Motion- Exporting with Compressor

I'm new to Final Cut Studio, and I tried to export a movie the other day, I did it with Compressor, and in the final version, I saw that in random places, it dropped a lot of my effects. Is there a reason that this happened? It was fine when i viewed it it Compressor.

The answer is Compressor and Motion are both buggy software applications and have been since day one so instead of using the features the applications supposedly feature, we have learned to not use certain features for fear of the ceiling falling in on us in the middle of a project.
For example, some people will tell you not to do audio in Motion, even though it has some great audio features, because of bugs with audio. They'll tell you to use Final Cut Pro for your audio (and ignore those nifty audio behaviors in Motion).
If you are rendering Motion projects in Compressor, realize that it's still using the GPU and video memory on your video card. So if it's rendering and you are in Motion doing other project work, or in another application that uses the GPU, this issue you are having might be because you are spiking the GPU's capability or RAM at that spot so it drops the frames in Compressor. Just a guess. We don't know. Good luck.

Similar Messages

Footage pixelated when exported with compressor

I've film HD video and edited with FCP, the aspec ratio on the sequence is 720x480 anamorphic, and it looks great, when I export it with QuicK Time it looks great but DVD Studio Prp doesn't support the settings. when I export it with Compressor, DVD Studio Pro imports it fine, but it is very, very pixelated.
What would be the best option to use when exporting with Compressor.
What I want is that the WideScreen image shrinks when viewing it on a Standard TV, I've done it with iDVD but when watching it on a standard tv is cuts the two sides of the image.
Thank you for your help.

If editing HD material you would be best off editing in the HD timeline, size and Codec (not sure if you did that and then down rezzed?) SD DVDs used compressed video, so anything that compresses things more prior to the compression to an SD m2v (video used on DVDs) can lead to more of a quality hit.
Anyway what you would do is export the movie as self-contained movie, reference movie or directly to Compressor to a 16:9 m2v preset (including one you made yourself) and use that in DVD SP
Take a look [at this thread|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11040698&#11040698] and [this thread|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11287710#11287710]
I outline the procedures a bit more and also include links to some movies and other information

Trouble exporting with compressor

Been working on a project with multiple exports with compressor -- working just fine. Without changing any settings, FCP 5.1.4 now says "this file contains no media" when I try to export new sequence. Running with two internal hard drives, one dedicated to video files only. Will export with quicktime okay and playback is fine. Thoughts, ideas?

Hi:
It's an old "bug?" in FCP and is related with folders opened/focused in FCP browser.
Check this old thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1106846&#1106846
Hope that helps !
Alberto

3x failures on Motion exports to Compressor

Does anyone else have issues with Motion projects failing to export through compressor??? I find that 2/3 of my projects just wont ever export through compressor. I can always do it through a direct export from Motion.
I typically have my project set up in DVCPROHD720p24 and will export as the same or as Animation codec for alpha channel.
The projects are typically 30-60 seconds long and have no major sizing issues. It just seems that this is always an issue I hit and my work-around is always to have to direct export. It works fine, but MAN it totally messes up my workflow.
Message was edited by: Adam - Trigger Studios

FYI : New info shows that this only happens when exporting my motion sequence through compressor using DVCPROHD.
There seems to be an issue with this preset. An odd quirk is that I lowered the gamma to .9 and it seems fine. Anyone???

Ingested videos not playing in stereo with Quicktime or after exporting with compressor

