[MEncoder-users] Backup policies

[James Hastings-Trew]

Michael Rozdoba wrote:
> Loren Merritt wrote:
>
>   
>> Where you went wrong is thinking of bit distributing. "Distribution" 
>> carries a connotation that you have some bits and then decide where to 
>> put them. That's not how x264 works, CRF nor 2pass. It's better to think 
>> of "bit requisitioning"
>>     
>
> /snip details
>
> Thanks very much. That's the clearest explanation I've come across & 
> helps clear up my misunderstanding :) That should definitely be part of 
> any doc explaining the basics of x264's approach. Most appreciated.
It's not really doing anything for me.

I guess I just don't understand, unless x264 can "magically" know where 
to requisition bits, and where not to, and still come out without 
over-spending or under-spending by the end of the file. If I aim for a 
2Gb file (because that is the max size that will fit in my devices' 
storage), and it under-requisitions and ends up giving me a 1.8Gb file, 
then I can reasonably assume that there are some scenes in that file 
that could have been encoded at a higher quality, if only x264 had known 
it could requisition more bits for them. If it over-requisitions and I 
end up with a file that's 2.2Gb, well, maybe that is useless for my 
needs and I am going to have re-encode it at a lower bitrate.

What am I missing?

Also, is this list having technical issues? There have been at least 2 
posts of mine that have gone missing.