More on Compressor 2

Hi again - further to my last post - I decided to create a new thread on the hope that someone can throw some light or at least agree with the trouble that I seem to be having. The last encode when transferred over to DL DVD as it was 5.9Gb in size looked acceptable until movement in video occurs and simple crossfade transitions happen - result : some sort of video digital blocking for that duration.
So I've tried another encode - this time to make better use of the space available on the DL disc so this time its a VBR 6.8Mbps and yes guess what ?
Its showing that 1hr 55 mins of video will take a staggering 21 hours !!
Yours with little knowledge but humbly searching mastery !
Colin - please reply a.s.a.p as I'm going bald soon with frustration !

Hi Clay, plenty of posts on this forum for this.
To maximise the use of of multiple cores wth compressor, simply you will need to:
• upgrade to FCS 2
• use system prefs/qmaster prefs/number of instances*. Suggest 2 cores per instance only. .. not 4 as you might think in your case). I use 4 instances for 8 cores.. plenty on this in the forums.
• using either a quickcluster or apple qmasteradmin.app go define a cluster for you g5 quad.
Submit the job using this clustername.
watch all you cores go 100%!.
hth
w

Similar Messages

What does compressor actually do?

Sorry if this is stupid but I have owned a mac for about a year and I am always wondering what compressor is. It seems related to video editing but I'm not sure.
Thanks,
Macguy3000

Hi,
here is a brief explanation.
Compressor is an extremely useful application for many editors and video/audio professionals and an irreplaceable tool when it comes to encode and compress an edited movie.
I use it every day.
Compressor can convert your final movie in MPEG 2 with ac3 dolby stereo compressed audio file for your final DVD (DVDstudio leaves the audio as AIFF, which will take a lot of space in the disc you want to burn and may not work properly with some DVD players).
With Compressor you can convert and encode in many other formats for the web, podcast, ipod, DVD etc. Just open all the directories in the settings window to find out more.
Compressor allows you to customize settings in its inspector window so that you can decide frame ratio, output fields, bit rate, audio output, levels and SO much more.
Compressor can even convert NTSC footage into PAL and vice-versa.
To tell you what Compressor can do would take me too long but if you click on help in the main menu of the program and open the manual you will see that it is less than 400 pages.
Try reading it. Once you get to know how it works it will become more and more useful to you.
The site below will also guide you through very well:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/fcp_homepageindex.html#dvd
Hope that helps.
G.

IDVD can't create disc image

I posted this in the iDVD forum and it was suggested that I also post it here, since its an FCP movie.
(I use Final Cut Studio 5) Here is my iDVD post:
(I have searched iDVD for solutions and have tried all i could find, as you'll read below, but still nothing worked for me, .....)
I made 3 movies in Final Cut, exported them as stand alone movies. (This is the way I have done it in the past)... one is 43 minutes 16:9, one is 43 minutes letterboxed, other is 9 minutes 4:3. They had chapter markers in them.
Created an iDVD project, widescreen format. Added the movies ( both by dragging and dropping and by 'add movie' command) and created a slideshow, with added audio.
I 'Save as disc image' so i can burn several copies. This I have done a lot of times, in the past.
Since Friday last, every attempt has given me an error: Multiplexor Error ...There was an error during muxing preparation (Project conversion) is the most common one. (I don't know how to access Terminal for more details)
I have tried:
• I first encoded at Professional setting .... error message
• changed the encoding to High (to fit all three movies) ... read here that the Multiplexor error was due to the app not calculating the size right ... same error
• removed the plist ... same
• moved files off my hard drive for more space ... same result
• removed the letterboxed movie to decrease size: same error
• chapters: idvd did not recognize the FCP chapters (never had this problem before) so added ones in iDVD ... same error
• removed idvd chapters... same result
• went back to FCP and removed the chapters and re-exported the movies .. same result
• change encoding to Best Performance (only 2 movies and slideshow now) ... same result
• changed the theme ... same
• removed the theme's audio... same result
• reinstalled idvd ... same
• brought the movies into iMovie, added chapters and exported (as QT movie to DV stream) ... same error, and the chapters disappeared again
• saved the dvdproject in the Documents folder on my hard drive (thought this would do the trick as it had been on an external) ... same error
I don't know what's left to try!!
I'm doing all the things that I used to do but am having no positive results . The only thing that I have changed since the last dvd I made (a year ago) is upgrade to Leopard and Snow Leopard.
Can anyone help me ... please? This is a commemorative project that is needed for an association's archive, so I can't not do it. I'm just at my wit's end and don't know what other measures to take. (other than use DVD Studio, and don't know how!)
Thank you
Elizabeth
Added FCP info:
movies were exported using QT conversion
Format: QT Movie, default settings
Options: size: NTSC 720x480 4:3 (for small movie)
Settings: Best; Keyframes Automatic; H.264, 29.97 fps; no internet streaming.
For 16:9 movie: same, but Size: Current (630x354)

