Compressor: HDV to MPEG 2 / 2006 vs. 2012??

A client has come back for a new master of her film, shot in HDV in 2006 - mastered to HDV, then to MPEG2 via Compressor.
I'm wondering if anything has happened to Compressor since 2006 ... or to the MPEG2 codec ... maybe this is impossible, but has there been any improvement in the codec since then? Might I be able to get a better new MPEG2 by redoing the HDV to MPEG2?
All ears,
Ben

Russ,
Very helpful, thank you.
I'll experiment with the VBR vs. CBR. I'm actually okay with the HDV to MPEG-2 Compressor conversion, it's quite decent. It's the ugly artefacting menus that Studio Pro produces. I am going to see if I can find a trial version of Premier with Encore ... just to compare. It could be that the 'science' of the click throughs to the scenes just automatically produce artefacting. But then again ... most of the DVD's I've rented for years, don't have the problem, nice clean menus.
I can see things to do in future. I'm actually cutting a feature doc right now, shot over five years ... the first three with HDV, then with XDCam. Once I get a rough cut (keeping the two formats apart) I'm going to convert everything to ProRes. I've been doing this for a couple of years to go through Color, which I've fallen in love with.
What, pray tell, is an AVCHD disk? Which will play in most Blu Ray players? THAT I'd be very curious about.
I've put your notes in my 'special notebook' as I'm sure I'll find myself here again in the not so distant future. I've got drives full of old HDV projects that clients often want remastered. And I will report back to this discussion if I figure out how to produce the nice clean menus I see in rented DVD's ... using DVD SP, or whatever.
Very much appreciated Russ, thank you kindly...
Ben

Similar Messages

HDV to Mpeg-2?

I am working with HDV 23.98 progressive footage in Final Cut Pro. Its final output will be an SD DVD.
I exported my sequence to compressor for a Mpeg-2 Widescreen SD (60 minutes) output. Next, I am imported to DVD Studio Pro for the build.
I simulated the DVD player from the Video_TS folder after the build, and I guess it looked pretty good.
Is this a wise choice to output an HDV sequence to compressor for a Mpeg-2 SD encoding? Would the quality be better if I made a QT movie of the sequence, THEN exported to compressor for an Mpeg-2 encode?
It certainly saves time to just output the sequence rather than building a movie, first. I just wondered if skipping a step would degrade the quality.

Thanks for the link. Two quick questions, though.
1)Does the "doubling of lines" still exist in FCS 2, with the update to the software? I know when this method was created, the Final Cut Pro and Compressor were earlier version.
2)IS the method for progressive footage? During the tutorial, it says that "a channel blur is applied, because it leaves interlacing intact." My footage is not interlaced, so I was wondering if this only applied to interlaced footage?

Workaround for compressor HDV to DVD field issue?

I need a work around for the field issue apparent when down-converting HDV to DVD.
The Bonsai method <http://www3.telus.net/bonsai/Welcome.html> will not work, as there is too much motion and a side effect of the "fastest" conversion is that it gives a 3-d ghosting effect on fast motion in the frame.
I can not convert to 720P60 or 480P, as FCP converts it to 30P and then doubles the frames, and the motion is jittery.
I could dump it to camera and then down-convert in camera, but I have heard this is not a great method either.
I have seen in another forum to save the HDV timeline in FCP as a HDV quicktime movie, and then import that into DVD studio pro and have it down-convert, but DVD studio pro says this is an "incompatible file".
How do I get 1080i HDV footage onto a DVD so that it looks acceptable?

