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Creating MPEGs for Video Server from Final Cut Pro
Hi all,
First of all, the Video Server ROCKS!!
One of the ways we create MPEGs that play on the server is to create them directly in our Non-linear editing suites and transfer them directly to the Video Server.
We're converting our NLE equipment from Pinnacle Targa 3000 (PC; hardware-based with Adobe Premiere interface) to Macintosh running Final Cut Studio. With the old systems, we had a nifty utility provided by Pinnacle called Targa MPEG Works, which used the hardware/software combination to (quickly) create 6 megabit (or any bitrate) muxed MPEG-2 files. These files were easy to send over our LAN to the Video Server and played well.
Apparently the Compressor app included in FCP Studio only creates m2v, AIFF, and AC3 files separately, requiring another process to put them together before sending up to the Server. This also requires a third-party utility to do this, and I haven't found one I like. At this point, we've been finding it's easier to burn a DVD each time we want to export a program to the Server.
Does anyone have a good solution for creating MPEG-2 movies using Final Cut Studio??
--Shawn Serre
Pittsfield Community TV
First of all, the Video Server ROCKS!!
One of the ways we create MPEGs that play on the server is to create them directly in our Non-linear editing suites and transfer them directly to the Video Server.
We're converting our NLE equipment from Pinnacle Targa 3000 (PC; hardware-based with Adobe Premiere interface) to Macintosh running Final Cut Studio. With the old systems, we had a nifty utility provided by Pinnacle called Targa MPEG Works, which used the hardware/software combination to (quickly) create 6 megabit (or any bitrate) muxed MPEG-2 files. These files were easy to send over our LAN to the Video Server and played well.
Apparently the Compressor app included in FCP Studio only creates m2v, AIFF, and AC3 files separately, requiring another process to put them together before sending up to the Server. This also requires a third-party utility to do this, and I haven't found one I like. At this point, we've been finding it's easier to burn a DVD each time we want to export a program to the Server.
Does anyone have a good solution for creating MPEG-2 movies using Final Cut Studio??
--Shawn Serre
Pittsfield Community TV
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Inappropriate?Hey Shawn,
There had neen another thread going regarding this at some point - I can't rememebr who to give credit to for it, but here it is:
In Compressor, create a new MPEG-2 preset. Decide what bitrate (nothing above what your particular video server's decoder card can handle) to use, CBR or VBR and all of the rest of that good stuff. Whenever you choose a preset (or when you are creating one) there is a tab in the preset inspector called "extras". There is an option there for "multiplexed MPEG-1/Layer 2 Audio" which will create an MPEG-2 Transport stream with multiplexed audio. If your version of compressor does not have this third and bottom optiops in the extras tab, you need a newer version of compressor. I think if you at least have FCP 4.5 with all of the updates, your compressor will offer this option.
One thing, not many players can play back an MPEG-2 transport stream so you can do something like play the the resulting MPEG in Quicktime to check out the quality. You can play it internally by forcing it to play "dev" from within Cablecast.
My default, the file isgoing to have an mts file extension which needs to be changed to mpg.
Now, just think of a compressor watch folder combined with FCP 5's (Apple Qmaster, actually) network rendering power. Finally, fast encoding for Macs. :) -
Inappropriate?Shawn,
When we were looking into FCP, I also was trying to find a way to make a program (mpg) file using compressor. I did find a program called Bitvice helper that can convert the aiff audio to mpeg audio and then multiplex the video and audio mpegs into the needed mpg program stream file. There may be other ways. I just can't understand why Apple has not added that encoding routine to the compressor during their upgrades. Many a user (or potential user) has been asking for this for several years. It would seem to be a real simple feature for them to add. Dono why they don’t.
We now use Avid and the Sorenson Squeeze utility it came with just makes the needed mpg file with a click of 2 buttons. Nice and easy.
Look into Bitvice helper. There may be other ways. Like Mike said, there is another thread that discussed this in some detail.
[url]http://www.trms.com/main/forum/topic....[/url]
Good Luck.
Grant -
Inappropriate?hey Grant,
I spent monthspeppering Apple and hating them for not doing just that. Apparently they did and many of them internally didn't know. Whomever started the thread I was refering to had found out from apple how to do it with compressor. The funny thing was that even after he mentioned you could do it with compressor, I ranted about how apple couldn't do it. Anyway, compressor can and whn you do a single pass cbr, one of our dual proc 4 gig work stations can encode pretty fast. And a lot of our stuff is long form. But I tend to encode right onto the video server with the correct file extension and show number/name so that I can schedule the show to go on right after it is supposed to be done encoding.
Funny thing, I used to use premiere exclusively to encode right to the video server. Premiere encodes to an audio and video file separately and then muxes them at the end. I had scheduled a show that tried to run before it was done muxing the files. It actually played the video (with the m2v file extension) without the audio. I VNC'd in from home, stopped the show 5 minutes in, let premiere finishing the mux and then reforced the show to start. I could see the two files mux into one via VNC on the video server.
Ah, technology... -
Inappropriate?Fascinating! We're going to give this a spin and see what comes of it. If not, we'll try Bitvise or Sorenson (I had heard that one before). Just wish the feature existed inside FCP!! So much for integration.
I've got to say, with the simplicity that we experience in creating, scheduling and playing programming on the video server, it seems like we took a step backward when we converted to the new edit suites. There's something to be said for dedicated hardware/software solutions like the Targa 3000/Premiere systems we had.
And it doesn't seem like it should be all that complicated to spit out a program stream MPEG-2 file from an NLE--after all, that's the format used for DVDs anyway!! Beyond that, in the past we were able to move the MPEG-2 files BACK OVER from the video server and burn them directly to DVD using Sonic's MyDVD program. Nice and simple way to archive programming. But Apple's DVD Studio Pro won't recognize those muxed files as assets!!
Anyway, thanks for the great suggestions! Any more are welcome!
--Shawn -
Inappropriate?Shawn,
If you have licenses of FCP 5, it might be worth looking into the network rendering part of it all. Pressure your Apple rep to get someone to configure qmaster for you for free.
The thing with compressor, is that it is basically just like Squeeze (which is a pig), Cleaner (which is basically discontinued) and Procoder (which I think is the best of the major 3, but PC only). Compresor is the Squeeze, Cleaner and Procider made by Apple.
Compressor can stand alone from FCP or export right out of it. Your single Quicktime (which gets sent to Compressor) can actually encode to all of your different formats. It can a use a watch folder, transfer finished files wherever you want, ect.
I first wondered why they just didn't roll this into FCP, but then I realized that if it can stand alone, it is much more flexible. If you can send your job to a another machine, you can still use FCP. When you use compressor from within FCP, it ties up FCP until Compressor is done. -
Inappropriate?Yes, we've actually got a pretty good system going with these machines: 4 dual 2.7 G5s, each with FCP Studio licenses. They're all networked to a 2 gigabit fibrechannel switch and 6.4 TB SAN. So getting the networked rendering would be very cool. It does suck to lose FCP when compressor is running.
So the results of our trial: The video server DOES in fact play those transport stream files, after we change the file extension. However, nothing else we have will play them. All other PCs crash when we try to open the files. But the encoding seems to go pretty quickly. Now if we could only use that same file to create DVDs.... -
Inappropriate?my guess (I love to guess) is that if you made a copy of the file, changed the extension back to .mts, you might be able to demux the file and use it to burn dvds.
I would try but I am so slammed, I can't even make it to DC to the Tightrope booth.
I am jealous of John G. and others who got to make it there.
When and what is the Boston event again???