.... so when you all were telling me to use Compressor and DVD Pro, I went to the local McNally-Robinson and checked out the resources there.
Found a Mac Genius book on FCP, which lightly touches on compressor, and an Apple Pro training book on DVD Pro 4, which also touches a bit on Compressor but gives specific instructions on settings to get me started (and which i have since experimented with).
So I naturally bought them and have been reading in steps and then going to work. (That's why i haven't replied to you: wanted to be able to give you a report.)
Since last week I have
• compressed 2 movies, and recompressed the main one several times to fine tune the quality
• made a dvd pro project (and 'saved as' in various versions and configurations) that has:
• a 16:9 video with chapters, added in dvd pro
• a 4:3 video with chapters( Dvd pro) converted to individual stories
• a slideshow
• a folder added to the dvd-rom with the photos used in the slideshow
• an intro menu with my own livetype generated background movie (also used in the video)
• the dvd template used changed to 16:9 instead of 4:3 aspect
• 3 chapter menus for the 16:9 movie
• a story menu for the 4:3
• background music, different for different menus
• remote control connections, for the tracks and the menu (that all work) (except for one problem that I have posted in the DVD forum)
• built and formatted a few of the configurations to make disc images that then played in dvd player (but haven't burnt to disc yet as i am waiting to solve the final 'menu' button problem)
Haven't done scripts or layered menus, or subtitles yet, and none of my work uses alternate angles, but i think I've got a fairly good handle on this now. And I think I'll use DVD Pro and Compressor from now on .... they're great and DVD pro is much more able to be individualized.
I still need to experiment more with Compressor, tho', and to learn more about the compression codecs.
(I don't like the quality of the Livetype segments in the 'send to QT' option form FCP, they're blurry. And the 'using Compressor' videos have nice crisp text, but there are residual lines in the edges of things wherever there is movement. I always set the Motion Estimation as 'best', and 2 pass VBR Best, and in the last one I tried, i set the Average bit rate at 7.6, max 8.9 and the GOP to IBP, size 7.
Doesn't seem any different from the others, just a teeny bit larger in size. But i'm happy with it for now, no more time to tinker with this part on this project.)
So thank you all for your help, and i will now start posting any problems with this (or any other) project to the other forums. (but I'll check back here again in case you have another bit of advice for me
Elizabeth

Highest res export for qt

I'm on pal 16.9 and I need to export the highest res quicktime for the internet. I'm told that it will be converted to a flash slv file.

Jim is right as far as I am concerned. Export to Quicktime Movie will yield the best results, but you will have a pretty hefty file size for internet use, which is what you said you were going to be doing.
So what you could do is export your sequence to Quicktime Movie and then run it through compressor for your specific internet needs.
To give you more guided compressor settings can you tell us what you are using it for on the internet? Are we talking YouTube quality or something else? Streaming or Download? Just give us some more info please.

