News from Innobits

- Innobits newsletter

June 2008

Welcome to Innobits Newsletter – NewsBits!

The purpose of Newsbits is to give you information about Innobits and its products as well as articles covering technical aspects of video production, especially encoding.

First of all, we are proud to present our latest update in our BitVice product line: BitVice 2.0 - FASTER THAN EVER!

We know that bitrate is a confusing subject and that's why we run the article “Bitrate, what does it mean?”.

You can also read about the BitVice User Tom Rogers, who is a true Train Chaser (!).

Any comments about Newsbits and/or our web site are welcomed at news at innobits dot com.

Enjoy your reading!

WHAT IS THIS?
You are getting this message because you voluntarily subscribed to Innobits newsletter. To opt out from or list, please go here and choose "Unsubscribe".

BitVice 2.0 - FASTER THAN EVER!

A few months ago we asked our existing and potential customers what you think of BitVice; “What is good about BitVice and what could be better?”
The answers were unmistakable - you want SPEED!

Innobits takes pride in delivering what our customers want, so now we release BitVice 2.0 - an encoder for Intel (only), faster than real time for most computer configurations, and still with the same high BitVice quality.

BitVice 2.0 uses all bells and whistles in Unix to get highest speed ever. Some beta testers even reported problems clocking it's speed (!).

BitVice 2.0 needs Leopard and Intel cpu(s) to run.
This version also includes both a new Graphical User Interface and a new User's Guide.

We want to point out that BitVice 2.0 is NOT our (coming) Pro-version of BitVice. But since the current development of BitVice Pro makes it possible to release a speedier BitVice already at this point, we wanted to deliver speed today instead of later.

Click HERE to download your BitVice 2.0 demo

Click HERE to buy your BitVice 2.0 license

Click HERE to upgrade your BitVice 1.8 license to 2.0

Portrait of a BitVice User

Train Chaser Tom Rogers:
“I'm slow, because I'm the one I have to satisfy”

Train Chasers are people who seem to "go all out" in order to chase a moving train (for example with a car). Train Chaser Tom Rogers, Reston, Virginia, has high quality demands and the hardest judge of his work is himself. He will gladly go back five or six times to the same shooting point to get what he wants. That takes time. But he thinks it's worth it. With 40 years in the TV business, producing and editing broadcast television, Tom knows video shooting, editing for dramatic content and he tries to deliver what interests train viewers:

“I try to tell a story of what I see from a passing train. I look at movements and always keep my shooting patterns fresh. For example I take shots very close to the train and intercut with other views as well as a view from far away. My zooming always matches the action”.

Due to his own high quality demands, Tom only seems to finish one video per year and has now eleven titles in all. He sells his DVDs primarily at some of the 10 or 12 local Train Shows in the Washington, DC area. There are several hundreds train shows throughout the States annually. Once a customer buys one of Toms DVDs, he or she always seems to come back and buy them all. Not surprising, when one understands that train modelers are very enthusiastic people, with larger or smaller layouts in their attics, basements or even specially built spaces. There are hundred of thousands of model train enthusiasts in the United States alone.......

Bitrate, what does it mean?

Bitrate is one of the most misunderstood concepts of MPEG-2 video. So, what does it really mean? You may have heard about average, low, high, max and peak bitrates. The confusion is building up.

In the following we want to limit the scope to what's relevant for both the MPEG-2 video and for the DVD specifications. MPEG-2 may be used for many other purposes than for just making DVDs. The DVD specification uses only a subset of what is specified by the MPEG-2 video specification, ISO/IEC 13318-2.

Throughout the article we use BitVice, a software MPEG2 encoder for the Apple Macintosh platform, designed by Innobits AB, as an example. While the terminology and behavior of different MPEG2 encoders may vary, the underlying principals are shared among all MPEG2-compliant devices

Basics
Let's first establish some very basic stuff, which even my 83-year-old father-in-law, who doesn't even have his own computer, should be able to understand.

Average bitrate is the:

These calculations are as simple as speed and distance calculations for a trip on a highway. They tend to involve big numbers, but today everyone has access to an electronic calculator, which helps keeping on top of many digits.

Bitrate sliders in BitVice
For BitVice this means that when you set the "Target" bitrate slider, you are also setting the maximum size of the MPEG-2 file that will be generated (since the duration of the movie does not change by setting a new bitrate for it, only the file size is changed). You can see what the file size will be, when dragging the "Target" bitrate slider. Under certain rare conditions, BitVice could.....


