[MPlayer-dev-eng] [RFC] change lacv's MPEG-4 encoding options defaults

[Diego Biurrun]

On Wed, Dec 28, 2005 at 12:03:26PM -0500, Rich Felker wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 28, 2005 at 02:48:45PM +0100, Guillaume Poirier wrote:
> > Maybe with latest Michael's commits, further tests should be done to
> > find the new best speed/quality tradeoff, but until then, what do you
> > guys think?
> 
> This topic has come up in the past and I've flamed in the past.
> Defaults should always be all-off. If users are too lame to RTFM they
> should not hope to get a good encode.

Nonsense.  Defaults should be sane.  Programs without good defaults are
a major PITA.  Having to handtune everything is OK for a developer and
encoding specialist like you, but it is a major inconvenience for the
rest of the world.

Also the tradeoff is very bad.  Experienced users will not have problems
tweaking the defaults if they don't like them.  Newcomers on the other
hand will turn to another tool.

Out-of-the-box behavior is important.  I regularly throw fits when
confronted with software that does not have sane defaults.  Just because
finding the best defaults is difficult and involves difficult decisions
and tradeoffs does not mean it is not a worthwhile goal.

Diego