28
For Best Encoder Performance
For best performance, dismiss the Preview window while encoding. Note that the
Preview
window launches automatically when encoding starts, unless “
Automatically show panels
needed for the current session
” is turned off in the “
Tools > Options
” dialog.
Note:
trying to preview while Windows Media Player is configured for Xena output will
cause the encoding session to fail to start.
One of the native video formats offered by Windows Media Encoder is “
YUY2
.” (RGB32
and UYVY both require software translation.) For best performance, select “
YUY2
” as the
“
Pixel format
” on the “
Processing
” properties page. Using “
default
” may result in jerkiness in
the output video.
If you don’t see smooth video after adjustment, consider moving the
Performance
slider to
“
Better performance
” (
Tools > Options > Performance
). It may also be useful in some cases to
enable “
Capture to hard disk first
” in “
Properties > Advanced.
”
Encoder Configuration
In the Encoder’s Device Configuration dialogs, there isn’t much of use for configuring
Xena. The Xena video, being completely digital, has no settings to configure. In the audio
configuration for Xena, there is only the ability to choose between AES audio as the input,
and any of the available embedded audio pairs (and this does not work properly from the
Encoder dialog).
1
Changes to the “Pin Line” here will have no effect. To change between
AES audio and Embedded Audio channels, you must use the full mixer dialog. (See the
“
Sound Recording controls
” topic presented earlier for further information.)
It may be useful to put the Xena audio into “Monitor” mode, in order to hear the audio
that is being encoded. For instructions on how to select Monitor mode in the Mixer dialog,
see the “
Windows Media Audio Configuration
” topic presented earlier.
Uncompressed video.
You can use Encoder to capture uncompressed video to a
.wmv
file.
The file can then later be encoded. To capture uncompressed, use “Windows Media
Server” or “Web Server” as the Destination in the Compression Properties page. In
the Compression Properties dialog, select “Edit...”. Then choose “Full Frames
(uncompressed)” as the Codec. For saving uncompressed video to disk, you will
need a fast disk system. (See
requirements
section.)
To encode from an uncompressed file, choose “
Source from: File
” in the Sources tab
of the Session Properties.
Processor requirements.
Note that, in the case of encoding HD video, the amount of
processor power required to encode it in real time may be greater than that available
in a standard PC system (it is estimated that at least a dual 4 GHz system would be
required.) To properly encode HD, you may have to save uncompressed video to a
file on a RAID, and then encode the resulting file.
1. There are two ways to get to the “XenaHD Audio Device (1) Properties” dialog: a) from the “Sources”
tab on the “Session Properties” page, select “Configure...”; b) select “Configure Devices...” from the
“Tools” menu., then select the “XenaHD Audio Device (1)”, and “Configure”.