Why does it seem like every time I try to do something just mildly complex I'm stymied by some bug or problem with the software?
Here's the deal:
0) I have footage was shot with a stereo camcorder, a JVC GR-DV3000 (circa 2003), with built-in stereo mics.
1) I ingest the footage from the Mini DV tape and save it to a camera archive using Final Cut Pro X (latest version).
2) I use Final Cut Pro to pull the events out of archive.
3) When the events are played from within Final Cut Pro X, I hear strereo and audio meters indicate the audio is in stereo (left and right channels have different volume levels).
4) When the events are played with the open source software, VLC, I hear stereo, too.
5) When I export the files for playing on an Apple device using Final Cut Pro, the audio is in stereo as you would expect.
BUT:
5) When I play the event clips with QuickTime from my hard drive after step 2 above, I get no audio from the right channel. Weird, right?
But most annoying of all:
6) When I use Compressor 4 (instead of Final Cut) to output the event clips to "SD for Apple Devices" using the default audio settings, I get no audio from the right channel, either.
7) I've got hundreds, if not thousands, of clips. I'm not about to save each clip manually with FCPX. I need to batch convert these files with Compressor.
8) I've tried various combinations of the audio import settings ("Analyze and fix audio problems," "Separate mono and group stereo audio," and "Remove silent channels." These options have not solved the issue for me. The clips still play in mono in QuickTime.
When I look at the properties of the file in QuickTime, here's what it shows:
DV/DVCPRO - NTSC, 720 x 480 (640 x 480)
Linear PCM, 16 bit little-endian signed integer, 32000 Hz, Left
Linear PCM, 16 bit little-endian signed integer, 32000 Hz, Unused
Linear PCM, 16 bit little-endian signed integer, 32000 Hz, Unused
Linear PCM, 16 bit little-endian signed integer, 32000 Hz, Unused
Why it's telling me the other 3 channels are unused, I have no idea. As I mentioned, the footage was shot in stereo and even Final Cut plays it in stereo.
Here's what VLC says about the very same file:
Stream 0:
Type: Audio
Codec:PCM S16 LE (sowt)
Channels: Mono
Sample Rate: 32000 Hz
Bits per sample: 16
Stream 1:
Type: Audio
Codec:PCM S16 LE (sowt)
Channels: 1
Sample Rate: 32000 Hz
Bitrate: 512 kb/s
Stream 2:
Type: Audio
Codec:PCM S16 LE (sowt)
Channels: 1
Sample Rate: 32000 Hz
Bitrate: 512 kb/s
Stream 3:
Type: Audio
Codec:PCM S16 LE (sowt)
Channels: 1
Sample Rate: 32000 Hz
Bitrate: 512 kb/s
Stream 4:
Type: Video
Codec: (DV Video (dvc)
Resolution: 720 x 480
Frame Rate: 29.970030
Decoded Format: Planar 4:1:1 YUV
If anyone can point in the right direction, I'd much appreciate it.

I ended up just using iMovie to capture video from the camera. The clips now play in stereo in QuickTime perfectly.
It's interesting to note that iMovie saves the clips as .dv file types, not .mov file types like FCPX does.
And it turns out the iMovie capture is *much* smoother. It actually "just works." Ingesting tapes with FCPX, I had to cross my fingers, spin on my head and pray three times to a statue of Steve Jobs before it would work (and even then it would do weird stuff).
The only downside of using iMovie is that it doesn't have the camera archive feature.
I really don't understand why, with $120 billion in the bank, Apple seems to be churning out software as an afterthought. No, software is not where they make their money, but they are ruining their reputation. Ah, well, first world problems.

Export with Compressor or QT?

I finally make the move to Studio Pro5 and FCP5, love the FCP and now have a confusing problem with a movie that I want to export with Chapters to DVDSP5.
Choices:
1. Export to QT, save as (not conversion), self contained from FCP with chapters,
only to import it into DVDSP5 for chapters and so I can then compress the
movie?
2. Export Compressor conversion for DVDSP5 but, I dont see my chapters from
FCP timeline.
(This would be ok if my chapters from FCP5 showed up)
What happened to the direct QT to mpeg2 with chapters, Quick and direct.
I guess im trying to find out from someone the workflow from exporting a movie from FCP5 with chapters into DVDSP5.
It seems the manuals are not 100% accurate or clear on this process.
I finally make the move to Studio Pro5 and FCP5, love the FCP and now have a confusing problem with a movie that I want to export with Chapters to DVDSP5.
Choices:
1. Export to QT (save as, not conversion), self contained from FCP with
chapters, only to import it into DVDSP5 for chapters and so I can then
compress the movie?
2. Export Compressor conversion for DVDSP5 but, I dont see my chapters
from FCP timeline.
(This would be ok if my chapters from FCP5 showed up)
What happened to the direct QT to mpeg2 with chapters, Quick and direct.
Why did Apple remove this option?
I guess im trying to find out from someone the most direct workflow from exporting a movie from FCP5 with chapters into DVDSP5.
It seems the manuals are not 100% accurate or clear on this process.
Please outline workflow.

