CRF (Constant Rate Factor) encoding is a method used to maintain consistent video quality by adjusting the bitrate dynamically based on the complexity of the footage. Unlike constant bitrate (CBR) encoding, which uses a fixed bitrate regardless of the content, CRF ensures that high-motion scenes (like fast-paced games) look sharp without wasting storage or resources on simpler scenes.
Why Use CRF Encoding?
Better Quality for Dynamic Content: CRF adapts to the video’s complexity, ensuring high-quality clips even during intense action sequences.
Efficient Storage Use: It only uses the necessary disk space, avoiding unnecessary large file sizes for simpler scenes.
Ideal for Local Recording: While CBR is better for streaming, CRF is perfect for saving high-quality clips locally without worrying about bitrate limitations.
How Does It Work?
CRF assigns a quality level (ranging from 0 to 51, with lower numbers meaning higher quality). The encoder adjusts the bitrate to meet this quality level, ensuring consistent visual fidelity across all parts of the video.
Moments uses ‘constant rate factor’ encoding (CRF). When saving a clip with Moments, the video will be encoded to maintain the same quality no matter what’s happening inside the clip. Instead of being limited to hitting a specific bitrate, clips will look as good as they possibly can and only require the disk space and system resources as is absolutely needed.