FCP/Compressor training in UK?

hopefully this is appropriate for this forum- i'm looking for a good training class in the UK.
I'm a pretty seasoned FCP editor, but would like find a course that will help me to understand various video formats, encoding, compression, aspect ratios, etc etc
any ideas will be appreciated
david

http://www.apple.com/software/pro/training/certifieds.php

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3'rd party codecs in QT, FCP, Compressor, Shake

Greetings-
I am having an issue getting 3'rd party codecs to show up in my export dialogs in QT, FCP, Compressor and Shake. The 2 codecs in question are Kona uncompressed and Avid.
When attemtping to export files through FCP, QT, Compressor or Shake these codecs do not show up anywhere in the export dialogs- however they DO show up in the export dialog for Cleaner.
I'd appreciate and all thoughts/ideas
Thanks!

ok... still working on this and believe I have found the answer: the Kona and Avid codecs are PPC, not universal code and therefore don't show up on the MBP (but am now seeing them on the G5)

Is Quicktime 10 messing with my FCP/Compressor exports?

Just upgraded to Snow Leopard which included QT10, which is utterly useless.
Anyway, besides my general dislike of the new QT10, I have a feeling the newly installed ProRes codecs associated with the upgrade are messing with my exports from both FCP & Compressor. We shoot HD, and often export cropped 4x3 versions of that HD. I just exported a batch of sequences at Apple Pro Res 422 960x720 from a 4x3 sequence.
When I open that in Quicktime, it has been stretched to be anamorphic. If I import into FCP, it tells me that while the frame size is 960x720, the pixel aspect ratio is HD (960x720). Only when I set this to square do I get the proper 4x3 aspect ratio I desire. Likewise, a batch I sent out from Compressor the other day had the same problem.
The solution I've found is that, in Compressor, I have to force the export to be set to square pixels. Easy enough I suppose. But my question is, why does Pro Res (with the new QT10 and ProRes codecs installed) now default to this HD (960 x 720) pixel aspect ratio and default to giving me stretched footage? If the HD footage I'm shooting is square pixels, why is ProRes trying to do anything else with it other than keep it at square pixels?
Also, will Apple create a Pro version of QT10, because as it is, its useless for video work. QT7 Pro is a pretty helpful utility for those of us in video post-production, I'd hate to see that go away and be replaced with QT10.
Message was edited by: rw-media12

Bumping to see if anyone has any thoughts on the matter or if anyone had similar problems...

FCP, Compressor & DVD Studio Pro Settings: Archiving Old Video

Hi.
I'm working with FCS2, a Mac Pro, and a Blackmagic Intensity Pro capture card that allows me to import uncompressed SD video.
I bought that card because I have a lot of old SD video, mostly U-Matic and Beta SP, that I want edit someday. I also have some VHS footage (shot in SP mode on a full-size VHS camcorder) that I want to archive to DVD before the tapes turn to dust.
I can't justify buying a VCR/DVD Recorder combo for this job because I only need to dub 6 hours worth of VHS. And I'm guessing I'll get higher quality with the setup I have.
Since I'm essentially just dubbing here, what settings in FCP, Compressor and DVDSP do I need to adjust to give me the highest quality dub possible?
As far as dividing up the video, I was thinking of using 1 hour of VHS to fill each DVD. Is that a good size, or should I go shorter? Would there be a noticeable quality difference if I went down to 45 or even 30 minutes per DVD?
I'm sure I'll have more questions as you post replies. Thanks for your help!
Fred

I agree with David, rent a Beta SP, then the rental place is responsible for it's maintenance so you are ore likely to get a working unit. Better yet, you can rent a new model with fewer hours on it's heads. Make sure your VHS deck's heads are clean. If you own your own 3/4" deck, clean those heads too. If you are not happy with the playback quality rent one of those as well.
If you are truly looking for best quality, go uncompressed and save it all to a drive, but, to be realistic, how one digitizes the material depends entirely on what format you want to end up with after you do edit it.
I suggest digitizing using the DV50 codec as a good compromise in compression and file size. Here at NBC everything is digitized for air using DV25 codec and it is generally good enough. I also suggest that DVDs, even data DVDs are an unreliable format for long term storage bceauce of their high failure rate.
My advice is to save your money and buy a couple of nice Enterprise quality 1TB drives, mirror them and store all your media there. (of course, get smaller drives if there is less material).
Good Luck!