Converting avi files

Hi, I have been given the task of creating a film in imovie using clips of avi files shot on a creative vado (non HD).
I have quicktime pro version 7.6.4 (518.35). When I attempt to open the avi files to convert to work in imovie I get a message saying my version of quicktime does not contain the necessary components. Please can someone help and also let me know what is the best export/conversion settings??
Regards
Steve

Statement does mean files from QT to DV have audio but but following same route in streamclip the audio disappears. Streamclip app downloaded fresh from their site and tried current and new beta version with same poor results... Checked movie properties on AVI file and contains video xvid 1.0 and audio microsoft ADPCM file. When converted to DV in QT video changes to DV - PAL and audio to DV. When using stream clip video changes to DV - PAL and audio to DV but sound doesn't work??????
Very strange. Would normally have expected the reverse -- i.e., problems with some QT based applications but no problems in MPEG Streamclip as adaptive PCM is usually a "conversion" compatible but not always an "edit" compatible format for Apple applications. Would still like to run my own tests to see if I can duplicate your problem on my system(s) as the question of the source of the problem remains open at this time.
I'm using ilife 09 with imovie updated regularly. The reason I said it wasn't relevant was because the streamclip had no sound in QT so no need to try imovie.
Your reasoning is fine as far as it goes but using iMovie '09 opens the door for native editing in DV and AIC for higher video quality (as already mentioned), as well as, H.264 with unrestricted data rates, Motion JPEG and Photo JPEG for medium quality video compression to medium size files, and/or MPEG-4 and H.264 with restricted data rates for lower quality but much smaller editing files. It also restricts you from using the Animation codec which is otherwise one of my favorite intermediate compression formats (which, if Apple hasn't fixed the problem, imports to iMovie '08/'09 but only exports as a blank black screen). Basically this means you have more conversion options for editing natively in iMovie having different video data rates which, in turn, means you can balance the editing file size against preserved quality as may be needed for different iMovie projects.
Can i please ask the following. The file sizes vary hugely but the quality appears the same after conversions. The AVI file is 17mb, the DV conversion in QT is 242mb and the MOV file created in imovie for the project is 49mb???? I oask because of disk space?
File size is directly proportional to the total data rate (i.e., amount of data per unit of time). All this means is that the more data you have per second in a file, the larger that file will be for a given duration. DV typically has a total data rate of about 28.5, 57.0, or about 112-114 mbps depending on the specific video and audio codecs in use. (The codecs are sometimes referred to as DV25, DV50, or DV100.) DV 25 is usually seen as DV video with DV audio (i.e., DV/DV) files which, depending on which Apple application/utility is measuring the file size, may appear to be twice its actual size. (I.e., some applications count the audio and video DV separately and add them together when it shouldn't.) In any case, DV video is not highly compressed and so the files are relatively large. Since the art of compression is actually the art of "throwing out data," DV files tend to retain more of the visual data from the source file than when converting to other, highly compressed video formats. Unfortunately, these files have very strict standards regarding the encoding matrix the playback dimensions and some applications can, in certain instances, actually lose the anamorphic flag required for proper playback/handling which can cause serious problems for some users. This is one of the reasons I tend to prefer the AIC codec which was specifically developed as an intermediate codec for both anamorphic SD, as well as, HD content. (I.e., it is a more versatile codec in today's world of multi-dimensioned multimedia files.) The other, is that AIC has a typical video data rate about 20-25% smaller than DV video with about the same level of quality.
In any event, to get back to your original question, the DIVX 5 codec is a more efficient compressor having a much lower video data rate than DV video. (Simple compare the video data rates of each to see what I mean here.) When you convert the DivX encoded data to DV you are trading data rates/file size for the retention of as much of the original visual quality as you can. If your current project (e.g., a project targeted as a 320x240 posting to the internet) does not require the retention of maximum quality, then you have the option of trying a more efficient codec with a lower data rate which would, of course, produce a smaller file for editing in iMovie. For instance, I would normally expect an MJPEG/AIFF file combination to be about 40-50% the size of your DV editing file. You may wish to try an MJPEG/AIFF or MJPEG/AAC editing project to see if you can detect much loss in visual quality and then decide which format is best for your particular work flow.
Hope this helps to understand what is going on here.

