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MPEG Streamclip
Hi, my first post in this wonderful place. Thanks to all those who help others.
I searched my question and found some basic answers and now must follow-up.
If I am to use MPEG Streamclip to convert MPEG-2 files for editing in FCP, how long does it take to convert, say 1 minute, and are the results acceptable?
I know everyone is going to tell me not to bring MPEG-2 into FCP so let me explain my situation. I teach movie-making workshops at a university and one of our most popular classes is a hands-on exercise. Students shoot a simple sequence in the morning and after lunch they do a quick edit to see if it cuts properly (pictorial continuity etc).
Up to now we’ve been shooting on miniDV but this makes for a crazy lunch period having to capture in real-time and dealing with time-code drop outs and so on. Sometimes the students are back from lunch and I am still capturing. I have been drooling over the possibility of shooting on one of these hard-disc cameras or memory stick cameras so I can simply drag-and-drop the files. I know these cameras (e.g. Panasonic HNR S40, Sony DCR SR45) are not very good but the exercise is not about the camera it’s about what’s happening in front of the camera.
All these cameras seem to record in MPEG-2 or MPEG-2 PS so Streamclip seems to be the answer but is it going to merely create a different lunch time headache for me? Are the files unwatchable? If this is a solution I have a sub-problem: I can load Streamclip onto our edit stations in my department, but sometimes I take this class to other departments and other campuses which may not allow me to add software to their systems. Any solutions there?
Will MPEG-2 PS make it easier?
Are there any cheap drag-and-drop camera formats that would allow me to work around this all together?
Thanks in advance.
Rick -
16 Replies
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Unfortunately there’s no free ride. MPEG Streamclip performance will be largely dictated by the system upon which you run it, i.e. a Mac Pro will be faster than an iMac.
As for drag and drop, not likely. You could go with newer solid-state recording formats like Panasonic’s P2 DVCPRO HD or Sony’s XDCAM EX formats, but I think they are probably out of reach of your budget.
Regarding the MPEG-2 to DV conversion (or whatever other Quicktime-supported coded you choose), no, it won’t be unwatchable. The converted footage will look fine, but the speed of conversion will be proportionate with the speed of hardware upon which you run the software. No way to know exactly how fast the conversion will happen without doing some test clips first.
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MPGStreamclip is the master piece of the free video-software for Mac.
Thre are people using it even to transcode PAl NTSC and other demanding tasks.
As Alan points the transcoding speed will depend of your hardware and of the codec which you are trancoding too. In my MBP its trancodes MPG-2 to DV50 in like a 60% of the RT. To see how fast works in your machines, just install it and make test. Is free as you know.
If you use ut you better transcode to something better than DV. DV50 would be OK. You would get the best from the MPG-2 and will work perfect mixed with your DV footage.
Cheers,
rafael -
Rick,
MPEG Streamclip is really great, but it is not faster than real time, so I doubt it will solve your capture problem.
BUT, you CAN drag and drop your captured DV footage if you put DV Monitor Pro in the loop. It will send the footage in QuickTime DV to any hard drive hooked up via FireWire, gives you live monitoring from say, a laptop and focus and exposure monitoring via the same. It works really well, I use it for casting as the director can see the takes immediately. It doesn’t seem to fail, but you should run tape at the same time as I don’t think most tape cameras will record without a tape, so you’ll always have a backup.
Also check out Veescope Live. Does the same thing only can do HDV too.
Have a wonderful day.
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[Chris Poisson] “MPEG Streamclip is really great, but it is not faster than real time, “
Hi Chris,
I don’t know what computer are you using, but I’ve just trancoded 6 minutes of MPG-2 to Apple 8b Unc in 4 minutes 13 seconds. That means around a 70% of the RT.
rafael -
I stand corrected, but it is still not as facs as disc capture with DV Monitor.
Have a wonderful day.
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If your shooting conditions allow it then as suggested recording direct to disc (with tape as backup) would be your simplest solution, but failing that, as this is just for classroom exercises rather than a an editing masterclass then I’d advocate the KISS principle – Keep It Simple, Stupid. If you go with one of these MPEG-2 cameras, and as you’ll be doing this a lot, then set yourself up a Compressor droplet to transcode to plain vanilla DV. Then just drag and drop to the source to the droplet and it should happily spit out a DV clip that your students can quickly and easily work with.
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Thanks for all the responses. A brief follow-up: some of the JVC’s record in MPEG 2 PS. Any advantages to that variation? Or is it to be avoided like the plague in my situation?
Thanks
Rick -
MPEG-2 PS simply means that the video and audio are muxed together at the recording stage. Typical MPEG-2 recording keeps audio and video as separate files embedded in the VOB file. This may even speed up the conversion out of MPEG-Streamclip.
MPEG- Streamclip is also limited by the speed of the drive the disc is in. But if you are talking short clips I would definitely use MPEG-Streamclip and export to Quicktime and choose NTSC DV at 720 x 480 with 48k audio and you will be all set to edit. Not a bad workflow at all and the quality will certainly be acceptable for your students.
Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media -
But I insist, if you care about the quality of the picture, go to DVCPro50. instead of to DV.
Rafael -
Hi there,
HELP!! PLEASE! Stuff I am baffled by that will prob be a silly breeze for you!! hee hee!
I found and downloaded mpeg-streamclip. Cool application.
I am editing on Final Cut Studio 2 (the latest = FCP 6.0.5). I was given a bunch of footage on DVDs. I loaded it into mpeg-streamline. Had a few questions/problems.
#1 – due to timecode breaks, it stopped the transfer short. I know there must be a way to still bring it all in…
#2 – after I got some in, I saved it as a Quicktime file. I put in the fps at 29.7 (MUST be that for editing in FCP)… but it holds it in as 30 fps. Shows it as formatted at 29.7, but plays back on QT as 30 fps… and when I import to FCP it shows it as 30 fps… yikes. Can’t seem to get it into FCP at the correct 29.7 fps, and that causes some choppiness.
#3 – perhaps there is no way around this, but… when I transfer it in from the DVDs, it isn’t nearly as sharp as the played DVD (doesn’t look nearly as good as the VD does when I pop it in DVD player and watch on TV… is that just the way it goes??
#4 – I am supposed to have QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component since I have FCP, but I know nothing about this or where it is… or what to do with it for this DVD transfer… or if this is a factor at all for my immediate needs.
Also – I found DVDxDV (pro and standard)… I tried it as a trial version, it transferred it in at the correct 29.7 fps easily… however, it, too, is not as sharp as the original DVD. Any thoughts on this program? Would this be better or not necessary, no difference once fps works with mpeg-streamclip??
PLEASE HELP – the main issue is the fps!! MUST be 29.7… and it keeps downloading in Quicktime and importing into FCP at 30 fps… even though I specify 29.7!
HELLLLLPPPP!
Thanks & Happy Holidays!
Robin
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