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Flip 4 Mac?
Sorry I’m cross posting, if this is deleted I understand. I posted it over in the windows forum. People in a city environment want things NOW and some understand the complexity of video.. others tend to think doing any sort of video is as easy as printing out a spread sheet. Which is why I post frantically looking for help. Sorry for that.
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I know I’ll probably need to post this in an Apple forum, but I figured Windows users would know as well.
We just got Flip4mac. There’s a rush to get out some WMV files for an Intranet here at work and they don’t want mov files, which is why we bought the program. FCP7 has a WMV section, but it only does 30 seconds of video.. again, which is why we bought F4M.
I’ve converted a 30 minute program with it so far but I did something wrong, because it looks awfully grainy.
Are there any reading or video tutorials online that specify different settings for different looks when using this program?
Thanks for any pointers
Vinnie -
13 Replies
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Sounds like you have the free trial version and did not purchase the full application.
All the best,
Tom
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop” -
how about just changing the settings? You do have to get one of the higher packages to get control of some of the settings. I just finally got the HD Studio package upgrade. I have one use case that needs a wmv file as a source. Squeeze is better for me, but it outputs VC1 (advanced) with the streaming server can’t handle. I need to go down to the older WM9. Looks great coming out the pipeline at 768kps.
Non-linear: all the time and nothing but.
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What codec did you use in flip 4 mac when you converted, and what was the specs of the original footage you used in your timeline? My guess is that if it looks bad you have upscaled something too small or otherwise messed up a codec setting somewhere. ALso check that your windows player is set right, it would be bad luck to make a re-do based on bad viewing info.
The free flip4mac is limited to 30 seconds of output, and you have to pay for the $50 or better version to do more.
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Sorry to report, but Flip4Mac has become essentially useless if you’re looking for quality exports. Somewhere along the line they simply lost it, and now it’s impossible to create good looking WMVs on a MAC using their products.
Don’t believe me? Well, just take a piece of good looking HD video and just try making a WMV at any bitrate you want. Raise it to 5000 or even 8000kbps (or whatever the units of measurement are), it still looks like absolute junk.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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David,
I’m just making files that are only 300 to 400 wide for a specific purpose, and they look fine. Squeeze 6 as a conversion out of FCP looks better, but my streaming vendor needs to update everything before they can use the advanced codec. Personally, I’d just as soon stay away from WMV.Non-linear: all the time and nothing but.
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Thanks everybody. I must not have been clear, sorry. At first I could only do 30 sec. (with the trial) but after we bought the full version, I did a full 30 minute program. I did something wrong, which screwed it up and made it look awfully grainy.
I’ll re-read all your comments and apply them.
Thanks again for your help,
Vinnie -
[Vincent Strader] ” I must not have been clear, sorry. At first I could only do 30 sec.”
I didn’t miss that Vinnie. Everyone else seems to have passed that right on by.
In any case, let me repeat, Flip4Mac is virtually unusable now. I can tell you, I tried to produce an acceptable WMV for a client a while back from a pristine video, and I could not achieve a result that was close to passable. And, I’m a fairly accomplished compressionist too…
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Were you using Episode or FCP QuickTime Conversion?
All the best,
Tom
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop” -
Thanks Mr. Weiss,
I’ll just keep messing with it and reading tips online to get a better result. Something always works out eventually.Thanks again,
Vinnie -
Hi David,
I noticed the same thing, the problem is that Flip 4 Mac doesn’t do a very good job of scaling. I always make a QT ProRez file with the same dimensions that I want the .wmv to be, then encode the scaled down QT, The difference is well worth the extra step.
Bob Auiler | bob.auiler@mvpcollaborative.com
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