[Brad Elliott]

For about $100 you can get the Natress format conversion plug-in for FC.

I think this is superior to Compressor.

[Brad Elliott]

If you have DVD Studio Pro you could compress a movie from FC in DSP.
If you don’t have over 75 minutes a varible bit rate with an average of 6.3 and a peak of 7.5 will work. You could also do a CBR at 7. Opinions vary on which is the better option. I have had success with the variable option. You will need to create an AC3 as DSP will give you an aiff.

If your footage is longer than 75 minutes I would Google a bit rate calculator.

The compressor in DSP isn’t the best option but for SD video it will deliver decent results.

[Brad Elliott]

One possibility to consider.

Whenever our macs have issues in the vein of your problem our support people suggest doing a clean install and reinstalling everything.

The logistics of backing up files, and reinstalling everything is less than pleasant and will mostly take a good part of a day.

What we have found is that whenever we do this everything works great.
The only caveat being there is no problems with the guts.

[Brad Elliott]

There is a preference setting in QT/General tab/Enable Final Cut Studio color compatibility

With this box checked we have found that our Final Cut self-contained or reference files look the best.

I believe this box is unchecked by default.

Brad

[Brad Elliott]

When you export a FC QT (reference or self-contained-NOT Quicktime conversion)to your desktop what is the length when you open it in QT? If the length matches your sequence it is most likely happening in compression.

[Brad Elliott]

Erika,

If you have the full version of Quicktime(which you should if you have FC) you can just export an aiff from the mpg in QT(presuming the mpg opens in QT.) You could also do this in MPG Steamclip.

Brad

[Brad Elliott]

Gary,

Thanks for your response.

Our media is shared between four suites on a Terrablock system.
We have been told that all the systems accessing the shared media need to be running the same version of QT. We are currently testing this to see if we can do it another way.

We have a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT card.

Brad

[Brad Elliott]

Rafael,

Thank you for your response.

We are posting it to the web. We also archive sequences with a FC self- contained QT so we can make whatever we need later when the project is taken offline. The PB problems have followed the movie and/or gotten worse when it ends up compressed for something else.

Our current work flow with all other sequences related to this project have had no issues whether it is for the web or anywhere else.

We were originally working in a DVCProHD sequence because that is what the source was shot in. My understanding is that the footage shows up at 960×720 but displays at 1280×720(I have never understood this fully but just accepted this as part of working with DVCProHD media.) We have tried exporting from AE at 1280×720 and 960×720 and have had success with other animations at 960 but that did not work with the animation in question.

Brad

[Brad Elliott]

Here are some things that I have had success with.

1) Final Cut Pro/Audio Video Settings/Device Control Presets/Edit
Here you can set pre and post roll for your specific device control.
I do think you should have at least 3 seconds(preferably 5) of pre-roll but when I am desperate I have been able to get footage in by playing with this setting.

2)I have also had success with changing the user preference for TC break.
In the general tab set the on TC break to “warn after capture.” I have run into less problems on clips with short or no pre-roll especially when I am trying to do long captures on a tape with lots of TC breaks.

3) Log and capture/capture settings/device control-set to non-controllable device
This isn’t ideal because the you have to set the start and stop manually but I have never had a problem getting every frame in no matter how bad the TC or how small the pre-roll.

[Brad Elliott]

Rafael,

All of Compressor’s presets are closed GOP.

I have read that closed GOPs are recommended for DVDSP and that closed GOPs are required for multi-angle DVDs.

Am I mistaken?

My opinion on short GOPs is based on our hardware encoding card’s presets. 90 minutes or longer use shorter GOPs while 60 minutes or less have 15 frame GOPs.

What advantages have you found in using shorter GOPs?

Brad