Compressor does a really good job of compressing video for the web, or DVD. But, what if you want to change the image size? Well, Compressor does that too – in the Geometry tab. This article shows you how.
I ran into an interesting problem over the weekend that I want to share with you because the solution is more complex than at first blush. Here’s the problem: I was asked to create a video for posting on line. The video had two components: me on camera talking, and screen shots, both of which were different sizes and formats. This article describes the process of creating a single, compressed file composed of multiple format video.
In this article, various problems with playback are addressed and answered.
Larry diagnoses a subscriber’s problems with burning DVDs and makes recommendations (altering compression bit-rates, etc.) towards finding a solution.
When compressing an H.264 file, whether in QuickTime, Final Cut Pro, or Compressor, an option you may see is called “Frame Reordering.” This article explains, briefly, what it is and when you should use it.
Nothing drives us more nuts than having to wait for our systems to render transitions and effects. Reader Don Smith sent in this technique for reducing the time you spend waiting for Final Cut Pro to render.
JPEGs are highly compressed, which means they often show blockiness or other image artifacts. However, they tend to have smaller file sizes. TIFFs are uncompressed with great image quality. However, their file sizes tend to be lots bigger. All things being equal, I recommend using TIFFs.
The issue of converting to ProRes is addressed along with a walk-through of the pros and cons of the different version.
This article is based on research done by William Aleman, who sent instructions and links on how to embed metadata into H.264 files. Some interesting reading!
DVDs are always standard definition video. Which means that if you shot your project in HD, you need to down-convert it to SD before you can put it onto a DVD. This short article describes what you need to know.
By definition, all DVDs are only standard-def (SD). If you need high-def, you need to create Blu-ray Discs, which are not the same thing. But what if you want to take HD material and put it on a DVD? You need to convert it. And this article, describes how.
Larry fields a question related to transferring HDV footage and traces the problem back to the process of compressing the video. A walk-through of changing the output settings in the Geometry tab provides a detailed guide to preventing this problem from reoccurring.
Adding subtitles is something DVD Studio Pro is very good at. But sometimes, importing a subtitle file doesn’t work. This explains why and how to fix it.
What’s the best way to get the highest quality video images during export? DV, especially, looks particularly poor when you view it in QuickTime. This article explains what’s going on and what you need to know to make your exported video look as good as it possibly can.
Money was tight, so “they” decided to shoot the project using both SD and HD cameras. Now, your stuck editing them. HOW??? In this article, we explains a variety of ways you can intercut between SD and HD material, and how to avoid problems with poorly converted video.
QuickTime does not always properly display 16:9 video. This means that iDVD may not accurately compress your video in the correct image aspect ratio. This article explains what you need to do to fix this problem.
Larry fields a few questions regarding DVD problems from transcoding HD to SD, the advantages of Blu-Ray, and more.
The best way to export from FCP is reexamined with new attention given to changes in distribution mediums. Also, Larry provides a detailed explanation of how he exports files from Final Cut.
Adding DVD chapter markers to a QuickTime movie is reasonably easy. But how do you do this for H.264 compressed video. This article describes what you need to know.
Chapter markers are frequently used in DVD production. However, you can also put them in QuickTime movies to simplify navigation. However, compressing using H.264 makes this process a bit more difficult. But not impossible, as this article explains how to do it.
What are the disadvantages of using DV, rather than SD, video? This discussion also features comments from a variety of readers.
DV provides outstanding quality, until it comes to compositing and chroma-keying. This article discusses the differences between 4:4:4, 4:2:2 and 4:1:1 color space and how it affects DV video.
When using Compressor on Final Cut Pro 7 and multiple users are using the same computer using different log-ins, if editor one submits a batch through Compressor, waits for the job to finish, then logs out, when the second editor logs in and submits a job to Compressor, they will get a “Share Failure” error.
Why doesn’t MP3 audio play nicely with Final Cut Pro? The answer is because Final Cut Pro was invented to support only uncompressed audio files. There are only three audio formats that Final Cut supports: AIF (and AIFF), WAV (and Broadcast WAV), and SDII. All compressed formats (like MP3 and AAC) need to be converted into an uncompressed format before you can edit them.
