Exporting FCP HDV Sequence To MPG-1

(Re-Posted From FCP Forum)
I need to compress a 60 minute 16:9 video for the web.
It's HDV, in an HDV timeline, in FCP5.
I'm using a 2 minute test clip while I try to figure it out.
I've tried using Quicktime Conversion (since I'm a little bit familiar with it) and it doesn't offer MPG-1. I see MPG-4 and MPG IMX, etc.
I've also tried the MPG-1 setting in Compressor but it dims out the frame size options in the geometry pane. So the resulting MPG's are the wrong aspect ratio.
I have a workflow on the PC that I used prior to HDV by exporting AVI from Premiere into TMPGEnc Plus for MPG compression. So I decided to try and get an AVI to use with that. I used the Quicktime conversion to AVI and my two minute clip ended up at 16GB. Something's not quite right with that.
SO... hopefully somebody knows the magic word to make compressor let me change the frame size of my MPG (don't know why it wouldn't let me). OR... someone knows how to make Quicktime let me make an MPG1.
Thanks in advance...
G5 Dual 2.7Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.3) FCP Studio, G-Raid, Sony HDV

Compressor will only output MPEG-1 at 320 x 240 or 352 x 240. Thus, you can't output HD resolution using Compressor's or QuickTime's MPEG-1 codec.
If you really need to do HD resolution with MPEG-1 on the Macintosh then you should check out Digigami's MegaPEG product.
http://www.digigami.com/megapeg/
Also, the ten to twenty-five dollar MPEG2 Works product(s) supports custom MPEG-1 sizes, but I don't know if they will support something as large as HD.
http://www.mpeg2works.com/

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Actually even on the quicktime movie after export it looks squashed
my HDV sequence settings are
Framesize 1440x1080 aspect ratio HD(1440x1080) (16:9)
compressor HDV 1080i50
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C.H
G5, 4 x 2.5 ghz , 2.5gb ram Mac OS X (10.4.7)

"1. the dv footage looks half the size in the canvas as the hdv footage.
I have made it bigger by double clipping on each clip and using the scale parameter under motion tab to increase it to 200% and that filled out the window.
Will that effect output quality? is there another way to do it? Am I losing quality here? Is there a way round this . . "
You would be better (assuming a DVD is the only end use for this project) to scale to the lowest common denominator in this case DV.
Do your edit on a DV/NTSC/PAL timeline as appropriate and recapture the HDV material using the cameras built in HDV to DV conversion then you are working completely within a DV timeline scaled at 100% no need to blow footage up.
I am assuming the footage is a fairly equal mix of HDV DV if its just a couple of DV clips then you could go with it but obviously scaling footage up to HDV then down to SD for DVD will not produce the sharpest image.

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Are you "sending" to compressor? Probably not the best way to work.
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*** 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.

White level for HDV sequence

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I edit in HD and apply colour correction filters etc to the timeline and monitor the levels using the FCP toolbench levels and "excess luma" option on the canvas window.
So, the luma in HD is declared to be within tolerance - just some green lines indicating whites are OK. But when I convert the finished show to PAL for our UK broadcaster the same footage now regularly goes into illegal white levels - lots of red indicated "excess luma".
Anyone run into this before or seen anything that explains legal levels of HD versus PAL (or NTSC). I guess now that I see the whites declared illegal in PAL I am starting to worry they are to hot for HD as well. I just sent out our first PAL version done this way and just applied a "broadcast safe" filter to the whole timeline but this seems a bit crude.
Any ideas?
Paul Shard
Producer - Distant Shores
Dual 1GHz Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.75GB ATI9800, FCStudio
Dual 1GHz Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.75GB ATI9800, FCStudio

how are you doing the conversion? i'm not an
engineer - although i play one at work - so i can't
really speak to what is causing the luma level
shift.
I am exporting the HD sequence as a AIC 1080i50 sequence (it was shot natively in 1080i50) and creating a PAL Uncompressed 8-bit sequence. I put the AIC HD sequence in there and do the 14by9 letterbox there.
is it a global, uniform shift in luma or are you
seeing a luma shift in things like specular
highlights? can you post a screen shot anywhere?
It does seem to be a global increase in Luma. I must do more tests and see if a screen shot is possible.
Right now I'm off to teach a sailing seminar though back tomorrow. Thanks for your suggestions
Paul
Dual 1GHz Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.75GB ATI9800, FCStudio

