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slow output/ slow compressor times please read/ help
ok this is a bit out of the norm. but i work for a company where i really must output 2 fully functional dvd movies a day. i will capture from existing dvds using dvdxdvpro i use the video ntsc 48 setting. it usually ends up taking up about 30 gigs per hour of content. i have no trouble getting these into final cut and doing the basic edits im really just pasting together pre cut “scenes.” my job is in the adult industry and the editing is secondary to the output of product. so i spend a half hour editing these things tops. but then after doing a “render all” it will sometimes tell me the project is going to take 8 hours to output and it is not a misguided estimation i work on 3 different computers each with final cut loaded on them and i have left one of them on and it has legitimately taken 8 hours. why is this happening? i have the same troubles with compressor. it is making my movies i toss together in a half hour take a day- two days to actually get out of the computer onto a dvd. i just want to assembly line these things. the faster the better. if i could make things smaller without real visible quality loss that would be great. but i am open to anyones thoughts and suggestions please help me out
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5 Replies
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Hi Erik,
I don’t know “dvdxdvpro” most of the people around use MPGStreamclip (https://www.squared5.com/).
is free and you can work with any size, any codec etc.
If you are just cutting and pasting in FC you should be able to export without any rendering at all.
You need to export from “dvdxdvpro” or MPGStreamclip with the setting matching your FC sequence.
Export QT Movie (NO DV). Select 8b Unc or DV50 as your export codec.
Rafael(and here some clips for the friends: https://www.vimeo.com/2694745 )
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In addition to Rafael’s advice…you’re decompressing MPEG2 from a DVD, you’re editing in a different format, and then you’re encoding back to MPEG2. That’s a real time sucker, for sure.
If this is your primary editing/output operation—where you make your money—I’d look into MPEG2-native editors. I think they are all PC-only applications and I only use Macintosh so I don’t know where to send you to look. I do know that fully equipped monster PCs can be had for bloody cheap these days.
Good luck and please come back to let us know what you ended up doing to improve your turnaround times.bogiesan
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you’re getting good advice. I’d also mention something you may not know: The default processor setting in Apple Qmaster (System Prefereces) for Compressor (under Services) where it says “Number of Instances” is always set to 1. If you have a Dual Core, or a Core Duo, or a Dual Quad, you can up the number of instances to 2. (utilizing both cores to the maximum capacity.
If you check out the processor activity in Activity Monitor, (Utilities) – you will notice the difference it makes. Either way you go, this information will change the speed your compressions take. You will also notice a jump in processor temperature, so make sure your ventilated well. For that matter you can also throw the three computers (if they’re macs) on a fast switch (hub) via CAT5 and let the jobs share the processors of the other two macs that are sitting there idle. Final Cut Pro and Compressor are scalable, meaning you can add systems together to basically build a render farm.
Rafael or the others can probably explain that better then me, but at least look at Apple Qmaster in System Preferences and bump it to 2 instances instead of 1. hope it starts moving quickly for you. -s
Stephen May
Keystone Media Productions
Freelance Videographer -
Nice work, Stephen, thanks for the contribution. I went back into System Prefs and reset the instances.
Still, your post helps illustrate how ridiculously complex, one might even say silly, setting up the whole Qmaster/Compressor thing is.bogiesan
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some really fantastic suggestions in this thread. so far ive done the compressor instance increase. downloaded steamclip and am currently putting it to use. i am noticing some improvemennt in my compression times and through steamclips export settings i am hoping to eliminate render times in final cut. switching to pc is not an option for me as i am working on the equipment provided by my job, and we use exclusively macs here.. the group computer renderfarm element seems real interesting but i think i will have to become better versed on that before i put it into practice. really appreciate everyones input on this
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