Quick workflow from FCP -> DVDSP:
In FCP, File > Export > QuickTime Movie
Select DVD Studio Pro Markers in the Markers drop-down (leave other settings as is)
Save QT Movie to your preferred location
In DVDSP, import your newly-created QT Movie
(You may want to confirm your encoding settings - both in terms of bit rate and whether you're encoding on build or have background coding enabled - prior to this step though)
Best Quality workflow:
In FCP, trash the render files for your sequence
From the Menu, File > Export > Using Compressor
Now, in Compressor, select the appropriate preset(s). Let's say, DVD: Best Quality 90 Minutes - 4:3
Optional: Delete the AIFF setting completely
Select the appropriate destination(s)
Optional: For the Dolby preset, alter Dialog Normalization (under the Audio tab of the Inspector) to -31. In the Preprocessing tab, alter the Compression Preset to None
Click Submit
Once the encode is done, import the .m2v and .ac3 (and/or .aiff) files into DVDSP
It's only fair to tell you that since this produces (pretty much) the best possible quality from Compressor, it may take as much as 5x-10x as long as the 'quick workflow' detailed earlier. (Especially if you've set DVDSP to do a one-pass encode)
As to why Apple removed the MPEG-2 Encoder from QuickTime, if you're truly curious, the official explanation is detailed in this Knowledge Base document: MPEG-2 export options in Final Cut Pro: Compressor and QuickTime.

Rendering Motion project with compressor?

Hello,
I've got a MacPro with MacOS X 10.5.5 and the lastest FCS2 update (so Compressor 3.0.5).
I want to use virtual cluster to speed up the rendering of Motion project because by default, only a few part of the power is used.
I've created a virtual cluster who works when i want to compress a QT file but no way to use it with Motion. The project appears in Batch Render but disappears after a few secondes...
As somebody a solution?
Thank you

Hello Patrick...I have posted a sample video of the "layer strobing" effect I was originally referring to:
http://gallery.mac.com/reelmagik1
I also just heard back from the apple store, and they claim they can't find anything wrong with the Mac Pro. I have exported this project from my macbook pro with no strobing at all. The project was even opened and exported by mounting the drive from the Mac Pro on my Macbook Pro, so there was no chance of anything being changed if I had copied the project. I argued with the repair guy from Apple for quite a while, but he could not give me a definitive answer as to what might be wrong, only that their hardware tests showed nothing wrong with the Mac Pro. He went on to suggest that it may be a software problem, maybe something went wrong with the way I installed the OS or Motion...however, he also said that they tested the project on other machines in their shop, and it also rendered incorrectly on those machines. Wouldn't that mean that their machines had bad software as well? He contradicted himself many times and I was losing my patience with him. I am not saying that their tests were wrong, but I'm sure it is possible they could have missed something. What else can I do? Is there anyone else I can contact from Apple? This computer is my main source of income and I need it to function correctly.
I have posted quite a few problems with Motion 3 on this website in the past...quite a few of which you personally responded that you had never experienced those types of problems or errors that I was having. This also leads me to believe that my problems were hardware related, specific to only my Mac Pro perhaps...
I would appreciate any suggestions that you or anyone else may have. I don't know where else to turn. I have also posted the project and media on my iDisk:
http://idisk.mac.com/viptvllc-Public?view=web
Thank you.

