[tuanden0]

Originally Posted by Boulder

Fortunately the testclips are quite small so I could put them in my Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Nr...1fjYfflCArMx6C (aq-mode 1)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1__...fvuE55NBeMo_ui (aq-mode 2)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iW...Nt7364LDlQQI2p (hevc-aq)

These are all 2-pass encodes with the same avg bitrate. To me hevc-aq smooths things too much, part of the problem is that the bitrate is not enough to keep up. Aq-mode 2 doesn't look as good as mode 1. Near the end of the clip, the difference between 1 and 2 is clearer as mode 2 has produced more swimming blocks in the flat background near the top of the image.

Agree with you, --hevc-aq just smooth (blur) too much, some details were blurred and destroyed.

I tested with setting --preset slow --tune animation --crf 18 --hevc-aq

https://i.imgur.com/B0xclJl.png