16:9 problem from fcp- compressor- dvd studio.

Using Compressor 1.2.1
I shot mini-dv(xl-2) in 16:9 mode.
I tried using the widescreen Compressor preset but when I import the my assets to DVD studio 2.0 the aspect ratio is squished to 4:3. Using the display tab I changed it to 16:9, looks fine. But when i try to simiulate, it doesn't work and there an off black 4:3 box in the middle of the 16:9 simulation box. burning does the same. both do not play.
My presets are marked for 16:9.
dvds of the project, burn fine using the best settings of fcp Conversion and DVD studio, but i'm having problems going through Compressor first.
Any ideas?
fcp 4.5, compressor 1.2.1, dvd studio 2.0

fcp 4.5, compressor 1.2.1, dvd studio 2.0
Are you really using DVD Studio Pro 2.0 There is a 2.0.5 update available. You also want to make certain that you have updated to the recommended Pro App Support package.
What aspect ratio do you have set in the simulator preferences (4:3 Letterbox, 4:3 Pan & Scan, or 16:9)?
Also, note the following from the DVD Studio Pro 2.0 help file (PDF):
"The most common error is to letterbox your 16:9 video assets before bringing them into DVD Studio Pro or QuickTime MPEG encoding systems. Once a 16:9 asset has been letterboxed, it becomes a 4:3 asset with black bars along the top and bottom of the video image. If you flag letterboxed source video as 16:9 video when encoding it, you will have problems when you play it back later."
That sounds somewhat like the problem you are having. Have you reviewed the "Preparing Assets" section in the DVD SP help file?<small><hr width="75%"><small>If this suggestion helps in any way, a confirmation or acknowledgment would be appreciated, since that would also help others who may be having the same difficulty. Do for others as you would have them help you.<center>Thanks for sharing, Waymen.</center></small>

FCP - Compressor - DVDSP Question

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to figure out what settings to use to get better results when creating a DVD coming from FCP.
Here's the information :
In FCP, I edited a small test video made with a 3D software. Saved uncompressed in 720 x 480 NTSC, 30 fps, anamorphic for 16:9. Looks great in FCP.
Using Compressor, I use DVD Best Quality 90 min, 16:9.
I import the resulting file in DVDSP and the quality is horrible. I know that the movie is compressed in MPEG2 and it looses quality but I'm sure I can get better results (well, I hope).
Any idea, tips, tricks to enhance the final result would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Phanault

Hey Phanault,
did you use compressor presets or did you create settings from scratch?
also, you said your video codec was "uncompressed". did you mean FCP uncompressed 4:2:2 8-bit or like an uncompressed Blackmagic, Kona file (yes, they are different).
i don't think it has to do with your PAR, but more with settings.
what you can try is to use the 4:3 preset in compressor and manually set the 16x9 flag in DVDSP, like that, you dont have to recreate your video in 4x3 (just a suggestion and technically, both methods work!).
Mikey M.

