Quicktime Conversion to Mpeg-2 - petition Apple?

Hey all --

So, I guess it's official, and Apple has done away with the ability to export to Mpeg-2/AIFF directly from the timeline. I don't know about any of you, but this was a function I used almost every day. The files in DVDSP worked great, but most importantly, encoding using Compressor or DVDSP takes much, much longer. It's totally killing my workflow.

Do any of you agree that the function should come back? Is there any way to petition Apple to put it back in their next round of updates?

I welcome your thoughts. I really, really, really miss doing it this way, and if many more people do, maybe we can try to convince Apple to change its mind.

thanks all
Karl

if your end goal is DVDSP, just export a reference movie from the FCP timeline and bypass the whole situation

I agree with Karl, though -- I don't see a reason why that functionality should be taken out of FCP and QuickTime export options.

I think the crux of the issue might be why Compressor 2 suddenly became so slow. As far as I can tell, it takes me less time to make MPEG-2s using Compressor 1 on my home Dual 2GHz G5 than on the office Dual 2.7GHz G5, using Compressor 2. Because of this, these days I also usually bypass Compressor and use full-quality (self-contained, though, in my case -- my preference, because I also have to go out to tape usually) QuickTime movies straight into DVD Studio Pro. Another reason is that I've had at least two projects whose full-quality self-contained movie files were fine, but if I made an MPEG-2 using Compressor, they artifacted like crazy once burnt to DVD.


www.derekmok.com

doesn't the DVDSP use the same encoding engine as Compressor? (or Compressor is the engine)
This is sort of flips me out, because i just started encoding two projects with 8 hours worth of videos with ref movies dropped into compressor 2 with 2-pass...

I sort of noticed that the encoding speed is faster in the DVDSP, but never timed it so... and DVDSP doesn't really give a estimated finishing time.

And some of my encoding experiences with compressor 2 actually had better quality than DVDSP encode...

that happened when i made motion menu in AE then output to DV-NTSC then dropped into DVDSP... the picture ended up to be softer and out-of-focus looking. When first encoded into mpeg 2 with compressor, then dropped into the DVDSP the picture was nice and clear...

> This is sort of flips me out, because i just started encoding two projects with 8 hours worth of
> videos with ref movies dropped into compressor 2 with 2-pass...

Reference movies take a hell of a lot longer for Compressor and DVD Studio Pro to deal with. Remember that concert you helped Penny prep? DVD Studio Pro was beachballing like mad because it had to deal with a reference movie. So the movie file you'd dropped into DVDSP was still referencing an hour and 10 minutes worth of clips, media, render files, titles etc. The time you save at the export stage in FCP, you pay for in the sluggishness of DVD Studio Pro, and it bogs down the design. We ended up wiping out the reference movies and redoing the export, self-contained. No problems after that.

I always use self-contained movies. No exceptions. Try outputting to tape with reference vs. self-contained movies on an hour-long show and you'll see a huge difference. I'm with Koz on this one -- if you don't have enough storage space for a self-contained movie file of your show, then you don't have enough storage space, period, for the editing job.

> I sort of noticed that the encoding speed is faster in the DVDSP, but never timed it so... and
> DVDSP doesn't really give a estimated finishing time.

It used to be faster by going through Compressor first, because if you do, the MPEG-2 is already made and DVD Studio Pro's Build time decreases significantly. And that decrease is multiplied if you're doing multiple burns on separate occasions.

However, lately Compressor 2 seemed to have slowed down a huge deal. I have no idea why. These days, I often skip it.

> And some of my encoding experiences with compressor 2 actually had better quality than
> DVDSP encode...

You get more control with Compressor.


www.derekmok.com

hey derek, ive never A/B'd a self contained vs. a reference movie. is there any quality diff in the final DVD's or is it just a time issue for you.

> ive never A/B'd a self contained vs. a reference movie. is there any quality diff in the final
> DVD's or is it just a time issue for you.

I'm the wrong person to ask here because I haven't used reference movies enough to have a sufficiently wide sample pool. In my case, it's very rare that I finish a show that doesn't have to go to tape. So to make a reference movie just for the DVD is a waste of time, because reference movies don't output to tape nearly as well.

I remember having read some people in here who claim that reference movies look better than self-contained movies. I haven't seen evidence to that end yet.


www.derekmok.com

Well, in my experience, M2V files from Compressor take an extremely long time to create. The encoding in DVDSP is faster, but not as fast as going right out of FCP to M2V. I know how to make a DVD from self-contained or reference movies; a big reason why I made M2V files right from Final Cut is because it cuts down on the steps one needs to take to create a DVD, I had a good amount of control in creating the M2V files right from FCP, and I didn't have ridiculous encoding wait times.

The point is, this was a small bit of funtionality that Apple took away for no apparent reason. I think that if enough people asked for it back, maybe Apple would bring it back.

Also, when I install Flip4Mac, suddenly FCP allows me to export the timeline as WMV. When I install Flash, FCP allows me to export as FLV. These are just codecs. How hard would it be for Apple to create a codec to bring back the Mpeg-2 export feature?

I agree completely that MPEG2 export is handy and we were sorry to see it go. We were so sorry that we didn't let it go. All our coding is done on a FCP 4.5 machine that still has MPEG2 export. The users went over to the new FCP5 machine and came right back. "You're joking, right?"

No, unfortunately, Apple wasn't joking.

There is a way to put MPEG2 export back into FCP5, but it involved juggling licenses and you need to be something of a Systems Operator to do it.

MPEG2 Export is not without it's problems. It's sloppy about its bitrates and we have occasionally noticed field flicker problems that come and go at random. But it's fast as a horny dude on prom night which most times trumps everything else.

Koz

Heya Koz --

Me too -- I have a backup of my old FCP5 drive just for this function as well!

You say there's a way to rig the function back. If we can't get Apple to just put it back in, nobody the wiser, I wonder -- do you think some FCP geek out there like Graeme (no offense G -- you're the best FCP geek out there) could write a downloadable codec? Something to put into the Quicktime library, like Filp4Mac does with WMV, to "revive" the export M2V/AIFF function? I'll buy that for $19.95 with no qualms if it worked just like it used to.

Maybe this is a dead-horse issue, but I am still stuck on the ridiculous notion that Apple took it away for no good reason, and, dammit, I want it back! Do you think we can do anything about it? Isn't anyone in this forum an Apple programmer?

I'm not going down without a fight. Koz, are we the only ones who care about this?

k

They didn't exactly take it away from us, they just failed to put it back. This is the dirigible docking station on top of the Empire State Building problem. It's still there and functional, you just can't exactly use it.

[systemsboy.blogspot.com]

Google your brains out. This is the one with the most complete instructions. We couldn't get it to work because some of our installations are "owned" by the System Adminnistrators and we couldn't get them to cooperate.

Darn those people.

Koz

Hi everybody,

I want my Quicktime back. Do encounter exactly the same problem. Can it be put back again?

Dietmar
www.playloud.org