Compression for Film Fest, and I’m in trouble now!

[Mark Suszko]

Quick, hire a new guy and blame this on him.

Playing off a laptop, Into what kind of projector system, is the question. Mpeg2 (DVD format) may be the most bullet-proof, but makes high def problematical. H.264 or MPEG4 is my go-to choice, but again, what kind of source does the projector take?

[Geoff Mckay]

Hey,
Thanks a lot man. I’ll look into spreading out the blame. I tried H.264, and will go with it if I have to. It looks pretty bad though. Thanks for the tip on the MPEG 4. I am going to give that a try!! I guess I’ll just have to suffer through whatever happens, and not use those free tickets to the filmfest!!

[Nick Meyers]

check the projection is of a mac laptop,
and has FCP installed
if it is:
export as native.

if FCP is NOT installed
export as native
take you file and your QuickTime codecs, and put them in the other system.

as dave says, say your prayers.

or, do YOU have a laptop with FCP installed?
take the file and the laptop.

nick

[Bryan Mailer]

Hope things went okay. You can tell them that Brian Mailer did it and he has been fired.

[Rafael Amador]

Unless you have Compressor. 4, don’t use Compressor to export an MP4. Compressor.2 y 3 uses an old fashioned MP4 (Isma profile) very little efficient.

[Geoff McKay] “I tried H.264, and will go with it if I have to. It looks pretty bad though. “
Probably you used the wrong settings.
The most universal solution (PC, Mac,..) is an MP4/H264.
Use MPGStreamclip.
– Select H264 as the compressor.
– Quality slide: All to the left.
– Limit data rate: 30.000 Kbps. Thats Bluray quality.
– Click B-frames and MULTIPASS.
– Frame size; 1920×1080 (unascaled).
– Deselect “Interlaced Scaling” if your movie is Progressive.
– Audio: AAC. 256 Kbps.
If you gonna play from a Mac, you can export a QT/H264 with exactly the same settings.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Geoff Mckay]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for all the help!! I wound up exporting to quick time H.264 and reduced the quality to “good” instead of “best”. Seemed to put out an acceptable product. Here is a little tip, we have a computer PHD on our staff and he filled me in on why I was having so much trouble transferring huge files to stick or card. Anything over 4 gig, will usually have to be split up, or your memory stick or card won’t swallow it in one bite. My file is now 2.5 gigs and manageable. I really need to spend some time learning compression though. Maybe I’ll wait until two hours before the next film festival!!

Thanks,

Geoff

[Geoff Mckay]

Hello Guys,
Just wanted to let you know how things turned out. I was able to put a reasonable file together, but they didn’t receive it in time, so the low res version went up on the screen. You can imagine my feelings when I (and the entire audience) saw all my footage appear as if it was shot on a cell phone.
I tried to follow the advice of sharing the blame, but it was tough to find a scapegoat in my one man operation. Oh well, live and learn I guess!!

Once again, thanks for the help!!

Geoff

[Rafael Amador]

[Geoff McKay] “Anything over 4 gig, will usually have to be split up, or your memory stick or card won’t swallow it in one bite.”
Yes.
that is the big shortcoming of the FAT-32 format.

[Geoff McKay] ” I was able to put a reasonable file together, but they didn’t receive it in time, so the low res version went up on the screen.”
Don’t worry. Next time you’ll get it right from the beginning.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com