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Compressor creates hits!!!!
So I love the way compressor in FCP 5 looks, but it’s not really working out for me right now. I’m simply trying to export a DV NTSC project to MPEG-2 and I keep getting hits in the video that were never there before. I’ve tried doing both MPEG and audio export through the 60 min high quality encode, like I used to in FCP 4.5, but it’s not working. I tried doing it separately through the default MPEG 2 channel, but still got the same results. I’ve messed with the compression bit rate and the number of VBR passes used, set motion estimation to best, and nothing has changed. Still get a hit or two here and there. Can someone please help me!!!!
My system:
FCP 5.0.4
Tiger OS 10.4.6
G5 Dual 2.0
KONA 2
External SATA 2 Raid (500GB)
5GB RAMCuriousJandro
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8 Replies
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What do you mean by “hits” exactly? One tip is to NOT use 2-pass encoding. It produces noticeably worse results than single pass. Are you talking macroblocking?
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I believe macro-blocking is the proper word for it. I get these strips of blocks of different colors. I think I tried One Pass VBR Best through compressor and got similar results, should I just go with single pass? What should my max/min bit rate be set to? Thanks and ciao!!!!
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Another question? What should my GOP structure settings be in Compressor? Open, closed….?
Curious Jandro
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The blocking can be casued by the bit rate being too high. The effect will vary according to the tolerance of the DVD player. If you try the discs on various DVD players do you get different results? If you are burning DVD’s and not replicating, keep the bit rate under 7 (I usually use 6.5). Most “Hollywood” DVD’s are actually encoded with bit rates much lower than that. Always encode your audio to AC3. Do not use straight AIFF audio, as it eats up bandwith. If the project is under 90 minutes, its probably best to use CBR (single pass NON VBR) and not VBR. 2 pass VBR is good for longer projects, because it variably assigns a higher bit rate to more complex areas and a lower one to the less complex parts. Compressor sometimes will allow the bit rate to spike higher than the max you have set, so its important to be conservative when setting the maximum. Dont make the min and max too close to each other either…3.5 min 6.8 max usually works fine for me, though your milage may vary. Leave the GOP settings at the default..they are correct for almost all circumstances and should only be changed if you really have a special cirucmstance and know what you are doing.
If you try all of this and still have problems, you may want to experiment with doing a test not using your RAID…there is a small possibility that this could not be an encoding bit rate problem at all.
Another potential cause can be video levels being too high, freaking out the encoder…is everything broadcast legal?
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I’ll look into this all thank you. I did end up with a version through compressor that turned up without artifacts. I used the single pass and things were good. Thanks for the advice. CIAO for Now!!!
Alejandro
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Still having issues. You said it might have something to do with the RAID. Why? I’m doing another project that’s just DV and the same thing happens. More blocks. I’ve lowered the bit rate, changed it to single pass, the whole lot. Still having issues. Please help!!!!!
Curious Jandro
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Its only a shot in the dark, but under different circumstances in the past I had a HUGE Systems firmware issue which was causing “hits”.
I would do a test that does not, in any way utilize your RAID. If it the problem goes away, you should consider contacting your RAID manufacturer.
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I think this is a known bug. It’s interesting what John mentions, about 2-pass perhaps assigning too high a bit rate, but my artifacts showed up on frame by frame inspection within Apple’s DVD player and DVDSP. 1-pass fixed it.
G5 Dual 2.7 GHz
2 GB RAM
OS 10.4.6
FCP 5.0.4
QT 7.0.4
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