Burning project with Toast, not built in burn utility

okay so here's the sitch. got the project finished. but iDVD won't burn it or let me save an image cause it's like .2GB over the disc space for an SL disc and I don't have a DL burner. It just says 'remove content' but theres' nothing I can remove. The only stuff in there is stuff that has to be in there, not a footage second more or a menu more. I even took out the little movie that was going to autoplay at the front and all the menu audio hoping that would do it, but no.
in Toast, this wouldn't be a problem cause it can, and very nicely does, recompress the image just enough to fit it on the avail disc. But I need a way to shoot the project to Toast.

Hmmm, you're in a tough spot. Your iMovie production can be picked up in Toast and a DVD created, but your iDVD menus and themes belong to iDVD and won't make the jump. Here's the options I see:
1) split the project in two and get higher resolution (lower compression) from spreading the material over 2 DVDs.
2) be a tougher editor and remove DVDROM content, footage in your productions, etc.
3) give up your iDVD menus and burn it in Toast (right click your iMovie video icon; Show Package Contents to find the Quicktime version of your video; drag it into Toast).
4) find someone with DVD Studio Pro and import the iDVD project, using that more powerful compressor to shrink down your project, but retain your menus.
5) figure out your double-layer burner options.
John

In layman's terms, how is Logic 8 different?

More specifically- What (besides the Environment window) complicated unnecessary techie stuff has been eliminated, and what useful stuff has been added? Also, is it easier to just get started with a project? In GB, you can go right away, but with Logic 7 you really had to know what you were doing just to begin sketching...

If you're not into building templates on your own L8 comes with a load full of useful and useless templates to start with. The new dynamic section is much more advanced (compressor, Multipressor) and the new Delay designer rocks da House! Creating Multi out-Instruments is much easier now and you can record directly into Logic through Busses which is a very helpful new feature. There are many threads in this Forum about the new features and the new Bugs so just read your way through some of these to get a bigger picture.

A.Pack doesn't launch

When I upgraded Final Cut Pro 4 to 5 with a Bundle, DVD Studio Pro 4 was included. For some reason it didn't install right the first time... DVDSP launched but there were no templates in the Inspector.
I reinstalled DVDSP again and everything showed up in the Inspector. Nice.
After editing in FCP I wanted to export to an M2V file. I used Compressor.
I wanted to make the aiff audio files into AC3 files and went to launch A.Pack. I get the error message that DVDSP isn't serialized and the app won't launch.
When I check "About DVD Studio Pro 4" it shows my name and serial number. The FCP Bundle only had one serial number for the whole shebang. The number is right.
Under Library>Application Support>ProApps there is nothing listed for DVDSP. How do I tell A.Pack that DVDSP is serialized so it will launch?
Thanks, Jim

Since I posted, I went back and poked around some more in Compressor. At first it didn't feel as elegant and simple, but I found everything. I like being able to export an AC3 with the m2v file. Nice.
Thanks.

H.264 Export pane questions ...

Anyone know what the "frame reordering" check box does? also what does the key frame every option do? Any explanation would help. Thanks!

From Apple's web page, "Creating Amazing Video Content with H.264."
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/h264.html
c. Key Frames: Many compressors use “frame differencing” to compress moving images. Frame differencing is the process of determining what information has changed from a starting frame (called a “key frame”) to subsequent frames. The key frame contains all of the information for an image. Subsequent frames contain only the information that has changed. Depending on the compressor you use, you can specify how often you want key frames to occur. If you don’t have enough key frames, the quality of your movie might be lower because most frames are generated from others. On the other hand, more key frames result in a larger movie with a higher data rate. With some compressors, an additional key frame is inserted automatically if too much of the image has changed from one frame to the next. A good rule of thumb for general use is to have one key frame every 5 seconds (multiply the frames per second by 5). If you are creating a file for RTSP streaming and have concerns about the reliability of the delivery network (as with the public Internet), you may want to increase key frame frequency to one key frame every 1 or 2 seconds. To leave the key frame interval up to the compressor, select Automatic. For H.264, we recommend leaving the key frame interval up to the compressor; so you should choose “Automatic” for the best quality result.
d. Frame Reordering: Some more advanced compressors use “frame reordering” to more efficiently represent movie data. Frame reordering is the concept of allowing frames to be decompressed in a different order than their display order. For almost all cases, leave this box checked for H.264 encoding. The only time you would uncheck this box is if you are creating an H.264 movie that needs to be played back by an application that does not understand frame reordering, i.e., an application that does not yet use the new Frame Reordering APIs of QuickTime 7 or if someone asks you to create your content with “B-frames turned off.” If your audience will play back your movie with QuickTime 7 Player, you should leave the box checked.

