H, 264 is the new standard for video coding, it can save 64.46%, 48, 80% and 38.62% bit-rate compared with that of MPEG-2, H. 263 HLP and MPEG-4 ASP respectively under the same decoded picture quality, But the high encoding efficiency is at the cost of heavily increased computational complexity. The multi-prediction macroblock mode search and rate-distortion optimization mode decision that achieve high encoding efficiency are introduced firstly. Then experiment researches are performed to analyze their effect on encoding efficiency. Results show that these two kinds of technique can only achieve slightly improvement on encoding efficiency, but computational complexity increases heavily. This provides an important reference for the parameters selection when H. 264 is used in the practical application of video coding.