Tough, quirky, hard to figure sync problem with FCP / compressor / DVDSP

OK, where to begin?
I have a dvdsp project. Everything started in FCP. The video, because of poor results in compressor, has been compressed using bitvice. This results in an mpeg2 that is slightly longer than the original, because of the way bitvice handles 24p material (intersting aside, once the track is in dvdsp, its back to the original length)
So, in final cut pro, I took the audio tracks and put them at a speed of 99.9% to make them match. Then the audio went to compressor to make an ac3. The files that compressor output match up with the video, as far as length goes, just fine.
Here's where it gets a little wierd. Out of two tracks, one appears to be just fine on the very first pass through compressor... in sync, proper length etc...
In the other track, I got a delay, in the surround speaker tracks, that got longer as the track went on. I examined the fcp sequences that the individual sound files were exported from... same settings. I looked at the self contained quicktime files that were exported from FCP... all the exact same length. Yet, listening to the tracks separately, I could tell that indeed, a couple tracks drifted later (but still didnt add any length on to the end of the track). The only difference in the workflow for those tracks was that some were exported individually and some were batch exported. (dont ask me how/ why/ if that made the difference). There was also a wierd dropout of audio on some tracks, so I figured maybe just a fly in the ointment, try again.
So then I very methodically started over with the sound and repeated the process. I couldnt repeat the whole batch export making a difference thing. The resulting ac3 was in sync within itself, and matched up in length with the video, but the entire audio track drifted late, out of sync with the video.
My solution has been to encode the audio at 100% which is now in sync, but is actually shorter in length in dvdsp and now ends almost 2 seconds earlier on the timeline (but yet doesnt lose sync).
So, one track worked as expected and one threw me a bunch of curveballs resulting in a fix the doesnt make sense but kind of works. The material in both tracks as far as source, settings etc.. is identical.
Can anyone help me wrap my head around some of this so I can have confidence in a workflow moving forward?
thanks,
sorry for the lengthy post
powermac g4 933

Audio/video timing accuracy is never better than the tool you are measuring it with. Therefore, you can't always trust time measurements based on SMPTE time code with your life, especially when 2:3 pulldown is involved. If you end up with a MPEG-2 multiplex that stays in sync on a set-top DVD player, then you are safe, regardless of what FCP, DVD SP or any other software tool think of it.
Why is that? Because the timing accuracy in MPEG-2 is at least 3000 times as accurate as any SMPTE time code. It is true that MPEG-2 video may contain SMPTE time code information, but it is only optional and even when present it is never used for anything time critical, such as A/V sychronization. It just wouldn't work.
Assuming that I have correctly interpreted your post, that the length of the movie is about 33 minutes and that no further info is required to solve your puzzle, this is my 2 cents guess:
In your paragraph beginning with "My solution" I suspect that that the AC-3 file might have been slowed down by 0.01% even though it "ends almost 2 seconds earlier" according to the DVD SP timeline. Alternatively, the video time code might have been misinterpreted, DF versus NDF, suggesting it being longer or shorter than it really is. This cannot happen in a real DVD decoder, since it does not rely the SMPTE time code at all.
In the BitVice log you can read exactly how many frames there were in your 24p movie. Divide that by 23.976 to get a reliable duration, in seconds, for the encoded file. Note that if you get a reminder (meaning extra split seconds) it represents 1 to 23 extra frames. Roughly, every extra 41.7 ms means an extra frame.
You don't want to go by the 29.97 frame rate, because then (due to the 2:3 pulldown) odd frames will last for 33,37ms but even frames last for 50.05ms.;-)
As you have noticed yourself, different tools like DVD SP, FCP, QT player et.c, may report different lengths of a MPEG-2 video file. But, given the frame count, from the BitVice log, you can always calculate the exact duration, +/- 10 microseconds, because it is controlled by a 90 kHz clock derived from the 27MHz crystal in the DVD player. This clock makes
3003 ticks for every NTSC/29.97fps frame,
3600 ticks for every PAL/25fps frame or
3750 ticks during a 24fps frame.
In comparison, due to its error prone and ambiguous nature, the SMPTE time code system is not even reliable enough to be frame accurate, unfortunately.
Roger Andersson / Innobits AB, makers of BitVice MPEG-2 encoder for Mac.

FCP/Compressor/MVP-2000 problem...