I had a similar problem with HDV (1080i shot on Cannon HV-20) footage, looks great in post and terrible when converted (herringbone lines and too many artifacts.) I’ve successfully used the Bonsai method on another piece I did but the footage was shot on a HVX-200 at 720 24p and there were no “action” shots. I wasn’t as successful using the method using 1080i footage and it definitely didn’t help with the fast motion shots. I did a search in this forum on HD to SD and there are a lot of helpful hints and methods. I experimented with a lot of the suggestions but in the end I was able to produce very nice and acceptable results by doing the following:
1] I didn’t create an SD sequence; I exported the footage as a Quicktime movie (self contained) straight from my HDV sequence.
2] I dropped the Quicktime file into Compressor and selected 90-minute DVD Anamorphic Best 2-pass VBR. Running Compressor from Final Cut ties up your system as well as there seems to be a delay between the handoff from Final Cut to Compressor (running the latest 5.x version and 2.3.) Creating a Quicktime file frees your system and it’s debatable if you actually compress faster or take a hit on quality. I’ve tested both from Final Cut and using a Quicktime file and didn't see any real difference in quality.
3] Change the field dominance from Top to Progressive in the tab where you see 2-Pass VBR Best and also in the encoding tab (not in front of my system so I can’t recall the name or order of the icons). In the encoding tab you will notice it says “same as source.” The pull down will show you Top, Bottom, Progressive, Automatic…I tried them all and in various combinations and anything other than progressive in both tabs produced undesirable results.
4] The options for Fast, Good, Better and Best in the other encoding pull down sections are a matter of preference and patience. Selecting Best in all categories takes a really long time to compress (36 hours for a 9-minute piece using a Mac Pro 3.0GHz dual-core Intel with 4GB ram.) I ran tests using different combinations and found that selecting the default settings is decent and stepping each category up to the next level helped but not enough to warrant the long compression cycle to stick with Better across the board. When you do your testing, it’s best to use as little footage as possible or you will find yourself waiting too long to see the actual results. I used a 1-second (29 frames) shot of a girl twirling around, hair flying everywhere, and girls next to her using hula-hoop’s.
5] Use the sliding bar in the viewer to see the impact of your choices before submitting the job. To the right you will see the “original” footage and to the left you can see the results of your selection. You can move the bar across the footage to see (approximately) the end results.
6] One thing I did notice is that no matter what settings I use, the output is slightly darker (reds were deeper, skin tones were warmer and not as smooth), but hey, you are going from HDV to SD so it’s not going to be perfect.
Hope that helps and good luck.
Kenny

Mpeg streamclip vs. compressor 3.5 ( mpeg streamclip 100 times faster)

(I also posted this in another thread, but i hopes that it gets read, i'm posting it again...)
I'm working on a mbp 2.66ghz with 4g ram, compressor 3.5. Last night I set up a batch of 6 1440x1080 prores 50i clips (each between 5 and 10 min long) to be encoded for web streaming. The exact specs for the encode are here:
Description: H.264 video at 8 Mbps with AAC 44.1kHz audio
File Extension: mov
Estimated size: unknown
Audio Encoder
AAC, Stereo (L R), 44.100 kHz
Video Encoder
Format: QT
Width: 400
Height: 225
Pixel aspect ratio: Square
Crop: None
Padding: Preserve source aspect ratio
(L: 0, T: 0, R: 0, B: 0)
Frame rate: (100% of source)
Frame Controls On:
Retiming: (Fast) Nearest Frame
Resize Filter: Linear Filter
Deinterlace Filter: Best (Motion Compensated)
Adaptive Details: On
Antialias: 0
Detail Level: 0
Field Output: Same as Source
Codec Type: H.264
Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On
Pixel depth: 24
Spatial quality: 75
Min. Spatial quality: 50
Temporal quality: 50
Min. temporal quality: 50
I woke up this morning hoping to be able to watch the clips, and compressor was still chugging away on the first clip - and telling me that it was still going to take 36 hrs to finish.
exasperated, i quit the process.
I decided to try encoding with mpeg streamclip 1.9.3b2. I chose the same settings:
h.264 , multi-pass, 4Mbps @ 90% quality (ok, not 8Mbps like compressor, but 8 was still fast in mpeg streamclip), de-interlace, same frame size, yada yada.
mpeg streamclip did in 5 min. what compressor could not do overnight, and the quality is not bad.
what gives??

will my files still be de-interlaced if I turn frame controls off?

HELP! AC3 Files from compressor (FCS2) in MPEG Streamclip!

