MeGUI is my preferred encoder on Windows, something I still haven’t found an equivalent for in OS X (though Handbrake is pretty close). It’s incredibly powerful, but unfortunately it can be a bit difficult and confusing to get it setup at first. So I give you the first in a series of videos about encoding video covering everything from encoding to deinterlacing to fixing levels on both Windows and OS X.
Links:
MeGUI – http://sourceforge.net/projects/megui/
ffdshow tryouts – http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/
AviSynth – http://avisynth.org
Excellent and thorough introduction to MeGUI!!! Would love to see more.