Motion export to compressor - Layer moves

Hey guys,
Anyone seen a layer actually shift later in the timeline only when using Compressor? If I export animation, it's fine. If I export to iPod, the layer actually renders about 1 second late. All other video and audio is not affected.
Thx

I don't render to compressor - I output a quicktime, then send that to compressor. Usually because I'm gonna do more than just compress it, but I guess it also gets around any weirdness like you're experiencing...
Patrick

Batch encode with compressor

I have many projects going in motion 2 and I exported them in a batch into compressor, I submited the batch and left it there for about 2.5 hours and there was no progress. Does the compressor take outragouly long to do batches or am I doing something wrong? I am exporting a SD session that has many moving video tracks. I am exporting it to 8 BIT uncompressed Quicktime.

i've had the same thing happen occasionally.
are you using the "export with compressor" option or are dragging your motion project files directly into compressor? i've experienced different performance using one method or the other.
nonetheless, i always export using compressor. it's frustrating however, as adding motion files to compressor always takes a few moments. for example, if i drag a handful of motion files into compressor (let's say 10 files for the sake of argument), the app displays the beachball for up to a minute or so before the files appear in the batch list. then, each time i select an individual file in that batch window, the app stalls again for 20-30 seconds.
i always save the batch once i've gotten the settings correct, exactly for the issue you describe. not often, but occasionally, i'll submit the batch and the batch monitor will display no progress. in which case i usually restart. i figure that qmasterd and compressord have screwed up and restart to get them back up. after restart, i open the saved compressor batch and submit again.
usually, the batch monitor pauses for a few moments, then displays normal progress. i've had fewer issues when using the "export with compressor" option in Motion, but then have to open and export each file individually, which is not a very efficient workflow.
overall, i'm quite frustrated with Motion+Compressor. I'm really trying to give it a fair shake, and will continue to streamline workflow. however, coming from AE, i simply can't stand Motion's non-existent batch capabilities (unless there's a glaring function that i'm missing).
for example, in AE, if i'm making chyrons i can keep everything in the same project, and pre-comp my backgrounds. if the client requests a background change, just change the backgound comp and eveything updates. if there are other changes, everything is right there and can be updated relatively easily. send all the chyron comps to the render queue and let it go, no problems.
with Motion, i already have many project files, one per chyron. so, at the very least, i'm going to have to open each project individually to make the changes. then export each individually. not efficient. (then take in to account my Multiple Open Document Woes, and it's a mess)
i'm aware of a third-party solution for automating this process, but it would really be nice for Motion to do this itself, rather than have an external app perform some XML hackery.
so, anyway, i use Compressor for exporting Motion rojects almost exclusively, but it's not without headaches. this is barely acceptable in a production environment.
-bt

Why exporing with compressor doesn't work

Hi friends and ..... merry xmas
a little and silly question but important for me now....
I've a little movie about 15' and try to export with compressor, but when I submit I get an error:
Status: Failed - 3x error: NewMovieFromFile failed -50
Everything is at the right place, but I can't export with compressor why???
Thanks 4 your support

15 minutes is a REALLY long file in Motion. You should try breaking it up into more manageable segments, maybe 5 min apiece.
Also, it's been noted that Exporting via Compressor is buggy from Motion. Try exporting a QT and then taking that into Compressor.
Andy

Exporting using Compressor

This seems to be the same problem others have had. I was able to export with Compressor yesterday, but September 12th seems to be error date with Compressor. When I export, from FCP Studio 5 to Compressor I get a " File error: A File of this name already exists". It will then open Compressor, start the export, then fail. I've trashed the FCP, Compressor and Quicken prefs. Any solitions? Me, like so many others, are baffled that this would happen.
Dual 2ghz PowerPC G5, 3.5 gb ddr sdram, FCP Studio 5

I've been plagued by this since day one, and tonight I found a solution! If you are using an antivirus software, disable it. Save your FCP file and quit FCP and Compressor. Re-open your FCP file and go to File>Export Using Compressor again and all will be well. There is a post on Apple's Support site about this. Here's the link:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303261
Hope this helps.

Final cut pro warning dialogue on sharing with compressor settings keeps disappearin

Every time I try to 'export with compressor settings' a warning dialogue that keeps appearing for a fraction of a second and then disappears. Seems to be part of the sharing montitor - but can't see it long enough to see what it is. Didn't happen when I was running the trial version but now that I'm using the full version I can't seem to export anything - I assume because of this dialogue.
Anyone else having this problem? Any ideas on how to cure it?

