DaVinci Resolve 21: Is the New MainConcept Encoder Worth It?

DaVinci Resolve 21 adds the MainConcept H.265 encoder, claiming up to 30% better bitrate efficiency. But is it worth using?

I tested a ProRes video rendered four ways at a 50k bitrate:
- NVIDIA Encoder (Very Fast) — 5 seconds
- NVIDIA Encoder (Very Slow) — 13 seconds
- MainConcept Encoder (Fastest) — 11 seconds
- MainConcept Encoder (Best Quality) — 20 minutes

Pixel peeping the results, the quality differences are minimal. The NVIDIA encoder at the Very Slow preset even looks slightly sharper than MainConcept's Fastest preset, and it renders in a similar timeframe. MainConcept's Best Quality takes significantly longer (20 minutes for a 13-second clip) with no noticeable quality gain over NVIDIA.

Conclusion: For YouTube and social media, stick with the NVIDIA or Mac hardware encoder. The MainConcept encoder might only be worth the extra render time for cinema-grade final masters.

Let me know in the comments which encoder you use and if you've found different results!

📚 *Chapters*
0:00 Encoder Recommendations
0:50 DaVinci Resolve 21 Main Concept
2:44 Encoding Time Comparison
3:11 Quality Comparison: Main Concept
5:17 Quality Comparison: NVIDIA
6:23 NVIDIA vs Main Concept
8:09 Final Verdict
11:30 Jump here for original videos

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Видео DaVinci Resolve 21: Is the New MainConcept Encoder Worth It? канала Alpha Bravo Media