[Craig Seeman]

Are you encoding to 720p H.264 or trying to upconvert to 1080p?
Danny2007 is correct about Apple using higher rez sources than 720p.

What is your source for the 720p? Keep in mind if it’s HDV it’s already been heavily compressed as MPEG2. DVCProHD source might hold up better although I’ve never had the chance to really test this.

[Craig Seeman]

[zrb123] “Look at it from Apples perspective. Who do you want to reach the most? The people with the most to spend right. And the people with the most to spend are most likely located in the large markets.”

Yea, that’s why I’m waiting for MacWorld to return to NYC.

[Craig Seeman]

Gosh I should check the COW more often.

I’m a beta tester. In the beta, low key frame rate solves the green issue.

BTW, to see Flip4Mac in Compressor you need to set it to QuickTime Export Components as Flip4Mac is . . . a QuickTime Export Component. You will then see in the Inspector a field that says Encoder Type. It usually defaults to 3G. If you select the pull down you’ll see Windows Media as a choice.

There’s a PDF on the Flip4Mac site specifically for Compressor.

https://www.flip4mac.com/pdfs/Flip4Mac_WMV_Compressor_QuickStart.pdf

Anybody else having issues with 2.1.0.33 can go here
https://www.flip4mac.com/support.htm
and click on the word “beta” on the bottom of the page and you’ll be able to test 2.1.1.70
Please do give them feedback on any issues you find.

It seems they’re also going to have an Episode plug-in for Compressor too. They announced it at NAB.

[Craig Seeman]

Make sure your timeline is rendered.
Then Export out of FCP using File/Export/QuickTime Movie.
If you have the hard drive space do it as Self Contained. You can uncheck that and make a “reference” movie if you have to but in some cases you can bump into issues.
Open Compressor and open your movie. Personally I don’t like exporting straight from FCP especially so in this case. You do not want to tie up FCP as a compression app.

Unless you expect people to sit through a very long download and/or have a motive to give them a full sized file, you should compress to a web friendly size such as 640×360. You might want to go to Apple’s movie trailer site and download a movie and have a look at their frame size and data rate and then alter a Quicktime 7 (H.264)web download preset to match those.

If you’re doing this for HD DVD then you might take a look at those presets in Compressor otherwise I’m not sure why you need a data rate anywhere near what you say you need.

[Craig Seeman]

Interesting thought for today. Has anybody tried “CrossOver” on an Intel Mac to see if Windows Media Encoder or the Windows version of Squeeze will run on it? CrossOver doesn’t require buying Windows. It’s about $70 with a 30 day free trial.

[Craig Seeman]

Cleaner on Windows or Mac.
What version Cleaner?
Mac version only does Windows Media 7 out of the box. Changing the frame size works for me. You can add Flip4Mac to Cleaner to make Windows Media 9. Since Flip4Mac allows you to set frame size in its own interface it’s possible that either Flip4Mac or Cleaner frame size control is overriding the other.

[Craig Seeman]

I charge the edit rate for multicam window dubs. Do it in the NLE.

Once I explain the process and the advantages clients are always willing to pay for it. When I do multicam work I always sync like this anyway so the client is going to pay for this anyway.

Rather than making separate camera master dubs which, in the case of multicam, the client is going to have a hard time knowing exactly how things are working together, the clients saves money on those dubs and is, in effect, putting some of that dub money they would have spent, directly into the loading/syncing part of the edit session . . . and the client now gets a useful dub.

At this point the client can book into the edit room or send me numbers knowing we’re on the same page regarding why one might cut to a given shoot or cut something out entirely. If something needs to be covered, we both know it.

[Craig Seeman]

Yes, on multicam shoot, the dub has all cameras rolling in smaller window with timecode on each (or one time code if they match). In other words, all running side by side.

Client can pick shots MUCH more easily and knows exactly why you do/don’t cut to a given shot.

I can’t imagine doing multicam shoot dubs any other way whether a concert or a seminar.

[JP Driscoll] “BTW: What is a synced multicam window dub? Is it basically the footage from each camera synced and shown in smaller windows side by side? Is there an advantage to doing that instead of just reviewing all the video seperately? Or is it just a time factor? Better to view all the cameras at once instead of one camera three time?”

[Craig Seeman]

[Brian SaenzDeViteri] “No dice with VLC player either. I will try a few more settings. DG has said they are looking into ways to use Episode Pro.
“

Have you sent file to DG for pass/fail test?

Also double checking that they’re asking for a Transport Stream since their SD specs are for Program Stream.

Again, I’ll extend offer to help test and develop a preset for you but I’d have to see the file. If you get me your email address I can arrange FTP for you.

BTW, what are your Mac system specs (PPC, Intel, OS, version of Episode Pro)?

[Craig Seeman]

I’m about to undertake a similar job. I give an estimate based on the description. If I don’t get enough info, I ask for it. My estimate is based on “ideal” circumstance in which the job is as simple as possible. I explain additional options that may drive up cost but increase quality of end product.

I don’t like flat fee work. You almost never win with flat fee work. I let them know what they get for the budget. That’s different than flat fee because it gives you and the client the OPTION to deal with overruns.

When I estimate edit time I include time for changes in that estimate. If they find they want more, that’s one of the overruns they have to grapple with.

In the job I’m about the undertake, it took weeks for the client to get back to me about the room details such as windows, light, etc. It took weeks for the client to give me the list of sections and approximate times.

The client has not yet told me about audience questions although I did tell him the different audio options and the plusses and minuses. The client hasn’t mentioned a word about PowerPoint or other graphic presentations during the seminar although I asked about it and gave him options on shooting vs adding/supplementing in post.

It’s also hard to predict how good public speaker the presenter(s) will be and that impacts editing as you’ve found out. This is why I’d never flat fee a job like this.

I also include the cost of a synced multicam window dub in these types of jobs so the client can see what we/they face in the edit process.

My payment sched on a job like this is: deposit to hold shoot date, payment of shoot and synced window dub on day of shoot, pay for estimated editing time when editing starts (and the amount of time becomes clearer when they see the window dub and decide how much may need to be fixed, cut, graphics added if any).