Encoding in Compressor 4 - has it improved?

I'm about to encode two documentary films for DVD release. One is 30 minutes (1000 duplications), the other is 80 minutes (1000 replications).
To my naked eye Apple Compressor 3.5 does a decent job encoding. But I'd like to get some expert opinions before I get started:
-- Has Apple improved VBR and/or CBR encoding in Compressor 4 (2011)? In other words, has Apple's MPEG-2 codec been rewritten for Compressor 4?
-- For a short 30 minute film would you use "CBR" or "Two pass VBR Best"?
-- Also, will an expensive third party codec (like Cinema Craft CCE-MP) be worth purchasing for a documentary mainly shot in SD NTSC with archival material?
Thanks!

My experience is different from Michael's. We get our best results using CBR. The old chestnut that FCP places "compression markers at every edit point" is misleading and you might want to research that more carefully. How do you make sure tose markers pass to Compressor? Are the markers the same for an edit point where a super starts to fade in as they are for a cut? If you're using two pass VBR, what does a compression marker actually accomplish for you that the two passes does not? Can Compressor get confused? How many frames does it take for a variation in the bit rate to happen?
bogiesan

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Blu Ray encoding using Compressor - successful replication

Now that Compressor offers Blu ray encoding that apparently pass verification for Blu ray authoring has anybody actually used it and successfully sent a disc to be replicated??? What kind of results are you getting out of Compressor?
Here's my thinking - as Apple seem to be absolutely NOT going to be offering a Blu ray authoring solution then (like many others) I am looking at Netblender's solution which has a proven track record. Now I can buy their authoring solution and also they now offer an encoding solution. Sweet...
But what I was thinking was it is always useful to have a second encoder to hand - as Netblender can take encodes from Compressor. So just wondered what the results were like.

There's apparently some question as to whether Compressor 3.5 encodes Blu-ray as well as Compressor 3.05. Sorry ;-(
My contributors have reported that a Share... export from FCP7 provides far better encoding quality than the current version of Compressor 3.5
However, in general, Compressor streams (AVC and Dolby Digital) have been verified as "stream compliant" using the standard BD pre-replication verifiers. HOWEVER - PLEASE NOTE THAT USING AC3 IN ADOBE ENCORE WILL RESULT IN A NON-VERIFIABLE PROJECT. Encore CS4 throws non-compliant ghost PGCs, which contain AC3 content that will NOT pass replication verification.
Yes, they know about this... No, I don't know when there will be a fix offered.
Bruce

PDE-PEP006 Encoded Program unit has an unknown format.

Hi All:
I am using Form builder [32 Bit] Version 6.0.8.23.2 with Oracle 10g.
I tried to open a form in form builder which is also created in Form 6i, system return following error:
PDE-PEP006 Encoded Program unit has an unknown format.
and form opened, but the coding of all triggers, and program units was not there, although the triggers and program units exists and can be seen but without coding.
Please also tell me can I convert the form into text format thru command prompt?
What could be the reason?
Thanks
Hassan

Francois
The only way to get the "new" pl/sql code is to open
the new version and copy the code, then paste it in
the old version's builder.
You mean to say that open the new version form in new version builder? or in old version?
Thanks
Hassan

ERROR - PDE-PEP006 ENCODED PROGRAM UNIT HAS A UNKNOWN FORMAT

I am learning Developer 2000. After attaching talbotstandar.pll library, when I try to expenad Set_Up_List procedre, I am getting this error "ERROR - PDE-PEP006 ENCODED PROGRAM UNIT HAS A UNKNOWN FORMAT". Because of this I am not able to proceed, please give me soution to get rid of this problem as soon as possible.
My email is [email protected]

ERROR - PDE-PEP006 ENCODED PROGRAM UNIT HAS A UNKNOWN FORMAT
Hai friends
i have a form developed in forms 10g and reports 10g.
the same form when i when iam trying to open in forms 6i/reports6i,everything is getting(layout) but when i am trying to see code it was blank. why.
can anybody help to solve this problem or can any body give me the solutions to my email
thanks
vas
E-mail :[email protected]

Xserve G5 Cluster Nodes and Built-in distributed encoding in Compressor 4.

