Nest Practices for Splitting Files these days

I just read post [www.lafcpug.org] , but I don't want to hijack it.

I'm curious what is the best practice these days for splitting .mov files?

The 1440x1080 .mov from FCP is 70-min and 36GB.

I travel constantly, and carry my entire edit suite in my carry-on bag - 1 MacMini, 10 portable HDDs, to accommodate airline baggage rules...

36GB is 4 hours in Compressor, to get the mpeg-2 that my VOD service wants. I don't want to put that continuous stress on my Mac (2.5GHz, 8GB RAM). I'd to break up the file into parts, chapters, and let the Mac rest in-between duty cycles.

I wish FCP (7 or X) had the option to output chapters as separate files. There's plenty of other programs, think PDF, that output parts (pages) as separate files...

I downloaded FCP X, and might install it this weekend. I created a new "user" on my Mac named "FCPX", hoping that will help me have both FCP 7 and FCP X coexist on the same machine, at least during the 30-day trial.

So am I wrong that FCP 7 can't output chapters as separate files?

FCP X?

Can I set Compressor to do chunks, in separate files, and rest in-between?

Is there a piece of software that allows you to set breaking points, and then save the file in pieces?

What do you do, and use?

Independent photographer, film maker and Producer. In the wonderful UK.

QuickTime Player is able to split files easily...but I don't know what it does to timecode and playback smoothness. I use it for casual viewing purposes, never for "real" jobs like DVD export. I usually do it the old-fashioned (and long-winded) way and output separate chunks from the timeline.


www.derekmok.com

quick terminology check:

theres on one-step way to export a SEQUENCE into separate chunks based on CHAPTER MARKERS.
there would a ways to do it based on a few steps, but are you working with a sequence, or a single clip / file?

in that case MARKERS in the clip can easy be converted to subclips that can be batch exported.
you can batch export as reference movies (non self contained) which would make it fast.

if your file is an export from a sequence that had chapter markers, FCP doesn't see those markers anymore, unfortunately.
v simple to add them back:
DUPE the edit sequence w the markers,
delete the contents,
place the export in the sequence
select it,
no navigate marker to maker (shift down arrow) and just add a marker each time (m)
so :
shift down arrow, m, shift down arrow, m, shift down arrow, m, . etc.

export file now has all the markers,
copy / paste back to browser (dont drag)
toggle the marker triangle,
grab all markers,
Apple U to make subclips.

if you r timeline is bristling with markers other than chapter markers, open the project settings, (can never remember way menu that's under)
and turn off marker colours there than purple.
(should work, although i haven't done this)


hope that helps,
nick