The systems and methods are configured to efficiently and effectively determine or find an estimated optimal encoding parameter set. In one embodiment, a video encoding parameter set estimation method comprises: performing an offline encoding parameter set characteristic prediction process that determines an estimate of a candidate encoding parameter set characteristic; and performing an encoding parameter set search process that identifies a predicted or estimated optimal video encoding parameter set. The encoding parameter set search process can include applying a constraint to the candidate encoding parameter set characteristic; and determining if candidate encoding parameter set meets an objective, wherein the determining is performed if the constraint is satisfied. The candidate encoding parameter set characteristic can be an estimated encoding time of the candidate encoding parameter set. The objective can be the best video quality out of a plurality of candidate encoding parameter sets.