My IT friend just handed me down a rack full of XServe G5 nodes. ( They left the Apple camp as the result of Xserve being killed by Apple - i wonder if Adobe or Avid makes any highend servers boxes. LoL ). In the past running a render farm under QMaster was part voodoo part witchcraft. Apple is advertising " Built-in distributed encoding " as one of main features of Compressor4. Has any one tried to install compressor 4 on Xserve non-intel machines ? Where do i get the Qmaster from download file that App Store automatically dispatches to my NLE machine ?

Compressor 4 won't run on G5's.

Creating an .mp4 with h.264 encoding in Compressor - how???

In FCP I can choose Export - Using QuickTime Conversion, then choose MPEG-4 as the file type and go into Custom settings and tell it to use H.264 as the Video Format (encoder). I can also click the Video Options button and tell it to use the Baseline profile instead of Main, and AAC Low Complexity audio.
These are the requirements for the website I create content for.
What I want to know is - how can I make a preset in Compressor that has these same settings? When I choose MPEG-4, if I try to change the encoder to H.264, it completely changes the file extension to .m4v which is not what I want. I also don't see options for setting a Baseline vs Main profile.
Can this be done??

Sean,
That sounds frustrating. Have you tried manually changing the file extension after using h.264? This may work depending on how your deliverables are used. Just a thought.

FCP 7 Compressor has Error every time I summit

Hello,
Can anyone help me figure out why all of a sudden Compressor (3.5) for my Final Cut Pro 7 stopped working (Exporting).
I was exporting videos earlier today perfectly with no problem.
All of a sudden when I summit to project the Batch Monitor pops up and has immediate error!
What in the world is going on. I open a new sequence and try export from a new sequence and I still doesn't work.
All Bin Clip are on line. Nothing is Off Line.
Thanks,
Jeff

Have you tried trashing your FCP and Compressor Preferences? This is a common first step when you get unexpected performance from Final Cut Studio components.
You can download Preference Manager from Digital Rebellion (free) and it will do it for you:
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/
Your preferences will be reset to default settings the nest time you launch the applications.
MtD

Encoding in Compressor for iDVD 7

Is there a way within iDVD 7 to change the burn speed of the SuperDrive? I have not been able to find it. BTW, is there anything I should know about encoding a Final Cut program in Compressor and bringing it into iDVD 7 for the themes and burn?

Much easier and cleaner to use Compressor w/ the pro apps / FCP => DVDSP.
However, it's not impossible to use with with iMovie ..... here's the steps I took under expert settings (and btw there are a few minor artifacts as you pointed out above mainly over fast moving objects). Fred's 100% correct about GIGO....
By sdmacuser at 2007-09-28
By sdmacuser at 2007-09-28
By sdmacuser at 2007-09-28

AC3 Encoding with Compressor 2

Hi all --
Anyone know why Compressor 2 won't convert my MPG audio streams to AC3?
I demuxed an MPG-2 program stream to .m2v and .mpa elementary streams.
The .m2v plays fine -- the .mpa must first be converted to 48kHz AIFF before Compressor will convert it to AC3.
Wish I could skip that intermediate step -- anyone know how?
Thanks -- Jerry
Dual 1.25GHz G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Thanks everyone.
So here's a related question:
I've used MPEG Streamclip in the past --
When I do "Demux to M2V and AIFF" on a clip,
the AIFF comes out fine... but the M2V is a program stream, not elementary!
In other words, it's not a true demux, because the M2V still has an embedded audio stream!
Anyone know a fix for this, or can explain why this happens?
Thanks again for your support!
-- Jerry

Cannot encode video in Media Encoder: "PProHeadless.exe has caused an error ..."

Can't for the life of me encode a video from Premiere Pro, it throws an error pointing to "PProHeadless.exe." The encoder will stay active and allow me queue the file, but nothing happens for a long time, and then it crashes with a Dynamic Link error. Nothing gets me out of it -- I have to force restart the Encoder. Anyone experience similar behavior?

