capture analog/DV material on one computer while ripping DVDs in another, all the while sending batches to the software so that it works continuously without my eyes on it all the time.

#2 Cropping

Most all tapeless acquisition systems available today shoot high definition video. HD video is widescreen. At this point in time, 4:3 is the standard that lawyers are used to, so the software needs to be able to crop my video and scale it (more on scaling in the quality section) easily.

Most all software available can handle this relatively simple procedure.

#3 Quality

It kind of goes without saying, but I always look for the best quality I can get out of any process.

When going from HD to SD, you aren’t just cutting off the right and left sides, your scaling down from an image that is 1080/720 pixels high to one that is 480 pixels high and square vs. non-square pixels. The quality of scalers can vary immensely so you have to make sure that yours is up to the quality standards you set. Download demos whenever you can and make sure that you get the results you need.

#4 A Plethora of Outputs

As law firms upgrade their computer systems and trial presentation software continues to advance, the ability to output to more than just MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 can benefit you greatly. With MPEG-4 on the rise, the ability to encode to that format may become a more useful feature in the very near future.

My top picks.

I use two pieces of software for my encoding: Canopus’ ProCoder 3 and Adobe Media Encoder (included with Premiere Pro or After Effects). Both of these fulfill my criteria and neither of them are exorbitantly priced. Final Cut Pro/Compressor is another option, but the overall quality achieved by this combo is not as high as ProCoder or AME. Also, AME on the Mac does not have the ability to make MPEG-1 files.

We’ll take some time and dive into the ins and outs of encoding options and each piece of software, so make sure to subscribe to our free updates.

I have learned through Canopus’ support that ProCoder is essentially a discontinued product. The technology has been acquired by another group for use in a different software package.