Hi everyone!
I have a very strange question that is pretty specific to my workflow. I am hoping someone out there has run into the same sort of thing, maybe even using the same gear we do... So here we go.
We are using an MVP-2000 to run our channel. This is a good solution for us. http://www.leightronix.com/mvp2000/mvpmain.htm
We had been editing on our six year old Avid. From there, we would play the file, real time, out to another comptuer with a Canopus Amber Card that would encode it to MPEG-2 form. Using the MVP software, we then send the file to the MVP, and put it in our loop of programming.
With new our FCP machine, we want to encode the MPEG-2 file right from there. After a lot of testing with the MVP, we were able to get a file from FCP to the MVP that works (explaination in a bit). The MVP is very specific in it's settings, requiring the following:
Acceptable stream types:
1. MPEG-1 System Stream or MPEG-2 Program Stream
(consisting of a single elementary video stream with an optional single elementary audio stream)
No Transport stream
2. Elementary video stream
Five picture sizes are allowed. Other sizes are not supported.
1. 320 x 240 (Horizontal x Vertical)
2. 352 x 240
3. 352 x 480
4. 704 x 480
5. 720 x 480
Picture rate must be 29.97 pictures per second.
A maximum bit rate of 4.5 Mbit/s is allowed. Higher rates are not supported.
Variable bitrate is not supported.
NTSC with 4:3 aspect ratio required.
4:2:0 sampling format required. (Main profile at Main or Low level, ( 4.5 Mbit/s)
IBBP GOP structure recommended for best quality.
Encode header information in stream every few seconds to aid in error recovery.
Audio, if present, must be encoded into the MPEG file using Audio layer II.
Audio must be encoded at a 44.1KHz sampling frequency.
MPEG files must be no more than 2 Gigabytes in size.
MPEG filenames must have no more than eight characters (DOS 8.3 format) with [.mpg] as the extension.
Still MPEG file format: Must comply with above requirements. First picture will be displayed. Audio is not played.
So, using our Amber card setup, those are the settings we use, and it works great.
Using compressor from FCP, we select an MPEG-2, One Pass, 4.5 Mbits/sec, Best motion estimation, GOP 7, and all other settings are the same as the Amber card. So essentially, there is nothing different about what we are getting from our Amber card and what compressor is spitting out... EXCEPT that compressor is spitting out a video and audio file. So, researching this here on the boards, I found MPEG StreamClip to mux those two files. Easy enough.
So we now have two files that SHOULD be the EXACT same. Both files play on their respective computers just fine. The MVP will play these just fine, and the both look good. UNTIL... The very end.
The file from the FCP system will lock up at the very end, about a second before the end of the file. And it's only the video that freezes. The audio will finish.
I have tried every setting I can possibly think of. I don't know if the problem is stemming from Final Cut, Compressor, or MPEG Stream Clip. I've asked the MVP tech support, and they don't know because they "don't use Final Cut." Keep in mind these files work fine on the computer they were created on.
SO... This is basically a call for help! Is there anyone here who uses this same sort of workflow? Even if you don't use the MVP, do you have ANY ideas of why this might be happening?
Thanks, and if you're still with me, sorry the post is so long... I tried to make it clear!

I had problems with Final Cut, Motion, Compressor, Batch Monitor and Qmaster - they didn't start after installing Leopard.
I solved the problems with some technical notes from Apple. The one for Final Cut is http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302337.
There are other similar technical notes for the other programs.
After following the advices given in the notes, I could start all of the programs in the Final Cut Studio suite.
/S

FCP-compressor-NTSC/PAL workflow problems...