I'm having a problem - I'm creating 5.1 AC3 audio files with Soundtrack Pro/Compressor. The files are playing back fine, but when I import them into MPEG Streamclip, it is not recognized. Normal (downloaded AC3 files from Dolby, etc) work fine - it must be a setting I am using, but I have tried everything. Has anyone ever had this problem? I've got a project due that I need to be able to stitch together MPG video with AC3 5.1 audio into one MPG2. So far, streamclip is all I have found to do this...I am using Final Cut Studio 2. Any help is SO appreciated!!

Aaah, I wish I could help! I have exactly the same problem! I was going to post about it, but since there's this workaround, I didn't want to take up bandwidth with a problem that was not a total showstopper.
Indeed. I have stopped doing what I used to do before. Before, I used to select "All" in compressor - the files generated were the video, the aiff, and the ac3. Well after burning a few coasters through DVDSP 4.1 where there was picture but no sound, I realized that I needed to drag the aiff file to compressor again, and use that - at that point everything is fine. So, right now, my workflow is to export just the video from FCP through compressor, let it encode. Then export the aiff separately and encode it to a3 in compressor, then import the video and ac3 to DVDSP for good results. In short, no more exporting "All" from FCP through compressor, it's a waste of time.
But as to why, I have no idea, and I'm eager to hear what folks have to say! Anyhow, just letting you know you are not alone. Btw. my set up is: FCP 4.5 HD, compressor 2.1 and DVDSP 4.1.0... what's yours?

DVD SP, Compressor - where's MPEG-2 ?

I thought when I bought DVD Studio Pro, it included Compressor and MPEG-2 compression.
I have DVDSP 3.0.2 and Compressor 1.2.1, but my QT7 does not play MPEG-2 streams...

William,
Some place in the DVD SP package you should have had the MPEG-2 playback component for Quicktime to install. This gives the Quicktime player the ability to play back MPEG-2 video. See http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/ for more information on the playback component.
You may, or may not, get audio playback from your clips. It doesn't give you the ability to convert other QT files to MPG-2 (that's what Compressor is for).

Missing HDV and MPEG-2 CODECS in new CS6 Creative Cloud install

I've been searching all through the forums trying to find a solution and I can't find anything that actually works for me.
I just purchased a new MacBook Pro and joined the creative cloud and downloaded Premiere Pro CS6 as well as all the other programs available. I went to import some HDV footage that I had captured into FCP7. The footage doesn't show up correctly just looking at it in Finder, it registers only as an audio file. So I went to import it to PP CS6 and it said the codec was not available. The HDV preset was showing as an option when I started PP but the files don't work correctly.
I have looked through a bunch of solutions and none match what I need. I tried the deactivate/reboot/reactivate and it didn't work. I checked the addexporter.txt file that some said would help get the codecs working in AME and it has everything looking correct:
# MediaCore Plugins
ExporterAIFF
ExporterAVI
ExporterBMP
ExporterCIT
CITExporter
ExporterDPX
ExporterGIF
ExporterGIFStill
ExporterJPEG
ExporterCoreAudio
ExporterNULL
ExporterP2
ExporterPNG
ExporterQuickTimeHost
ExporterTarga
ExporterTIFF
ExporterUncompressed
ExporterWave
ExporterWindowsMedia
ExporterXDCAMHD
# MediaCore Plugin Formats. Syntax: ExporterName.ZeroBasedIndexToBlacklist
ExporterMPEG4.1
ExporterMPEG4.2
ExporterMPEG4.3
# AME Plugins
AudioWriter
WinMediaWriter
# AME Plugin Formats
MPEG4
H.264 Blu-ray
I really don't want to completely uninstall and reinstall all the software because it took forever to download all the software.
One forum commenter said there was an easy fix to his problem on a help page, but I can't find it.

I have a similar situation, except my HDV clips show up correctly in Finder and play fine (video & audio) in QuickTime, but Premiere Pro refuses to import it. I wonder where PP is getting its codecs - QuickTime obviously has the codecs to play the HDV clips?
Premiere Pro CS6 with 6.0.1 update installed
Mac OSX v10.7.4
New Mac tower desktop with virtually nothing else installed. I did install QuickTime 7.6.6, based on a suggestion I found on this forum, in addition to the QuickTime 10.1 that came with Lion.
Source footage: HDV clips captured in FCP6/7, mix of 1080p30 and 720p30
Scenario: When trying to import or open the clips, pop-up window with error message "Codec missing or unavailable."
Where could I find the codecs that PP can use to open HDV clips? Any help will be appreciated!