Best workflow from HDV sequence to DVD

I have a HDV sequence 55 minutes,
- export self-contained QT movie, about 10Gig. that takes about 2-3 hours,
- sent to compressor 3, 90 mins best quality,
and it want to take 40 hours!!! to do it......
also tried Visual Hub, took 120 minutes, wrote DVD with toast, image was quite good, but sound was broken,and only half of the movie was written, toast reported an error.
have also done a few short tests using compressor and the image quality was simply awful.
love to know what is the best way, and fairly quick, and good quality to get from the sequence to a DVD.
FCP 6

I'm still a bit blown away by the complexities of HDV editing. SD seemed so simple in comparison!
Everything I read related to taking a project from an HDV timeline to an SD DVD project is such a lengthy process. Which brings me to ask this question... I have captured 1080i footage shot with my Canon XH-A1 and with my Canon HV20 and edited the footage in HDV sequences in FCP. At the time I was unaware of there being processes (such as those mentioned in the posts above) for converting HDV projects to SD DVD projects. So, I simply continued the process of burning a DVD with the HDV sequence just as I always have with SD projects. I exported a QuickTime file of my edited sequence and then imported that QT file into iDVD to burn a DVD. I was very much aware that this DVD would not contain high def footage because I was not using a high def burner or high def discs, so I just assumed that the end result would be having my HDV project deliverable on DVD in standard def. And I wasn't disappointed. My iDVD project burnt successfully and soon thereafter I was able to watch the DVD from a standard DVD player. Granted this was not a long project - it was about 10 minutes worth of video - but is there anything wrong with using this process to go from an HDV sequence to a playable SD DVD? And would the process that I just described work for projects as long as 30 minutes or more?

Audio lag when exporting 90min HDV footage as QT movie via FCP6

Hy Guys I desperately need your help!
Ive exported a 90min QT movie from an 1080i50 HDV project in FCP6 & found that the audio progressively "lags" as the clip plays.
At the start of the clip the sound is in sync with the video but by the end it lags nearly 15 seconds behind the video!
The footage had captured perfectly & everything works fine in the timeline & is rendered properly.
I've checked everything I can think of (settings on timeline are the same as the export settings - audio rate is 48KH, 25fps in both etc (I'm based in the UK)but getting no joy at all.
Initially I exported the footage using the "export quicktime movie" option, set to "use current settings", as a "self contained movie", & un-checked "re-compress all frames" option.
(The intention ultimately being to import the file into Compressor 3 to produce M2v/Ac3 files & then import them into DVD studio pro to produce a PAL anamorphic 16:9 SD-DVD.)
Since that didnt work however, Ive tried all sorts of different settings for both timeline & QT export - the only thing I havent tried is exporting it totally uncompressed (should I use 8bit or 10 bit??).
I'm a bit wary of that as It will take 12-14hrs to do so & use up an awfal lot of space.
The footage itself is of an action horror feature - so LOTS of quick cuts, whip pans & transitions.
I'm using a brand-new rented Mac G5 so I have no idea what drivers of service packs have been added - but i think its pretty well serviced (its VERY stable).
I'd be really grateful If you can get back to me with a solution on this as - no joke - my Job relies on this getting solved PDQ !!!!
Many thanks
Mike

Exporting a self contained Quicktime movie does not cause any compression to the actual images.
When using QT movie export FCP copies each frame of your finished movie and create new ones out of any transition between original media.
Editing HDV can require extra time indeed as it needs to be conformed after you finish. I would try to send the movie straight from the timeline once rendered. If you want to check out the result why not copy a portion of the edit on a second identical sequence and send it to Compressor.
Testing is always a crucial part of the process.
G.

Exporting FCP HDV Sequence To MPG-1

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