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MPEG2 converter in FCP5
I have the final cut suite … but can’t find my MPEG2 encoder in FCP5. Compressor is waaaaay too slwo for the quick DVD’s I need for clients. Any ideas?
Thanks again
pb
ps, HAPPY NEW YEAR. -
4 Replies
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Slow? How slow?
Use the fast encode options. Anyway, Compressor will give you a separate audio and video files. If you need a combined (multiplexed) mpg then niether Compressor nor Quicktime MPEG-2 export will do it.
And by the way, Quicktime MPEG2 which you refer to as MPEG2 in FCP 5, and Compressor export are both the same engine internally.If you want quick DVDs, why not use iDVD? On a DP G5 you can get encodes at 1:1. It doesn’t get faster than that. If you have a 40 min program, it will never take you less than 40 min to layoff to tape. making a DVD in iDVD can take less than 40 min depending on your system.
Incidentally iDVD uses the same compression engine as Quicktime and Compressor.
Neil
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Another option is to buy a cheap DVD recorder with firewire in, works pretty good for quick proof copies.
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Most of the Compressor presets are based on 1 or 2-pass VBR, which is quite slow and doesn’t always deliver the best results. Create a custom preset using a 1-pass CBR setting. These will generally take about 1.5x to 3x the length of your sequence (depending on processors and media type) to compress. Then the burn time will depend on your burner’s speed, so a 2X burn will be about half your sequence length if you used a higher bitrate.
For example, on a 70 min. documentary (DV media) that I’m cutting on my PowerBook (1.5GHz), I figure about 3-4 hours total to compress and burn a review DVD. Obviously a dual-proc G5 would be faster. The same compression settings using Sorenson or Bitvice tends to look better, but is far slower.
Sincerely,
OliverOliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
I know what your are talking about! In previous versions of FCP, MPEG-2 was an option for any QuickTime export (most handy: Batch Export) and that has now disappeared, “forcing” you to use Compressor. I mean, I get it, the same engine is still there to encode… It just seems that a few options of how to get there have disappeared. I have already done what Oliver suggests, and it works out for me. Just create a new preset for CBR (constant bit rate, or “one pass” as Apple calls it) and I use about 6.5 for the bitrate. That will be MUCH quicker than Compressors “Fast Encode” preset. (go figure)
-Todd Beabout
Vazda Studios
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