Problems with sound sync for HDV import (MPEG file)

I've imported a one hour tape from my Sony HDR-HC3 (HDV import), and within a few minutes the sound and video get out of sync when I play it. I have elements v4 and also tried version 8 (trial) which was better but still a second out of sync vs 4-5 seconds for v4. The imported files for both versions both play perfectly in Windows Media player with no sync problems.
I'm running on Windows 7 64 bit with 4GB ram and a 4 core AMD processor which isn't struggling. In searching the web I've seen some old workaround solutions for similar problems which involved deinstalling quicktime, installing streamclip and a quicktime alternative and then converting the files imported by Elements. I am hoping there is a more straightforward solution within Elements which avoids having to go through this workaround.
Has anyone had this problem and solved it?
Thanks
Andrew

Thanks for the pointer Neale. I tried converting the file with Streamclip (quite slow - about 1/3 play speed) and noticed there were some errors reported near the beginning. I reimported the HDV into Premiere Elements 4 but this time in a number of smaller sections. I think it may have been related to those errors because when I cut to a later section the sound was in back in sync where it previously had been out of sync. This seems to have solved it for me. If I get some time to have a play with the converting solution I'll post the results back here, but for now I can catch up with the video editing which has fallen behind a bit.
Thanks again.
Andrew

Compressor wont process mpeg video properly

my compressor will process the audio in dolby fine but when i go to simulate my burn in dvd studio pro-it will only play audio and no video whatsoever.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Are you using Compressor to create both a ac3 and a m2v file? These files must have the same exact name with the different extension IDs.
If you have both a ac3 and a m2v file that when brought into DVD SP and placed together on the same track still results in a black screen, you'll need to tell us information about the QuickTime file you used to create the m2v. Tell us the compression codec, image size and the frame rate.

Compressor not processing mpeg video

I've been running the new final cut studio 2 software and all of the sudden when i simulate my dvd burn in dvd studio pro after i have compressed my assets-the only thing i get is audio. It pulls up a black screen and i can hear my audio transitions but have no video whatsoever.
Does anyone have any suggestions? any help would be appreciated....

It was recorded and captured from a sony HV1U HD video camera in 1080i. I submitted the assests from final cut pro to the compresser from the DVD best quality 120 minutes setting in the pull down menu which is AC3 and M2V.
Message was edited by: warb

Loaded FCS2 and Compressor time seems a lot longer

Loaded a 73 minute HDV (1440X1080) program and sent to Compressor for a MPEG-2 fastest time DVD. 6 hours later it was still compressing. Is this normal? Normally a 73 minute SD (720X480) would only take a little more than an hour. Any suggestions?

HDV compression for standard DVD takes time. The high quality settings for me run about 8 times the length of the program, with only a few simple edits/transitions, etc., so the times you're running into seem pretty normal.
An 8 core Mac Pro might speed things up a bit. . .

*** Dropping an HDV sequence into a DV sequence for DVD output

I would like to output my HDV project to DVD but don't have an HDV camera or deck. I've dropped a few clips into an SD (anamorphic) sequence and rendered it out, but when the playback is viewed on a tv, it is jittery and not smooth as it needs to be.
I've had success sending my HDV project directly from FCP to compressor, but in this case, I can't do this because my next problem is having a glitch where it causes FCP to crash during the outputting to Compressor process.
This is the next workaround I've though of.........but it is having difficulty working.......is there another option or a setting I can change on this one?

