Charles Simonson
Forum Replies Created
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Popwire Compression Master is also an option. It is a full encoding suite app like Compressor or Squeeze. The Flip4Mac plugin can be integrated with Compressor 2 or Squeeze 4.1, and works pretty well. But, the only version of F4M I would consider purchasing is the 2-pass version ($179). F4M sells a single-pass version for $99, but Popwire also makes a single-pass Windows Media QT plugin encoder for $29 that offers nearly identical features at a much more attractive price.
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Check out either ffmpegX or BitVice Helper.
https://www.innobits.se/pubdown/BitViceHelper.sit
https://homepage.mac.com/major4/ -
I believe QT for Windows does have the gamma correction built-in. It does for MPEG-4 Part 2 at least, and I would be surprised if it didn’t do so for MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264, or AVC). I haven’t tested it myself yet, but I would think that the Sorenson Video 3 gamma issues have been fixed for H.264.
As far as wanting or needing to use a different H.264 encoder… Cleaner doesn’t encode H.264, so that is not an option. Squeeze has an awful H.264 encoder compared to Apple’s, so you wouldn’t use that either. That leaves the only other option on the mac being Compression Master 3.1 from Popwire. For multipass encoding and encoding to HD sizes, then I would still stick with Apple and Compressor 2. For single pass encoding and encoding to sizes smaller than D1 at lower bitrates, then I would likely use Compression Master 3.1.
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I assume you want to use FCP to do a direct export. From FCP, go to File>Export>Using Quicktime Conversion… Then select the Options button, choose the MPEG-4 codec from the settings button, and then set a 16:9 custom size from the size button. Can’t see any reason why this wouldn’t work.
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You can find out what codec it is actually using by opening the file on the mac and hitting apple (cmd) + i. Note the codec, then download and install it for the PC. All should then be good. Most likely it is a codec that is not installed by default from Apple.
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MPEG-1 is the best choice for you in this case, unless you wanted to encode to WMV-9 with either Flip4Mac ($99 or $179) or Popwire ($29) plugins. WMV-9 encoding would give you the highest quality output at the lowest bitrates, but you need to purchase an encoder to generate directly from the mac. You can encode MPEG-1 with Compressor, which I believe is the only way to do so (don’t have a system with FCP in front of me to check if you can encode directly to MPEG-1 from FCP). If you encode with Compressor, make sure that you select the Web output option in order to multiplex the audio and video streams into a system (program) stream.
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As has been mentioned, the main reason the trailers you download look so good are because of the high quality source they are encoded from, and because the encoder used is the Sorenson Video 3 Professional encoder. The Pro SV3 encoder can be purchased without Squeeze, and I believe it only runs $199 (or maybe $299 if you are not upgrading). Sorenson does offer educational and NFP licenses, so maybe you can work something out with them. However, they don’t have a great reputation when it comes to responding to such calls.
Email me through my profile if you need additional help encoding your material.
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Have you tried using CinemaTools yet?
BTW, the best way to encode to DVD MPEG-2 IMO would be to use either Compressor 2, Compression Master 3.1, or MainConcept Encoder. Just take your DVCPROHD clip and scale it down and encode to 720×480 MPEG-2 with pulldown enabled directly with any of the above mentioned apps. Unless you want to add the letterboxing to the actual MPEG-2 files, which I see no reason to do actually, converting to another format first is an unnecessary step and waste of time. Encoding to 720×480 16:9 will give you much better quality than 720×480 4:3, plus it will play correctly on both standard and widescreen TVs (with proper adjustment of the DVD player’s settings of course).
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Did you encode the audio as AC-3? QT cannot play back AC-3 audio, so when you play a MPEG-2 movie that is muxed with an AC-3 track, then you will not hear the audio, but it is there.
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With all this said, I probably haven’t done a real hard comparisson of MPEG-2 encoders on the mac in about a year, so hopefully I can find the time someday soon to re-evaluate all of the latest options. I know some of the encoders have been updated in that time, and it would be good to see if there have been any significant changes.