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Pro Res to MPEG 2 workflow.
Thank you in advance for your help!
I am converting quite a number of 22.5 min episodes of a series I am doing that will be broadcast in Russia.
I’d like to know what would be the right workflow for this. I am considering using compressor. Any thoughts?
Here are the current specs of the shows:
Pro Res 422
29.97
Field Dominance: Upper
HD 1440×1080
Audio: 48khz, 16 bitI am running:
OSX 10.5.8
FCP 6.06
MBP 2.5 ghz
4gb RamHere are the specs of what is needed for delivery:
Video:
Frame size: 1920×1080 pixels
Frame rate: 50i
Stream type: MPEG2 Video Stream (Main Profile @ High Level)
Field dominance (interlacing): Upper Field First
Bitrate: 40000kbps
Chroma format: 4:2:0Audio:
Stream type: WAV, MPEG1 layer 2
Channels: 5.1 or Stereo
Stream format: 48KHz, 16bit
Audio bitrate: 384 kbps or greaterFile system:
NTFS (compatible with Windows)Container Format:
MPEG2 Elementary Stream (separate Audio and Video streams).Main:
Aspect picture ratio (OAR) must be greater than 1.78:1 but not higher 2.35:1 for all materials.
HD material must be recorded on external drive without errors.
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Here is how I have it set up in compressor. Is this right? Or there something missing or a better way?
Do I need to be concerned with a file extension of m2t? This needs to be windows compatible.Summary:
Name: Elementary Stream
Description: MPEG-2 Elementary Stream, 15 Mbps. Settings based off the source resolution and frame-rate.
File Extension: m2t
Estimated file size: unknown
Time remapping:
source frames play at 25.000 fps
Type: MPEG-2 transport stream
Video Encoder
Format: M2V
Width: 1920
Height: 1080
Pixel aspect ratio: Square
Crop: None
Padding: None
Frame rate: 25
Frame Controls On:
Retiming: (Best) High quality Motion Compensated
Resize Filter: Statistical Prediction
Deinterlace Filter: Best (Motion Compensated)
Adaptive Details: On
Antialias: 0
Detail Level: 0
Field Output: Top Field First
Start timecode from source
Aspect ratio: Automatic
Selected 16:9
Field dominance: Top first
Average data rate: 34 (Mbps)
2 Pass VBR enabled
Maximum data rate: 40 (Mbps)
High quality
Best motion estimation
Closed GOP Size: 1/2 second, Structure: IBBP
Audio Encoder
Format: MPEG
Sample Rate: 48.000kHz
Channels: 2
Bits Per Sample: 16Thank you for being there guys! I appreciate your knowledge. Any confirmation that I am taking the right course of action or screwing this up is very much appreciated.
Barry Rosenberg
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8 Replies
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You are using Compressor to do a standards convert from 29.97 to 25. My personal preference would be to find a facility that can run it through something like a Teranex to do the frame rate conversion. Preferably they can go straight to a real time encode of the mpeg with your specs. With multiple 22 minute shows, it will save days of rendering and look better.
The mpeg settings in Compressor look right. If you want to go with the software convert, I suggest a small sample would be a good idea. With frame controls set to the highest quality, it will take a long time render these files. Before you invest weeks of rendering, send your small test to the Russians and ask them to confirm that the mpeg file settings are correct.
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Michael
Thanks for the quick response. I suggested to my client the idea of using a Terranex and of course the idea of spending any additional money is not going to happen, especially when they claim poverty while driving away in their brand new convertible BMW. I am appreciate the confirmation on the settings and the suggestion of sending a sample. I will definitely be doing that.
Thanks again.
Barry
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If you aren’t going to charge them for render time then yes it would be cheaper. However, if you charge anything for rendering, then it shouldn’t be cheaper. This will take a long time to render if you want quality.
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I have found when it comes to a combination of standards conversion and MPEG-2 encoding, it is actually faster to do the Standard Conversion first (to Uncompressed or ProRes) and then encode the resulting file, rather than try to do it in one operation.
Definitely do some tests first.
For the standards conversion pass, you are going to want to turn on the frame controls and set the resize and the frame rate conversion to “Better” or “Best”. For most material, “Better” will suffice…setting everything to “Best” will make it take much longer…and on some material, may actually look worse.
Once you have the material converted to PAL, you the MPEG2 encode will go rather quickly, in comparison.
You should also run multiple instance of Compressor using the QuickCluster feature of Q-Master.
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John
Thank you for the advice! I do appreciate it and anything that can speed up the process and create a file that looks acceptable brings a smile to my face.
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For about $100 you can get the Natress format conversion plug-in for FC.
I think this is superior to Compressor.
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[Brad Elliott] “I think this is superior to Compressor. “
I have Nattress too. It’s much faster than Compressor, however it softens the image a bit more (at least in my experience). Depending on the footage it may not be that noticeable. Compressor, using Optical Flow, can produce a sharper image (especially if there are graphics or fine details in the footage), at the price of extended render time.
Make sure you do tests to see what works best for you.
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I appreciate all the suggestions. I am currently testing both methods. The idea of less render time using the Nattress standards converter is very appealing.
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