Codecs - DV / PCM (AVI ripped straight from DV tape)
Platform in use - Windows
Version number - CS4
Installation language - English
Updates applied - Everything that's come out so far
Project settings - 720x480; 48khz; 16bit...not sure what you want
Operating System - Vista Premium x64
Update/patch level - SP1
Installed language - English
CPU type and speed - Intel Centrino 2 @ 2.8Ghz (x2 cores)
Amount of memory (RAM) - 4GB
Video card - Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT
Driver version - 7.15.11.7928
Number of monitors (displays) in use - 1
Audio card - Integrated (Using HP dv7t 1000)
Driver version - IDT High Definition Audio Codec v.6.10.6087.0
Each hard drive's capacity and space remaining - 160GB (x2) @ 7200rpm; ~25GB remaining on each
Disk setup (partitions used, raid configuration, what is where for OS/projects/media/scratch/audio) - No partitions; OS, project, and scratch on C:; Audio and Video source clips on D:
Hardware capture device - Sony Video Camera (no longer have it, not sure of details)
Capture software - Premiere Pro CS4
Comprehensive list of third-party plug-ins you installed - None
Exact text of any error messages - "PProHeadless.exe has stopped working / A problem caused the problem to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available."
Explain clearly what you want to do, what you are doing and what the result is - I would like to export a five and a half minute sequence to an MPEG2 - DVD clip. I go through Premiere Pro CS4 and tell it to export in that format (I've tried both internal hard drives and an external hard drive as export locations), Adobe Media Encoder 4.0.1.078 opens and pauses before the error message appears. The sequence's status is then "Waiting", but nothing else happens when I click "Start Queue" with the exception of the same error message appearing. This is my first time trying to export a sequence using CS4, but I've done it many times successfully with CS3 and FCP 6. I've tried reinstalling CS4 and I updated all drivers only a few weeks ago.
Also, the one video clip I'm using as my source-video is a 13GB+ file. It was never broken into shorter segments.

Has Adobe improved the Graphs tool in Illustrator CS6?

Does anyone know whether there have been any improvements to the graphing tool in Illustrator CS6?
I had thought that perhaps Adobe would be adding a graphs function to Indesign, but there has been no word of it with the CS6 release. And nobody has mentioned graphs in their "new features" reviews of either InDesign nor Illustrator.
The graphing function in Illustrator really sucks - it's been the same since Illustrator 88. Have they totally abandoned those of us who have to create graphs again? Or have they improved it but it's just not cool enough for anyone to mention?

I do a lot of reports - sometimes a 100 page report will have 40 or 50 graphs in it. I have to create over a thousand graphs every year. I have tried all the other products I can find and none of them create files that are really usable in a workflow where everything else is done in Adobe Creative Suite. I need to option click on a linked image of a graph in Indesign, open up an Illustrator file, and update the graph with new data from an Excel file. And I need the graph to look good.
Currently, the Illustrator graphing tool does not support live updating of the data very well at all and has severe limitations. Your data cannot have commas or percent signs or dollar signs. You cannot have numbers as categories (years, for example, as a category label all have to be typed in quotes). The graph labels cannot even have commas in them (you have to enter them manually after you plot it.) The entry dialog for the data is really primitive and hard to work with. And every time you update the graph data and replot the bars or lines, the tick marks are scattered all over the page and you lose your commas in the axis labels. Adobe really ought to be ashamed and embarrassed by how poorly this tool works, and I cannot understand how they can create tools like a perspective grid (which is cool, but I haven't needed it yet) and totally ignore such a basic productivity tool as the graphing feature.
I'm all for the cool stuff too . . . but you don't need live paint or live trace to do graphs if you can actually just import the numbers and do it right. But my graphs need to be accurate and based on plotted numbers, not hand-drawn. And so I have to come up with complicated workarounds and every time I update a graph I have to do all this stuff over again that should just be a one-click update.
If anyone out there is looking for a good business opportunity, build a graphing plugin for Indesign or Illustrator - I'll be happy to test it!

