MPEG2 Exporting

[Charles Simonson]

Compressor doesn’t allow this, but the free app BitVice Helper will do so. It will combine your AIFF and MPEG-2 by encoding the AIFF to MP2 first, then multiplexing the tracks. Its quick, cheap, and simple.

[Ren Hinks]

After encoding with Compressor, I’ve successfully used BitVice Helper Multiplexor from Innobits. In the process of combining the video and audio files from Compressor, it also converts the .AIFF audio to .MP2 in the multiplex.

It is available at https://www.innobits.se/pubdown/BitViceHelper.sit as a demo (free) download (~900 kB) – the app also comes with a small Read_me.

ren

[Will Kruger]

Thanks a bunch for the information…I was able to sucessfully encode to an mpg format that works with our ad systems. However, it looks to me like the file created is a VBR file. Is there a setting to encode in Constant Bit Rate? The problem is that the encoded commercial shows up as a different length in our ad systems computer which screws up traffic. On the lighter side…the quality is imensely better than the previous way we encoded commercials! Thanks!!

-Will Kruger

[Charles Simonson]

I’m a little confused as to what exactly is causing the problem. Did you use BitVice to encode the video, and did so at VBR? Or did you encode the video with Compressor at CBR, and the audio with BitVice Helper, which encoded the audio at VBR? If you must have CBR audio, then I suggest taking your AIFF and encoding it to MP2 with ffmpegX. There is a preset for audio to MP2, use that set to CBR (I think it is set by default) and encode your audio track. Once the encoding is finished, use ffmpegX’s Tools section to multiplex the audio and video together.

[Charles Simonson]

Also, if you used BitVice to encode the video (which would to me explain the enhanced video quality), and are asking if there is a CBR option, then yes, there is. It is located right next to the DVNC filter control. Its a little button called “Use 1 pass CBR”.

[Will Kruger]

Here’s what i did:

with a completed sequence in FCP I exported using compressor…changed the video output to MPEG2, extension m2v, under quality/mode i chose one pass, added aiff audio, and exported to batch. When completed: I opened up BitVice, converted audio to mp2, then multiplexed the file. I transfered the multiplexed mpg file to our ad systems computer, and for some reason this 60 second commercial is recognized as a 33 second commercial. I was told that it’s because it was encoded at VBR.

Thoughts?

[Charles Simonson]

As I said, try either encoding your audio with ffmpegX, or if you encoded the video as VBR originally, then reencode it using CBR.

[Will Kruger]

does compressor encode CBR? I haven’t found a setting. Or, do i need to find the setting in BitVice Helper?

[Ren Hinks]

[Will Kruger] “does compressor encode CBR? I haven’t found a setting.”

In Compressor, the CBR setting for video is the first choice, “One Pass”, (without any mention of VBR) which sounds however like the setting you first chose.

[charles simonson] “Or did you encode the video with Compressor at CBR, and the audio with BitVice Helper, which encoded the audio at VBR? If you must have CBR audio, then I suggest taking your AIFF and encoding it to MP2 with ffmpegX.”

If I read Charles’ post correctly, it sounds like BitVice Helper encodes the AIFF audio generated by BitViceHelper into MP2 with VBR while another free app, ffmpegX, can encode the MP2 audio with CBR. There seems to be no controls in BitViceHelper to alter the BitRate method and the doc makes no mention of it. BitViceHelper can be set to just do the multiplexing if the MP2 audio is previously encoded with another app.

My 2c is that there might be an issue with the timecode embedded in the Compressor encode, but I’m only guessing – I used to use PCMCIA flash memory card MPEG-2 players for controlable looped exhibit playback of video and it required multiplexed MPEG2 files, and since ir could be programmed to play just sections of video files, it kept track of timecode and was pretty picky about it. There is an option in Compressor to “Choose start timecode” and a “drop frame” checkbox – perhaps there is something there.

ren

[Roger Andersson]

BitVice Helper is NOT a product from Innobits AB. It is a free tool that you can use for MPEG Layer II audio encoding and for multiplexing audio and video. The latest version of BitVice Helper is available here
https://homepage.mac.com/rnc/
or via
https://www.bobhudson.com/BitViceHelper.html
where you also can see and hear Bob Hudson’s video tutorial for BitVice Helper

MPEG Layer II audio is always CBR, never VBR.

BitVice MPEG-2 video Encoder, which is a product from Innobits AB, is an alternative to Compressor and makes VBR or CBR video. BitVice does NOT do any multiplexing or audio encoding.

Roger Andersson / Innobits AB Sweden