Encoding Tools Product Review
Canopus Procoder 1.2, $699
Canopus freely admits that Cleaner was the model for ProCoder by its mere presence. Yet, with the luxury of hindsight, ProCoder could excel where Cleaner had generation-old shortcomings; specifically in workflow and processing speed. And against Cleaner 5.1, ProCoder delivers the goods on both counts. There are some nice improvements in ProCoder's interface and features compared to the old Cleaner, but some first-generation shallowness as well. Speed tests were also impressive, but not across the board.
ProCoder's interface is both intuitive and efficient for encoding one or a small group of files into a handful of distribution formats. It also serves as a great tool for transcoding to MPEG-2 for DVD or even from going from NTSC to PAL or vice versa. Three large tab buttons down the left side for Source, Target, and Convert create obvious and effective hierarchy encoding groups. The right side of the interface changes to provide suitable information for each tab.
Compared to Cleaner 5.1, where you need to add the same file to the batch once for each different output version you want to create, ProCoder's method of adding one or more Source files, then tabbing and adding multiple Targets to those Source(s), immediately streamlines workflow. Since it's such a common need to encode streaming files to Real, Windows Media, and QuickTime formats at multiple bitrates to support all players and connections, ProCoder's simple paradigm change is a welcome one.
Through an Advance button in the Source window, ProCoder matches Cleaner 5.1's ability to trim clips, thus avoiding opening an editing application for small encoding-oriented clip modifications. What's more, ProCoder offers stitching of source files to create one output file. The Advance tab is also where you'll find ProCoder's video filters—including color and gamma correction, crop, fade in, blurs, 3:2 pulldown, and more—along with a wonderful double pane source/preview monitor to show the effects of your changes. However, the dozen or so video filters and just three audio filters can't match the breadth of noise reduction, mattes, and audio processing that Cleaner offers. Also, adding a video filter by clicking "Add" to open a configuration window can become tedious compared to the check-box method of Cleaner.
On the other hand, ProCoder can highly automate individual repetitive tasks by using Droplets. If you have an output configuration you use often, a simple "Make Droplet" menu command creates a desktop icon onto which you can drop source files. ProCoder is automatically ready to go with your custom output settings. Droplets are similar to the Watch Folders of the other applications.
In terms of speed, ProCoder does very well, but with a major caveat: an apparent aversion to QuickTime source files really cuts out any serious advantage. With a Windows Media DV (Microsoft's codec) source file, ProCoder bested Cleaner 5, Cleaner XL, and Squeeze easily. But throw a QuickTime (Avid's codec) DV file at it and ProCoder is far more hit or miss.
Still, Canopus has a virtual magic bullet for speed. If you're encoding a single source file to multiple target files, indeed one of the main reasons for using one of these coding applications in the first place, ProCoder leaves the others in the dust by encoding to many files simultaneously rather than one by one. This eliminates redundant reads from disc and decodes of the source file, and the results are eye-popping. For example, we encoded four files (three independent Windows Media 9 streams at 56Kb, 256Kb, 1Mb, as well as a VBR MPEG-2 file for DVD) separately and it took 2:01:16, not counting the interface clicks back and forth to get things going for each. When we encoded to the same four files as one batch, the group took just more than half the time: 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 30 seconds.
Canopus does have a plug-in that lets you leverage ProCoder's encoding virtuosity on output from an Adobe Premiere timeline, making it a nice match for Canopus' DVStorm editing solution, which uses Premiere. However, Canopus is several steps behind Cleanerhere, where such plug-ins are also available for Avid, Media 100, and Final Cut Pro (on Mac).
Overall, with Cleaner XL moving upstream, ProCoder may gain a solid following with developers who simply need to compression a few files efficiently and effectively. In addition, with more than a decade of internal codec development to lean on, Canopus may be well-positioned to augment a solid product introduction.
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