Final Cut does not like, in fact, it HATES, putting compressed audio files (MP3, AC3, AAC) in the Timeline. They sound awful. Instead, you need to convert your compressed audio to AIF before importing them into Final Cut Pro. This technique describes how.
UK-based editor, Ben King, contributed a series of thoughts on the best options to consider when you need to convert NTSC video to PAL, or PAL to NTSC. This short article is a quick discussion of your options, along with suggestions on where to go for more information.
The native format of HDV isn’t QuickTime, it’s .M2T. However, FCP can’t play M2T files – it needs to convert them. There are two ways you can do this — using Compressor or using MPEG StreamClip. This article shows you how.
You may have heard that Final Cut sequences can be customized. But what you may not know is how significantly you can make changes — as long as you don’t want to play the results on a DVD or record them to video tape. In this article, I’ll show you how to change the size of your sequence to any size you want.
Data rates measure the speed of all things digital – hard disks, the internet, the internal components of your computer. This short article explains what data rates are, how they are measured, and the differences between “bits per second” and “bytes per second.”
Most of the time the default settings in Compressor are not too bad. But, sometimes, problems arise when down-converting high-def material to standard-def (HD to SD). In this case, if you are getting images that look worse than you expect, try this two-step process (called “pre-compression”) and see if your image quality improves.
Droplets are great for automatiing video compression. Create your settings once, then use the droplet.
If you’ve ever compared the quality of your DV movies in Final Cut to what they look like in QuickTime, you can very quickly become suicidal. Why does QuickTime make your images look so bad? This quick article explains.
I’ve taught this technique in my classes for a long time, but recently discovered that I have not written about it. When you are compressing a QuickTime movie for a DVD, the default settings for video and audio compression may need to be tweaked.
There are a variety of ways to export a project from Final Cut Pro for a DVD. This article showcases the best way to do it if you are using Final Cut Pro 6.x. (FCP 7 users may want to consider using Share or Send, which this article doesn’t cover.)
In the category of “you don’t know what you don’t know,” here’s an interesting piece of trivia. Ever wonder what that checkbox called “Little Endian” means when you are saving audio? This article tell you so you can now impress your friends.
There are a variety of ways to export a project from Final Cut Pro for a DVD. This article showcases the best way to do it if you are using Final Cut Pro 6.x. (FCP 7 users may want to consider using Share or Send, which this article doesn’t cover.)
One of the current limitations of Final Cut Studio is that it does not natively support creating Flash video output from a Final Cut Pro sequence. However, all is not lost. This article describes three different ways you can get what you want.
As we move away from tape and into tapeless video, questions about how to best archive our projects take on a new importance. For many, the issue revolves around the hardware we use to archive. But there is a second question: what video format do we want to use to store our files for the long-term. In this dialog with Philip Hodgetts, we examine this very complex issue and provide some guidance.
AVCHD Discs are a nice compromise between full-HD Blu-ray Discs, and the standard def DVDs we’ve all been using for the last 20 years. While, currently, Final Cut Studio can not create Blu-ray Discs, it can create a version of Blu-ray called “AVCHD.” This article explains what AVCHD Discs are, why you would use them, and how you create them.
In this article I want to give you some suggestions on proper selection of compression bit-rates; as well as how to improve the compatibility of the CDs and DVDs that you burn.
We toss around terms like 8-bit depth, or 10-bit depth, even 12-bit depth. But what do those terms actually mean? Does it make a difference what bit depth we work in? The answer is yes. Bit-depth determines how accurately we can digitally represent an image, compared to reality. This article provides more detail without going into too much tech.
In spite of the hype, optical media is not dead. The two variations for HD media – AVCHD and Blu-ray Discs – are still valuable tools in an editor’s toolkit. In this article, David Scott writes about his success in using Blu-ray Discs to meet the needs of his project.
In Final Cut Pro 7 is the File > Share option which allows us to export a sequence from Final Cut and compress it for YouTube. This article, and comments, show you how this works.
In this article Larry exhibits how to maintain better control over your clips with QuickTime.
After years of using Compressor Droplets to automate video compression, a very helpful tip has been discovered to engineer Droplets to contain multiple settings. Larry illustrates this simple and innovative process.
