Does the QuickSync encoder support a two pass mode? I've looked through the docs and I don't see anything about it. However I talked to the people at Main Concept and they said their QuickSync encoder does do two pass so it would seem it's possible. Are they doing something completely custom? Or am I missing something in the Media SDK?
Thanks,
Dan
HI Dan,
Yes, the Intel Media SDK supports a variety of algorithms for Rate Control. AVBR (Average Variable Bitrate) was added to API 1.3 (supported by Media SDK 2012). This is the mode that some applications refer to as 2 pass encoding. Please see the Media SDK Reference Manual for information on how to use this mode.
-Tony
Does the AVBR mode require you to feed the samples in twice, like a typical 2 pass encode where the first pass creates a stats file and the second pass creates the actual encoded frames?
The documentation on AVBR is very limited in the SDK
Dan
Hi Dan,
Sorry I was not clear with my post. The Intel Media SDK does not support "2 pass encoding" in the sense that it does not examining the entire stream twice. When the AVBR encode mode is used the encoding algorithm tries to achieve some of the same goals achieved with typical 2 pass encoding (which is why I believe some applications call it "2 pass", but the usage of Media SDK for AVBR is the same as other encoding models (as long as the initial encode parameters are setup correctly).
In other words, there is no API for using Media SDK with 2 passes.
-Tony