Hello there,
I'm writing this thread on behalf of a collegue of mine who is in a bit of a pickle... I've been on the phone to him all morning and i'm stumped...
He's just finished offline-editing a new feature film by Nicolas Roeg (walkabout, performance etc) and needs to churn out a DVD for viewing-update purposes, here is the tech info followed by the problem...
ok... so, in FCP he has the sequence and media at photoJPEG quality.
The editing timebase for the sequence is 24 fps.
The problem is that he wants to make a PAL DVD, but when he goes into Compressor, and applies the relevant settings, it always comes out as NTSC...?
I've been on the phone to him, and we've both had little test sequences open (only 10" long sequence) to talk through the work-flow, and as I'm not an advanced Compressor user, I can't find ANYTHING in preferences that sets the PAL/NTSC option.
I am under the impression that it is a FCP setting that actually maked the difference... ie, he is currently using photoJPEG, 24fps... which should (for a PAL DVD) be at 25fps, DV quality.
So how do we turn a photoJPEG 24fps sequence into a PAL 25fps file that can be squidged in Compressor to make a PAL DVD...
I hope I'm making sense... and HUGE thanks in advance for any help.
regards,
J

Perhaps do an intermediate first? The automatic settings in compressor are designed to choose which frame rate it thinks is best for you, so will make the wrong decision sometimes, in terms of your desired output. Try making a new mpeg2 setting, based on the preset for dvd, and change the frame rate to 25. It will then force it to pal 25. Or if it doesn't look great, change to a quicktime first with the same settings as your mate's sequence output, apart from the frame rate which you should force to 25. Then put this new movie back into compressor with the dvd setting.
Try it on a short clip first (a minute or so), then you won't waste time with something that isn't going to work.

Finder crush when I select the exported file with FCP/Compressor

I exported an mpeg2 file from FCP using compressor, but when I tryed to select the output file in finder window the application crushed.
Somebody can help me? thank you a lot, carlo

How large was the original file? 7 gigs is an enormous m2v file. Anyway, it sounds like there's some kind of corruption going on. First repair permissions on your startup drive using the drive utility (in applications:utilities). It might be worthwhile to get DiskWarrior and run that on the drive. How much free space is there on your startup drive? If your drive is almost full, this could also cause problems.

Fider crush when I select the exported file with FCP/Compressor

I exported an mpeg2 file from FCP using compressor, but when I tryed to select the output file in finder window the application crushed.
Somebody can help me? thank you a lot, carlo

What icon shows the m2v file? Compressor one? The problem must be in default application for that file and not in the file itself.

FCP/Compressor

I have a project which seemed to be compressing well albeit very slowly (12 hours for an 86 minute video after using the 'export using compressor' command). The batch window says completed successfully yet no sign of a file in my destination. (there is the blank paper icon with the correct file name).
Now when i open Compressor with a view to dragging the clip into the batch window or when i go to file<import, the FCP file is grayed out which leads me to think there might be a problem with the FCP file rather than compressor.
Anybody out there ever had this problem?

The fact that you're seeing inconsistent behavior gets me wondering if you've got some other problems going on. Remember system problems can manifest themselves in all sorts of weird (and intermittent) ways. Do you have plenty of space available on all drives. Experts (whoever they are) recommend leaving a minimum of 10% free on all drives. Are you running the latest versions of OS and quicktime? Have you repaired diskpermissions? Do you run something like macjanitor (or keep your computer on 24/7)? Do you have Diskwarrior (highly recommended) and run it on your drives?
You could be having some sort of quicktime problem. You might try uninstalling and reinstalling the latest version of quicktime (do a search here for proper procedure).
Try creating a new user in your account preferences.
Some people recommend a complete wipe of the system disk and a reinstall of OS and apps regularly. I've never done it, but it does make sense.
Do you want to send me a 5 second clip with your various compressor settings and I'll see if I get the same results? If so, email me offline (my email address is in my profile) and I'll give you my Idisk address so you could upload it.

Urgent help with FCP/compressor required. Format HDV1080i50.