- Innobits newsletter June 2008 Welcome to Innobits Newsletter – NewsBits! The purpose of Newsbits is to give you information about Innobits and its products as well as articles covering technical aspects of video production, especially encoding. First of all, we are proud to present our latest update in our BitVice product line: BitVice 2.0 - FASTER THAN EVER! We know that bitrate is a confusing subject and that's why we run the article “Bitrate, what does it mean?”. You can also read about the BitVice User Tom Rogers, who is a true Train Chaser (!). Any comments about Newsbits and/or our web site are welcomed at news at innobits dot com. Enjoy your reading! WHAT IS THIS? You are getting this message because you voluntarily subscribed to Innobits newsletter. To opt out from or list, please go here and choose "Unsubscribe".	BitVice 2.0 - FASTER THAN EVER! A few months ago we asked our existing and potential customers what you think of BitVice; “What is good about BitVice and what could be better?” The answers were unmistakable - you want SPEED! Innobits takes pride in delivering what our customers want, so now we release BitVice 2.0 - an encoder for Intel (only), faster than real time for most computer configurations, and still with the same high BitVice quality. BitVice 2.0 uses all bells and whistles in Unix to get highest speed ever. Some beta testers even reported problems clocking it's speed (!). BitVice 2.0 needs Leopard and Intel cpu(s) to run. This version also includes both a new Graphical User Interface and a new User's Guide. We want to point out that BitVice 2.0 is NOT our (coming) Pro-version of BitVice. But since the current development of BitVice Pro makes it possible to release a speedier BitVice already at this point, we wanted to deliver speed today instead of later. Click HERE to download your BitVice 2.0 demo Click HERE to buy your BitVice 2.0 license Click HERE to upgrade your BitVice 1.8 license to 2.0
Portrait of a BitVice User Train Chaser Tom Rogers: “I'm slow, because I'm the one I have to satisfy” Train Chasers are people who seem to "go all out" in order to chase a moving train (for example with a car). Train Chaser Tom Rogers, Reston, Virginia, has high quality demands and the hardest judge of his work is himself. He will gladly go back five or six times to the same shooting point to get what he wants. That takes time. But he thinks it's worth it. With 40 years in the TV business, producing and editing broadcast television, Tom knows video shooting, editing for dramatic content and he tries to deliver what interests train viewers: “I try to tell a story of what I see from a passing train. I look at movements and always keep my shooting patterns fresh. For example I take shots very close to the train and intercut with other views as well as a view from far away. My zooming always matches the action”. Due to his own high quality demands, Tom only seems to finish one video per year and has now eleven titles in all. He sells his DVDs primarily at some of the 10 or 12 local Train Shows in the Washington, DC area. There are several hundreds train shows throughout the States annually. Once a customer buys one of Toms DVDs, he or she always seems to come back and buy them all. Not surprising, when one understands that train modelers are very enthusiastic people, with larger or smaller layouts in their attics, basements or even specially built spaces. There are hundred of thousands of model train enthusiasts in the United States alone....... T. Rogers © Tom Rogers Read more		Bitrate, what does it mean? Bitrate is one of the most misunderstood concepts of MPEG-2 video. So, what does it really mean? You may have heard about average, low, high, max and peak bitrates. The confusion is building up. In the following we want to limit the scope to what's relevant for both the MPEG-2 video and for the DVD specifications. MPEG-2 may be used for many other purposes than for just making DVDs. The DVD specification uses only a subset of what is specified by the MPEG-2 video specification, ISO/IEC 13318-2. Throughout the article we use BitVice, a software MPEG2 encoder for the Apple Macintosh platform, designed by Innobits AB, as an example. While the terminology and behavior of different MPEG2 encoders may vary, the underlying principals are shared among all MPEG2-compliant devices Basics Let's first establish some very basic stuff, which even my 83-year-old father-in-law, who doesn't even have his own computer, should be able to understand. Average bitrate is the: File size (measured in number of bits) Divided by Duration of the clip (measured in seconds). These calculations are as simple as speed and distance calculations for a trip on a highway. They tend to involve big numbers, but today everyone has access to an electronic calculator, which helps keeping on top of many digits. Bitrate sliders in BitVice For BitVice this means that when you set the "Target" bitrate slider, you are also setting the maximum size of the MPEG-2 file that will be generated (since the duration of the movie does not change by setting a new bitrate for it, only the file size is changed). You can see what the file size will be, when dragging the "Target" bitrate slider. Under certain rare conditions, BitVice could..... Read more