Silent / Mute AC3 track after encoding in Compressor 2

Hi,
I exported audio from a 2hr 27min time line in FCP 4.5 to create an .aif file.
I then transcoded it to an .AC3 file on my macbook using Compressor 2. When I listen to it in VLC, it all sounds perfectly fine. But when I import it into DVD Studio Pro 3, it is silent / mute.
I have looked back over this forum and found several people reporting similar problems, without any solution.
Grateful for any suggestions.
Thanks
Jamie

Here is another possibility. If you added you ac3 to a menu or track and then made additional corrections in FCP and recompressed them to the same name, DVDSP has a bit of trouble updating sometimes....not sure why, but a quick solution is to re compress again, but with a different name. then relpace the old one with the new one in DVDSP. same thing happens with video sometimes.
g4 duel 1 gig

FCP quits during MPEG2 high quality encode in compressor

I am trying to create MPEG 2 of FCP project using the 90min Hig Quality 2 pass setting. When I do, about half way through the encoding FCP quits causing the encoding to fail. The strange thing is if I drop back to fats encode 1 pass it seems to work. Am I going to lose much quality by only using the fast encode? Does anyone know how to fix the problem? Is it a compressor issue or FCP?
Any help would be great cause I don't want to compromise quality of my DVDs if I can help it.

Rob,
Can you tell us a bit more about how you are going about this.
For example, are you doing this in compressor or in DVDSP?
What is the original material?
How long is the original material?
and so on and so forth ...
cheers
x

Repeated Failed or Media Not Found in Blu Ray Encode in Compressor 3.5

I tried six burns using both Share and in Compressor.
On five occasions, Create Disc launched before Compressor had completed the encode, and reported a "file not found" error message.
This is on clean install of 10.5.8 to a fresh volume.
I also disabled the quick cluster and received a failed burn as well.
Brand new 8 core Mac with 12 GB/s of RAM.
You can't get a cleaner system than this.
Using a quad interface OWC blu ray burner with FW800 connection, and pro res 1080/24p footage. Except for the one try with Share, everything was export self contained.

David,
You might even want to reduce your instances to 4. The reason being is that often the intra-processor traffic can get congested when treating the cores as nodes (or even the virtuals) versus treating the processor itself as the node. I found that with the 8 core machines, the sweet spot for virtual clusters was 4 instances.
Also, just did s set of BD and AVCHD burns from both FCP and Compressor with no issue.
Lastly, in terms of visual feedback, the Create Disc icon in the dock provides a Toast-like progress display with the disc filling up from the center out.
bg

Compressor has Become Worthless on Leopard

Always worked like a charm on Tiger. After upgrading to Leopard it began hanging on Submit, saying only "Unknown Time Remaining..." and not doing a thing. I followed the advice of all the threads, deleting preferences, deleting the folders in /var/spool/qmaster/, Reseting Background Processing, standing on my head and reciting the Gettysburg Address, etc.
For various other reasons I then did a clean install of Leopard, and a new install of FCS 2.
Problem persisted.
Did a complete uninstall of Compressor and reinstalled.
Worked for two days and once again Same problem.
It doesn't recognize my virtual cluster anymore either.
I think the bug may be in Q Master.
But who knows?
I've got five projects that need compressing and i'm losing my mind.

I had a similar problem on Tiger. It seems to be something to do with the /var/spool/qmaster folder. If Compressor can't see or access the files in that folder for whatever reason, it will not be able to find any clusters. It turned out that in my case, the permissions on that folder were set to No Access for some bizarre reason, so setting these to read-write-execute for all users (insecure, I know, but I don't see it as a major security threat) fixed the issue entirely. So check the permissions on the qmaster folder, its parent folder(s) and any files inside to make sure that Compressor is allowed to access them. Note that repairing disk permissions in Disk Utility does not fix this automatically.
The processing power is there, the memory is there but FCP and compressor don't even cause this system to break sweat, i.e. no where near using all eight cores when encoding.
Final Cut Pro's codebase is old and is in need of a complete rewrite in Cocoa. Compressor's multi-core support is not "true" multi-threading; it's more of a stopgap for the eventual rewrite. The old codebase also means that it is stuck in 32-bit land instead of the 64-bit support all recent Macs since the PowerMac G5 offer (except for the first-gen MacBook Pros).
And I hear Apple doesn't even monitor these discussion boards, what a waste, they could gain so much insight into what their customer's want / need.
They don't normally reply to issues (I'm not sure if they're actually allowed to) but that doesn't mean they don't see these threads. If you really want them to be made aware of an issue, use their Feedback forms:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutpro.html
http://www.apple.com/feedback/compressor.html

Encoding in Compressor 4 - has it improved?

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