All of the HDV footage I've worked with has been Lower Field First. If you want to de-interlace, use Apple's de-interlacer that can "interpolate" instead of duplicate or blend. This maintains the images edges. this can be found in Compressor, Shake, and even Motion. Also, Sending a sequence out to Compressor straight from Final Cut may seem like a good idea, but remember that HDV uses MPEG 2 Interframe encoding, and a lot of your cuts take place between complete frames. I've heard of a lot of problems, and experienced them myself by going this rout. I'd recommend exporting your entire sequence to a self-contained movie, which will render it completely, then taking that in to Compressor to convert to DVD or any other format. I like using the Apple Intermediate Codec or DVC PRO HD because it converts it to an Intraframe encoded format, aka, every frame stands on its own. It takes up more drive space, but its far less CPU intensive. While you're in compressor, you'll have to go into the "Frame Control" tab and set up your de-interlacing, which I believe lets you choose something like "motion estimation" or "best" which will interpolate the fields and produce sharper results. In Motion, it's just a filter. In Shake, its a node, or you can use the FileIn node to convert the format which can do the same.

Freeze Frames in HDV to SD

Just created a SD DVD. The Project was edited in FCP, in Native HDV (I know should have converted to ProRes!). Exported to Quicktime (Current Settings). Took Quicktime and ran through Compressor. Took Mpeg and used DVDSP to create .img. Then used Toast to create SD DVD. After all this, I am looking at the final project (DVD) and while the moving footage looks good, I am noticing that the freeze frames are jagged and "move" (almost like an interlace vs progressive issue). Anyone know I I can fix this in the future? Thanks

Thanks John. That's an interesting post, but I'm already processing in Compressor for scaling and letterbox from the original HDV material with great results. What I really want to do is be able to output directly from the SD timeline with HDV clips scaled and letterboxed, avoiding the trip to Compressor. I think it's an issue with scaling in FCP that is not up to par with Compressor. It seems to me that Apple's claims about mixing resolutions may be a bit over stated at this time. At that is the result I'm getting.

HDV 1920x1080 footage in FCE 3.5 ~ UNRENDERED~

I very much apologize if this has been addressed before, but I need to figure this out now and I've spent hours searching! :'(
I am trying to edit HDV footage (shot 1920 x 1080) in Final Cut Express 3.5. (I added the mpeg-2 plugin for QT available from Apple.)
Since FCE 3.5 only supports 1440 x 1080, I guess I should convert my footage to 1440 so that I can work without having to render every single time.
Please tell me what steps to take! I have Streamclip and could convert them in that. I tried converting them to 1440 x 1080 (4:3), and they look fine in FCE, but they are still unrendered.
I thank you with all my heart to someone who can help me. Thank you!!

Hey Tom,
Oh, I see about the 1920 being the display format. That makes sense now.
Someone else (in Japan) shot and captured this into FCP. That is why it has the FCP HDV codec on it. They sent me a hard drive of the captured files. Of course I couldn't use the HDV codec until I got the mpeg-2 codec add-on for QT.
Yes, *if I render*, I can see/hear the footage just fine in FCE. This is what the clip properties say in FCE:
Vid Rate: 29.97 fps
frame size: 1440x1080
compressor: HDV 1080i60
data rate: 3.1 MB/sec
pixel aspect: HD (1440x1080)
Anamorphic: +[this space is blank]+
Field Dominance: (Odd)
Alpha: None/Ignore
Composite: Normal

Converting HDV to DV???

Is it possble to convert captured HDV footage to DV footage? I've made a 5 minute video using HDV clips and once I compress it, moving objects look very blurry. (if you pause the video while an object is moving there appears to be 2 frames showing at the same time.)
I wonder if I converted all the clips the DV and then re-made my video, if the blurryness would go away?
Any ideas? thanks

Where do they look blurry? On your computer display, or on a TV/Monitor? When you say compress, I assume you mean MPEG encode?
Take a look at this link below on HDV, there is a lot of useful information. Especially the Compressor settings for MPEG encoding. Although I've been doing some testing with custom frames and I think I'm getting better results.(will post results after more testing) I suggest you export your project using Quicktime Movie export (not conversion) then bring that file into Compressor. I think you'll get better results that way.
hrhmedia, "Bless this board. My HDV workflow 1", 04:36pm Oct 1, 2005 CDT
Are you slowing any of you clips down? That seems to be one challenge with HDV. Something I'm right in the middle of. If you are slowing things down, it's probably a good idea to keep your speed at 1/2 or 1/3. Or, consider getting a third party plug in such as Twixtor.

Compressor: HDV to MPEG 2 / 2006 vs. 2012??

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