[Matt Campbell]

thx John. I guess I could always shoot and edit in 60p, I’m talking 720p60 here, rather than 24p but then I loose the 24p effect/look.

thx for the advice guys, I’ll search around. i know this is a popular topic here on the cow.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

As Tony suggests, it depends on your look. I’m always for shooting everything progresssive. Depending on what camera you use will help. I use the Panasonic HVX 200. And almost always shoot 720p24PN or 30PN because its a native progressive format and 30p is so easily converted to Interlaced if need be.

But again, you can totally de-interlace your 60i material after the fact.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Those lines are normal being that its 60i or 60 interlaced fields per second. Which is 29.97 frames per second. If for broadcast, this is normal to have interlaced fields. They are most visible on computer monitors. Are you viewing on an external broadcast monitor or TV? If so, they wouldn’t be that noticeable.

If using for web, you’ll want progressive, try de-linterlacing in Compressor turning on frame controls for smoother motion.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Matthew, to what David said, In my opinion Handbrake is great with creating various formats for multiple uses, like mobile devices, iPods, iPhone, Droid devises and such, but I feel that MPEG Streamclip is easier to use when creating FCP, edit friendly formats. Less menus to worry about and like he said, I’ve never had sync issues with Streamclip. But have encountered them with Handbrake.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Thx, Jeff. Just an FYI, I just tried #2 and that didn’t work. I dragged in a H.264 MP4 file into Compressor that I created in QT Pro and it created a new preset, however it was only just a MP4. The resulting file from the encode was not a H.264, MP4 file. Oh well. It looks like MPEG Streamclip and/or Adobe Media Encoder it is. Thx for the help though.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Matthew, what settings you use depend on what your ripping. For protected DVDs, you must use something like MCR to break the protection. But be careful, this unlawful. After ripping (protected DVDs only) use MPEG Streamclip to convert. If the DVD is not protected, use MPEG Streamclip first.

Now here’s where it gets tricky. Usually MPEG Stream will recognize the format of the DVD. But sometimes, it does not. I do this all the time as well, so use codecs that are edit friendly like DV50, as mentioned before, or even something like ProRes 422 or the new ProRes LT. If this is for presentation purposes, ProRes LT is sufficient enough. And is less taxing on your CPU than regular ProRes 422.

As for size, stick with 720×480 settings. Anything else, like 854×480 or 640×480, can be problematic in FCP to edit with. Everything on DVD will be a SD size. Either 4:3 or anamorphic 16:9. If 16:9, check the anamorphic box in FCP after import. I always uncheck Interlaced Scaling because I want to work with Progressive material. And most of what I rip is 24p (23.976) Progressive. You can always check the Deinterlace Video box if the DVD you ripped is Interlaced. The resulting file will be Progressive. But be careful, this doesn’t always yield great results. So might be best to just let it be.

Hope this helps. And let me know if you have any other questions. I use this workflow on a weekly basis. The key is to make it as close to a regular workflow as possible. Meaning as close to regular footage shot from a camera. FCP likes the normal codecs and normal frame sizes. Anything straying away from the norm can cause headaches later.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

thx jeff. I’ll give the second one a try. I think you might have missed an earlier post though for the first one. I’m not using FCP on these particular files because they are already exported as ProRes masters that I’ve received from my post facility. I have about 10 or so master that I want to make into H.264, MP4 files and I don’t want to have to open FCP and set everything up. Compressor is the easiest option here. Or in this case, I think I’m going to try MPEG Streamclip.

but thx for your reply. appreciate the comments.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Adobe Media Encoder can produce h.264 encoded files with an .mp4 wrapper, but it doesn’t appear to be possible in Compressor.

Got it. I have CS5, so I’ll give that a try as well. thx Alan.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

Thanks Chris, but I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m refering too. I can create H.264 .mov files fine. And I can create MP4 files fine. But what I’m trying to mimic is QT Pro’s ability to create MP4 files using H.264. Similar to the file types that YouTube likes. They take H.264 .mov files but prefer H.264 files with a MP4 wrapper. QT Pro does this but I can’t find a way to do this in Compressor.

No worries, I’ll figure something out. As David suggested, MPEG Streamclip.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card

[Matt Campbell]

David, thx. Didn’t think about. I always use streamclip for conversion and didn’t think to use for end product encoding. thx.

OS 10.6.3, Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 ghz quad-core intel xenon, 16 gb ram, with BM Intensity Pro card