No MPEG-2 Option In QuickTime Conversion

I'm having trouble with my new Mac Pro and this is one of the problems. I have rendered my first project with this computer and when I go in to make an MPEG-2 of the project there is no option for MPEG-2. I have done this about 200 times with no problems. Now that I have everything switched over to the Mac Pro there is nothing. I have exported with Compressor and it created an MPEG-2 but I can't get DVDSP4 to burn to a DVD. Any help would be awesome! Thanks!

Do you have the MPEG 2 component installed?
BTW. [Have you read this|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2853?viewlocale=en_US]
I like the freedom that the QuickTime Conversion gives me in setting my size of file.
There is nothing that QT conversion does that Compressor cannot. Compressor actually offers a lot more.
Compressor is a great application that simply presents itself with a different interface and yet powerful features (Many concentrated in the inspector window).
Just to give you an example Compressor tells you the estimated file size, FCP QT conversion does not. However, the point I am trying to make is to get familiar with Compressor, I cannot recommend it enough.

Exporting from iMovie to ???

I've researched the posts but I'm still confused. I have six finished iMovie/iDVD projects that are taking up 54 GB of space.
I have not used these finished projects in some time, but I may need to burn copies of them in the future, and I see no reason to keep them on my hard disk now.
What is the best method to use as a back-up so that they won't be taking up so much hard drive space yet retain their quality in case I need to use them again?
1) Exporting the files back to my camcorder?
2) Making a DVD copy with Toast or iDVD? If so, would I be able to edit clips and/or burn copies of the original later?
3) Export to QuickTime then back to iMovie? I experimented with this and didn't really understand the process. I shared a small clip (1'30") to QT using the Full Quality setting and there was no size reduction in the file. What did I do wrong?
Any recommendations would certainly be appreciated since, as you can tell, I don't know what I'm doing.
I thank you in advance for your help.
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.7) 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

only method to keep the quality PLUS keep the iMovie as an editable project intact, is ... storing the project to another harddrive ...
1) ... keeps the quality; but 'consolidates' the project into a single stream... e.g., you can not edit a titles, changing words... best method for long time storage of 'final' projects...
2) iDVD creates a videoDVD, means, it converts the dv of your project into mp2, which is a playback codec, which means, isn't meant for processing.. you'll realize a drop of quality, while attempting to convert mp2 into editable file format...
3) FullQuality doesn't encodes/converts/compresses into another codec.. it is a bit-by-bit copy of your project...
usage of other, more efficient compressors, e.g. h264, makes it neccessairy to convert the file back to dv to make it editable >> loss of pic quality...
summary: invest 100$ into a firewire connected harddrive; BEFORE usage, format to MacOsExtended (=hfs) ...

DVD Settings & Black Levels

Hi,
I just switched from using Compressor 2, too Sorenson Squeeze 4.3. I've encoded some shows with it and haven't been that impressed.
First: The Blacks in the video are really dark. Everything I import into Final Cut comes in at 0 ire. When I used Compressor, it added setup to 7.5 ire.
Does Squeeze add setup? I could not find anything in the settings or manual about this.
Second: As I mentioned above, I haven't been impressed with the quality. Here are the settings I use for Squeeze. Any comments?
Format Constraints: DVD (MPEG2)
Stream Type: Program
Codec: MPEG-2 Video
Method: 2-Pass VBR
Data Rate: 5000
Format: NTSC
Frame Size: 720 x 480
Frame Rate: 29.97
Aspect: 4:3
Field Encoding: Bottom First
All projects come from Final Cut Pro 5, I export using Quicktime Movie, than drag the file into Squeeze and encode.
Thanks,
Mike A.