Actually I think its in the pref's files. All I did was create a second account to log into my computer and relaunched Finalcut there. Because the working and project files are on an external drive it works fine.
A little unhandy as I can't get into my mail while in my dummy account - but it works. So I'm wondering which prefs files to delete to find out if that's the problem.

Motion 5 not exporting Play Range with Compressor

I've been trying to export portions of certain Motion projects, but I prefer to use Compressor to take advantage of my cluster. However, Compressor insists on ignoring the "Duration" setting. It will only ever export the "Entire Sequence", and if "In/Out Points" is selected, it won't care.
I've tried this in every possible permutation of Compressor exporting. I've clicked Send to Compressor, both in the menu and through the Export Movie>Advanced dialog, and even using Export using Compressor Settings. Every single option completely ignores my play range.
Meanwhile, exporting through Motion handles the play range fine, but it's slower and more crash-prone than Compressor.
This is a bug, right? I'm not missing something obvious? (Yes, I have Compressor 4)

In/Out points inside Motion are ignored when you Send To Compressor. Inside Compressor you need to manually set In/Out points in the Compressor Preview window.

Exporting using Compressor failed, and other awekward issues with FCP

Hi FCP gurus! I need your help!
Everytime I try to export using compressor, my submission fails.
I even try a sequence a exported as m2v on Monday, but today is not working.
Compressor will some times say "Unable to view preview, FCP is busy". When I press submit, it goes to Batch Processor but it either will immediately show FAILED or it will just not do any processing. When I quit and restart, then the submission appears as failed.
Also when exporting, FCP comes back with a pop message saying that 4 files went offline. When I try to reconnect them it says: "There are not clips selected that have files associated with them". So, why is FCP constantly not able to fine this files, if they are not been used?
I need to export a file for my soundtrack guy, and he needs MOV, preferable DV-PAL or Motion-JPEG or similar frame-based codecs. What are my options?
In any case, what the problem here is that I CANNOT export anything. What shall I do? I already restarted the computer twice, nothing.
I realized that I have files using in this project, saved in two different external harddrives, do you think this has anything to do with the issue?
I am using FCP 5.1.4
Thanks so much in advance!

First off, fwiw, I never "send to compressor." I export a self-contained QT movie, not a conversion. Then I run that through compressor with the appropriate settings. I like the self contained file, it becomes a master from which I can make all sorts of variations. The only difference, in theory between self contained and reference, is that if for any reason you lose the render files the reference movie will not work.
Q1 No.
Q2 see above
Q3 There is no such thing as uncompressed. It's just a different codec rather than a perfect copy of your timeline.
Q4 lots of reasons for making a conversion, but none of them are valid for making DVD's
Q5 Nothing wrong with letting DVDSP make the encoding-- just be sure to get into the preferences for DVDSP and set the destinations to a folder for the project, so you don't overwrite any other projects. Depending on how long the project is, you can let it encode in the bg while you set up your project, build the buttons etc. It's all the same encoding engine, whether is is done in compressor or dvdsp. I find it much faster to use compressor then to take to dvdsp becaue you can use quickcluster.
Now a couple of questions for you: what sort of footage are you using and what are your fcp sequence settings?

How do you export Motion 5 to Compressor 4?

I can't find a reasonable way to export my Motion 5 output to Compressor 4. Motion 4 would create an Mpeg4 file, but haven't been able to find that capability in Motion 5. Compressor 4 can create the file, but I can't get there from here unless I export as an MOV file and import that to compressor and convert it to an mp4 fie. Doubles the workflow/compression time. Some of which are already in the multiple Hour range. Doubling that is not acceptable. What am I missing? Compressor 5 is not the answer.
Thanks for any direction you can provide.

well Compressor 5 might well be the answer! They might have fixed all the slowdowns, hangs and odd behaviour with 4 by then. There is no way other than exporting and then bringing into Compressor 3 AFAIK.
adam

Motion- Exporting with Compressor

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