Hi guys,
I need to send a 129 minutes HDV feature (with a few DVCPro and Targa frames added) project that i have just finished editing to:
1) SD DVD
2) HD DVD
3) Master Digital(Hard Disk)
4) Master Digital to Tape.
The project is as follows;
Captured footage: HDV 1080 i50
Some additional footage is in Targa and DVCPro file formats.
Frame Size: 1440 x1080 @ 25 fps
AIFF Audio 48Khz / 16 bit.
Have sent audio to STP for mixing and surround. The master file is a two track AIFF file.
The Sequence in FCP (was changed to, as initially was HDV1080i50) and Compressor codec are set to ProRes 422(HQ) and all else to 'BEST'.
I have, so far, exported the entire nested project from FCP as a self contained Quicktime movie and the file size is 24.5GB. It took ages to write, is heavy and the result gave me lots of interlacing errors showing all over. The DVCPro and Targa data(video) didn't show).
I haven't used the 'send to compressor' before (except for the web)and was hoping for some guidance from you all on which settings to use for the above four options.
Also, if I need to print to film(reverse telecine) later, since the video is interlaced, is it going to cause problems? Does Compressor de-interlace or do I 'select all' in FCP and hit de-interlace? Will doing any one of these help me to print to film without blowing it?
Thanks,
Himayath.

I have no clue where to startHow about the tutorials?
so if somebaody can gve me sample codes or can showSample code? Easy, take this:
public class SampleClass {
private static final String TEXT = "Hello World!";
public static void main (String[] args) {
System.out.println(TEXT);

FCP- compressor to blu-ray- I end up with a ton of extra chapters!

I have a 2 hour (1:55) 1080p29.97 pro-res timeline (and media) that I have exported to self contained movie with Chapter Markers selected. I imported to Compressor and the correct amount of chapter markers showed up. I then used the presets (although lowered bit-rate to 26 average and set for multi-pass) for blu-ray and used the end action to create a blu-ray. All looks great except I ended up with about 10 extra chapters about 2/3 the way in the movie, they are unnamed on the menu screen. Plus, I have one that has a time at about 3-hours (which is of course far outside of the movie length).
This all after a 48-hour encode in compressor. I checked my sequece in Final Cut and it only has the chapter markers I intended, and they all are named. Any ideas on where to look for what might be causing this? I wish I could just edit the .img file to remove the unwanted chapters, but am not finding a solution for that either.
I am using the latest Leopard (not Snow Leopard) and the latest version of FCS.
Message was edited by: mpetrucco to correct typos

OK. Up until C4.0, Qmaster was a stand-alone application and accessible through the Preference Pane in Systems Preferences. In C4.0, and until 4.0.7, it became an embedded app – found within the Compressor.app file. That's why you don't ordinarily encounter the Qmaster file…you have to go digging to find it. (And it's altogether different in 4.1)
Russ

FCP/Compressor keep exporting horizontal green lines near the top and bottom mattes. What do I do?

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to export a:
1920x1080
29.97
Interlaced
ProRes 422 HQ
to:
DVD Best Quality (90 minutes) in Compressor
Quality all the way high
Mpeg-2
in Final Cut Pro and/or Compressor (both so far export with the green lines) and so far it has been to no avail. They show up right on the edge near the mattes. Most forums talk about a vertical green line but I am having problems with horizontal lines near the top and bottom.
Any ideas? Thanks.

If you are sending your file via share to Compressor I would try this instead:
Export a QT reference(not self-contained or using QT conversion) file of your sequence to your desktop.
Then:
Turn on frame controls in the MPG-2 setting and set all to best. Changing all settings to best will increase your render time greatly. You may want to do a :30 or 1min test.
In my experience Compressor can be inconsistent with HD to SD DVD MPG-2 conversion. Sometimes it works wonderfully and others times it does not.
I have had success with having FC do the SD conversion first.
Create a new 16x9 SD sequence
Add HD seq to SD and render
Export SD and then compress for DVD.

FCP/Compressor training in UK?

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