Some encoders (I use bitVice more than Compressor) do have certain "corrector" selections that can be made which would affect how the final m2v looks.
For instance, using bitVice as an example, it has a DV Luma corrector and a DV Chroma Corrector to adjust based on the codecs/gamma (make it light/dark), but as they say let your eyes be the final judge (bitVice is the help section ) and usually I find the best results is to color correct and then encode without any further changes in the encoder.
What may be happening is that Compressor may be doing some changes automatically based on the movie it is encoding (or you may have checked a selection?) Squeeze may in fact in be producing a more accurate encode to the material. (In fact it sounds like it may be closer to what is actually there if it is darker if you had not done any corrections to the footage)
That said the workarounds
1.) The best - monitor the video in FCP on a broadcast calibrated monitor via a card to see what is going on (and use the scopes also to see your black and white levels)
2.) Become accustomed to the shift between a FCP color corrected clip (assuming what it looks like after the encode) and the encoder you are using. BUT be very careful. What looks "good" on the computer screen will look poor in real life (DVD on TV) Use your scopes more than your eyes if you use a computer monitor, and realize the a properly adjusted video for TV will probably look "off" on a computer monitor. Also perhaps download bitVice demo and see if you like the results vis a vis Compressor and Squeeze, it may be worthwhile to look at)

Telestream Pipeline

Hi All,
Have 2 Questions regarding Using FCSvr with Telestream Pipeline Encoders.
1. If I use the Quicktime (Open) Wrapper while ingesting, and stop the record before the default end time in pipeline control, then FCSvr hangs while transcoding the file, once it reaches the point in the file where the recording stops.
2. If trying to playback into a pipeline device, compressor produces a stereo audio track (for QT DV25 NTSC, 2x48k 16 bit audio), but pipeline complains that it need 2 or more mono audio tracks...
anyone else see this?

1 - I've never been able to convince FCSvr, or more specifically, Compressor to accept an "open" QuickTime file. Instead I have Pipeline create "closed" QuickTime files and the problem goes away.
2 - Sorry I have no experience using the Pipeline for playback.

FTP option gone from destination

I have just purchased a new iMac 27" and have installed my favorite FCP and Compressor. I have been using these products for about five years and can't live without them. However, the new version of compressor does not have an FTP (or remote) option under the destination dropdown. Clicking the plus button will launch the FIND window.
Is this a bug?
please help restore remote destination to my new compressor.

Yeah u might want to use a more flexible compressor to do this
That is to to consider to "add job action" to your batch and to simply invoke an Automator workflow than u can do what u like
You can access in the tab of the inspector in the compressor job.
We always use ssh/scp/scp NOT FTP to do any movement of objects and have one or 2 of these to move to and from the transcode cluster.
Having said that , your Automator workflow can simply call an AppleScript who in teen at manipulate a scriptable application to meet your specific needs or directly invoke a SHELL. Unix command or other such as a python script or cli command or even use a set of Automator folder actions to take care of the stuff u need
It's not complex and is very flexible for any bespoke or customised workflow
Plenty of info around
Compressor very flexible.
Post your results for others to see
Hth
Warwick

Continued encodes after restart, maybe?

since it often takes a straight day or more for compressor to work through a sizable encode, does anyone know if its possible to pause a batch job and then resume after a full restart of the computer? i.e. in the event of an electrical brown-out or just needing to restart for an unrelated reason. it seems like this would be an obvious thing but no one seems to have mentioned it.
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I think if you pause you will lose everything that was done prior to that point in the job (it returns to the very beginning of the job when you restart). Or, at least that is how it has worked for me (probably not what one would want, but perhaps you will see different results, try it yourself).

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