[Brad Elliott]

On a Mac I would say you have two options:
Episode 6 or Adobe Media Encoder CS6.

Episode 6 has a watch folder feature and can upload to ftp sites when rendering is complete.

If you batch export sequences from FC to an Episode watch folder you can set up different workflows in Episode so that any thing in watch folder A will be converted to x and then placed in folder B and/or uploaded to ftp site C.

I have not used CS6 but to my knowledge it has the same features.

Which one is right for you could depend on your budget and how the tool can be used for other things in your current workflow.

[Brad Elliott]

Does the older iMac have any issues with the same media and project or does it just work well with other projects/media?

Are you able to open any other projects/media with success on the newer system?

What are the source HD files when you open them in QT? H264? PR422? XDCam? DVCProHD? FC7 doesn’t like to work with H264s or some MPG-2 media natively. You can do it but there hundreds of posts asking about issues that can all be related back to editing with H264s. X addresses this but 7 does not.

We always convert everything that isn’t PR422 to PR422 whenever this is possible. P2 & XDCam would be some of the exceptions when editing in PR422 as they will come in natively through log and transfer(possibly only with the proper plug-ins installed).

Do your sequence settings match your clips settings?
click on the sequence and command+0 to see the settings.

What are your video playback settings set to?

As Tony stated I wouldn’t recommend storing the media on your boot drive when working in FC7. Just because a car engine can run with 1 qt of oil in it doesn’t mean the manufacturer suggests it.

[Brad Elliott]

What are your sequence settings or what is the source to begin with?

Are you making a MPG-2 for DVD or another use?
If for another use what are the specs?

[Brad Elliott]

What is the source footage?
What are your sequence settings?
Are you working with stills over 4000×4000?

[Brad Elliott]

1024×576 is SD PAL anamorphic not HD.

What version of flip4mac do you have?
The Studio Pro HD version($179)is the only version that I know of that will do HD.

FCP recognizes the rectangular pixels of HDV and should be displaying your 1440(anamorphic) footage correctly on your system and/or HD monitor.

My guess is Flip4mac is seeing 1440×1080 as 4×3(which from a pixels only standpoint it is). This is most likely do to not having the HD version of Flip4mac which can process the rectangular pixels of your 1440 footage into a square pixel HD wmv.

[Brad Elliott]

In the export settings window if I set the data rate to automatic and the quality is best/2-pass isn’t that the highest quality H264 file possible? H264 by nature is compressed but since I’m not limiting the data rate it could be argued that it isn’t a compressed H264 even though H264 by nature is compressed.

Possibly an H264 paradox?

[Brad Elliott]

Youtube isn’t super helpful in letting users know exactly what happens behind the curtain. I presume their automated compression system is doing something to all files even if it is just changing the extensions for HD.

Besides telling you to make sure internet streaming is set to fast start they offer no other guidelines. In my experience the smaller the file the faster it will load. There are amazing looking high action ten minute HD H264 files that are under 150MB(1280×720).

I would do some tests with one minute of your most complex footage. I would start at 4000, 6000, 8000, & 12000. I would be surprised if you can see a noticeable difference on Youtube or in QT when playing back the same file at 12MB vs 16MB.

In my experience using lower data rates have delivered amazing results without going above 12MB and there has been no sacrifice in quality or long waits for the stream to play properly.

[Brad Elliott]

The second setting line needs a setting so that an icon appears on the far left side like the top setting. It appears you may have cleared the setting and/or destination on the lower setting.

If you are not trying to create two versions of the the file then delete the second one. If you are trying to create two I would delete the second setting line and start over as Compressor doesn’t know what to do as is.

[Brad Elliott]

If you select automatic for data rate and best/2 pass you will get the highest possible quality/data rate for an H264 file.

I believe QT is limiting the data rate for the SD file as 24MB for a SD file seems like a lot of overkill to me and turning up the data rate after a certain point cannot improve SD.

The suggested 25MB rate for the box is most likely for HD H264 files. I would be surprised if someone could tell the difference between an HD H264 at 12MB or 18MB in QT. Possibly the Roku is doing something to the file for playback but it seems unlikely.

[Brad Elliott]

I would recommend reading this:
https://support.google.com/youtube/bin/static.py?hl=en&guide=1728585&topic=1728570&page=guide.cs

We only upload H264 files to Youtube and have been very happy with the results. If you add an H264 setting to your PR clip in Compressor you can follow the guidelines above and then adjust your data rate to get the size under 2GB. You can get an idea of the output size will be in the summary tab of the inspector window(far left under description).