Can Compressor make MPEG2 files that will work on a Princeton Video server?

Question

I am responsible for selection of equipment and software for the local Public Access studio. I am trying to be sure if Final Cut Studio will output the format we need.
We need to output video files that are compatible with our Princeton Server Group B1400 Digital Video Server. We have found it is very difficult to be certain if a particular program will generate what we need. Below are the specs for our server.
Basically it is a a rather specific form of MPEG2. I see on the Apple web site that Compressor will do MPEG2, but that is qualified with "Quicktime", and is mostly described as being for DVD production. It seems that those are not necessarily compatible with our server. It wants a plain MPEG2 file in the format given in the specs. The server is a Linux system and its software does not know about special formats like say Quicktime or DVD might wrap around the basic data. It seems to want just plain files of MPEG2 video (and audio of course) data.
One of my sources of my concern is that in spite of what Apple says about Compressor doing MPEG2, the makers of the server say FCP does not create output for it.
I need to be assured about this before we invest in software and possibly new hardware.
These are the specs for the encoding the server needs:
Princeton Server Group
B1400 Digital Video Server
Encoding Requirements
In order to ensure optimum video playout quality on the B1400 Digital Video Broadcast Server, MPEG video and audio content must be encoded as follows.
• Video files for play-out must be encoded in multiplexed MPEG-2 program stream (PS) or MPEG-1 system stream format. Video can be encoded at rates up to 15 Mb/s.
• Use 4:2:0, not 4:2:2 encoding.
• Audio must be encoded as MPEG1 Layer II, AC-3 Stereo, or Linear PCM.
• The video and audio presentation time stamp (PTS) values in a file must be continuous and increasing. The time between the first and last time stamps in a file should reflect the actual duration of the file.
Encoding Recommendations
• Resolution: 720 X 480 or 704 X 480 in NTSC
• Closed GOP (Group of Pictures) with an “I-frame” every 15 frames
• Audio bit rate of 256 kbps
• Sampling rate of 48 kHz
• Program stream files should have one end code (00 00 01 b9) at the very end of the file.
• Recommended bit rates for various types of video content are as follows:
o 4 Mbps for good quality video with low motion
o 6 Mbps for good quality with average motion
o 8 Mbps for good quality with high motion and
o 10 Mbps for high quality with high motion content.
• MPEG2 files are constructed from multiplexed audio and video streams. The length of video and audio stream segments within the MPEG file should be identical.
G4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

Answer 1

Hey Terry
in the corporate world wee have to contend with clients who are all windows based and prevented from installing anything on their systems.
I use Flip4Mac, Studio Pro HD, with the following mix of settings;
Open clip in QT, I do also use compressor but for some reason I like using QT for exporting to WMV.
File/Export
Export:movie to windows media
Use: One pass VBR, Presentation (high), 16:9
Options>
Advanced... input type: interlace Lower field first(DV), output type: progressive
Coding method: Two pass VBR
Give this a shot and then tweak to suit your needs, oh and you can save your settings as a preset for QuickTime.
Within Compressor there is no export to WMV, so you have to start with another setting and create your own saving it for future use.
Tony