Compressor 2 is inferior

I recently upgraded to Compressor 2. I have tried compressing an animation that I made and, at the exact same settings, I find the quality MUCH worse that it was in 1.2. Basically crappy... and unusable.

I have a picture of side by side comparisons. You'll be amazed. You can see it here:

[homepage.mac.com]
1



Mitchell Rose

[www.mitchellrose.com]

do not use the settings you created in compressor 1 in compressor 2 they will not be good
you should use one of the stock compression options or create a new setting IN compressor 2



David at Movies Rock in Toronto
[www.tofcpug.com]

This from Apple explains the upgrade issue:
[docs.info.apple.com]

Pete

I actually did use the newer Apple settings. I modified one so that the data rates were comparable to what they were in my previous example. So I'm afraid, that's not the issue.

Perhaps I should start looking into other applications to replace Compressor. Any suggestions for what does a good job?

Thanks very much.



Mitchell Rose

[www.mitchellrose.com]

I recently encountered my first time having problems with Compressor 2 -- MPEG-2s made from self-contained Uncompressed 10-bit movie files, using two different Compressor 2 presets have motion artifacts after burning to a bare-bones DVD (menu, four buttons) using DVD Studio Pro. I couldn't nail down the cause of the issue, but found that if I used the Uncompressed 10-bit movies directly in DVDSP, the artifacts weren't there.

from my experience compressor is a total waste of drive space...

That's interesting - i had something that had artifacts all over the place with everything I tried, but didn't try DVDSP directly. It's a done project now, but I think I'll give this a go to see if it works.

why is it that some times we just can't let go of our failuers? :-)

thanks,

harry D



HarryD

the irony of that last line is just too much...

HarryD



HarryD

how do we compress the movies for dvd release or internet display? The QT movies are usually 300 MB to several gigs; they need to be compressed. I'm bewildered by some of the comments :-)

> how do we compress the movies for dvd release or internet display?

Two separate issues. In DVD media, original picture quality and data rate don't matter -- length in real time is the main factor.

vic, what the heck are you talking about? im really not following.

you can bypass compressor all together going to dvdstudio by exporting a reference movie. and for the web, there are about a dozen better ways to export a web ready movie that kick the snot out of what fcp or compressor can do.

"how do we compress the movies for dvd release or internet display?"
Cleaner still works and there is Sorenson Squeeze.

I am sill amazed at the quality/size ratio of the "Export To iPod" setting in QT Pro. It is the best thing I have seen anywhere.

The trick to have it work on a web page?

1) Convert the associated application of the movie to "QuickTime Player" in the Get Info dialog box. It is "iTunes" by default.

2) In the Command-J dialog box un-check, and then re-check the video check box. This will require a Save and will create a new file (but NOT recompress the image). This is strange, but do it anyway!

3) make sure the ".mov" suffix is at the end of the file name.

Works flawlessly and is the best thing my producers or I have seen.

-Christopher Johnson

>>> Works flawlessly and is the best thing my producers or I have seen. <<<

That iTunes MPEG4 is the best thing you guys have every seen?? You gotta get out more Those clips are very chunky. Sorenson is so clean, you can read DISCLAIMERS at 320x240.



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Yes, I stand by my comment. Sorenson3 is nice and handles low-motion well and graphics, but requires larger files than the setting I cited. But for regular motion footage the H.624 sweet spot of the iPod settings can do as much as Sorenson, and superior fades and dissolves, at a much less file size.

In other words, file size is a major consideration in my opinion.

And QT Pro is only $30.

I am no compression expert, but just an editor who sends my edits to producers for approval. We did in-house studies between Sorenson3, MPEG-4, and the sweet-spot H.264 for iPod setting. The best image quality vs. size was H.624.

Please let me know of something that does a better speed/file size/picture quality ratio and I will look at it as a replacement.

CJ,

We'll just disagree then

I am no compression expert either. I learned by trial & error. Like I mentioned in many threads past...it's not just the compression you use (Sorenson, H.264, etc) but the COMPRESSOR that is doing the encoding. I export QT Refs out of FCP and drag them into Cleaner 6.5. Incredible results (IMHO). If you would like to see an example of a Cleaner compressed clip (:30 sec/3.74 MB/320x240/29.97/QDesign Music 2-Stereo-44.1k) with many variations in gradation, here ya go:

[www.digidojo.net]

- Joey



Post Edited (07-21-06 10:00)

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

thats nice work joey! is that all you?

As with any new (compression) tool, take a 10 second clip with fast and slow motion and test your settings till you got the best they can be.

I'm one of those who happen to like Compressor 2. Not saying it's perfect, but the network rendering saved my a** a few times already.

I side with Derek about the 10-bit issue. It really makes a difference if you drop in an 8-bit or a 10-bit file.

Talking about assumptions, doe anyone else have the impression that H.264 is optimized for footage with film grain? Or is it just THAT much better than MPEG2 in terms of detail preservation?

Frank

I like to work with what I have. I'm an independent filmmaker editing his own movies, so I don't like to rush out and buy $50,000 worth of plugins :-) I understand that it makes sense to keep up with the latest technological innovations for editors working for clients in the industry; they want the best and the latest. I too like Compressor 2 and I've been able to put out a pretty good trailer using Compressor. You can check it out at:
[www.releasing.net]

And thanks, Wayne, for the tip about using DVD SP straight by simply dropping a reference QT movie into it. I was wasting so much time and effort by always making self-contained movies and compressing them first.