Huge roadblock outputting video for SOUND editing. Need immediate advice.

[Tyler Purcell]

Just to throw into the mix but I'm wondering if MPEG streamclip can help in this situation,

perhaps running on the mac although there is a more limited PC version too.

 

It has the advantage of being easy to use and small if it can help.

Mpeg Stream Clip can open the back door of quicktime and encode Pro Res no problem at all. Though that would be on a mac and not a PC. I think the PC version, has no access to quicktime.

 

Bigger problem is I believe Mpeg Stream Clip strips the source of timecode. So when you export, you won't have any reference, which is a problem.

[Tyler Purcell]

On the MPEG theme, you can get intra frame codecs such as Matrox, which get used as editing intermediates.

But can't be played back in Pro Tools or Logic.

 

Also, nobody uses MPEG for editing intermediates. In fact, my roommate works for one of the top archiving/distribution companies in L.A. and they don't accept MPEG, only Pro Res and sometimes DNX.

 

There really isn't an MPEG format, exportable by a computer that can compete with Pro Res because the workable i-Frame formats are limited in bandwidth. You can't just turn it up if you want less compression noise, you're stuck to whatever compression scheme the format is.

 

Pro Res and DNX are variable bit rate codec's, so depending on how hard you hit them, they will compensate and keep the quality high. Plus, there are a much wider rage of compression schemes to choose from.

 

Also, because Pro Res is a CPU based codec, it doesn't require a fast GPU for playback, making it perfect for post production where your GPU will be busy doing on the fly rendering. I'll also mention that Pro Res XQ is a lossless codec.

[John E Clark]

The OP may have run out of time... but how good would the DNxHD codec or the like from Avid, which I think they 'opened' the source to allow 3rd party applications to use it, would be for this sort of problem.

 

One problem with the OP's post... is they did not indicate what tools they have now to deal with making a package to send to the sound person...

[Brian Drysdale]

But can't be played back in Pro Tools or Logic.

 

Also, nobody uses MPEG for editing intermediates. In fact, my roommate works for one of the top archiving/distribution companies in L.A. and they don't accept MPEG, only Pro Res and sometimes DNX.

 

 

They're not used on professional productions, but they are available: http://www.matrox.com/video/en/support/windows/vfw_software_codecs/downloads/softwares/version1.0/

 

These were used during the public testing of Lightworksbeta (V10) in 2010 as a handy free codec for everyone before the final release version . I believe some professionals did use it on their productions (corporates etc I assume), it took some time to ween some users off it because it didn't cost anything and they got a reasonable quality master. Some consumer level users still use it when converting variable frame rate devices to a constant frame rate before importing into Lightworks (which can use the industry standard intermediates as well).

[Keith Walters]

Anything you refer to directly, as "ffmpeg" rather than "d:\foo\bar\ffmpeg" needs to be alongside the batch file (or in the system path, but that's complicated). The present working directory of a batch file is the folder it was launched from.

 

That's what I did, but the batch file still isn't finding it.

But if I force the same command prompt window to stay open, and type in FFMPEG followed by enter, it then runs.

Perhaps there's something in the Win 7 setup.

[Phil Rhodes]

 

 

That's what I did, but the batch file still isn't finding it.

 

Then something else is going on, like a typo, because that's been a basic of batch files since batch files have existed.

 

P

[Keith Walters]

 

Then something else is going on, like a typo, because that's been a basic of batch files since batch files have existed.

 

P

Aha!

The click and drag bit only works if the source file is in the same folder as FFMPEG.exe

This batch file works with files dragged from anywhere:

 

cd C:\- FFMPEG

 

ffmpeg -probesize 5000000 -i %1 -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 -qscale:v 11 -vendor ap10 -c:a pcm_s16le -pix_fmt yuv422p10le -chunk_duration 500000 prores_output.mov

 

pause

 

(I've got it in a folder called "- FFMPEG"; the minus sign makes it float to the top of the folder list).

Bit of a bummer; I was thinking I could compile a "suite" of Batch files for common output formats, and just distribute it as a zip file.

That way you'd have a first class converter system that you could update by simply downloading the latest version of FFMPEG.

 

Not a total show-stopper I suppose; you'd just have to have everything zipped into a folder called FFMPEG, with instructions to copy it into the C drive root directory.

 

Actually, this might be a better approach :

ffmpeg -probesize 5000000 -i %1 -c:v prores_ks -profile:v 3 -qscale:v 11 -vendor ap10 -c:a pcm_s16le -pix_fmt yuv422p10le -chunk_duration 500000 %1.mov

 

That way, the MOV file is created in the same directory as the source file, with the same name, but with .mov added, so picnic.mp4 becomes picnic.mp4.mov

[Phil Rhodes]

Oh, yes, if you drag-and-drop it'll be working in the directory the dropped file is in.

 

The directory change should sort that out and %1 will still point to the dropped file.

 

Putting spaces in filenames is a recipe for pain, however.

 

P

[John E Clark]

I recommend Linux or Mac OS if one wants to futz with command line activities.

 

The DOS... shell that Windows keeps around is very 'broken' relative to even remote user friendliness considerations, and the command options were intentionally made to be 'different' than the Unix Shell of ca. 1980 vintage. Legend has it that Bill was so worried about being sued by Bell Labs aka ATT, that he required the shell not have any 'look/feel' like the unix shell... (such as using the '/' for command options, or the '\' for the file path separator...).

 

When forced to use a Windows box, I usually install cigwin and then get a bash shell.

 

But in any case, space in file names is a pain... After years, I finally got the wife to put "_" in place of " " in her file naming conventions, or use CapitalLetters to break words without a space.

Edited September 20, 2016 by John E Clark

[Aapo Lettinen]

yep, don't use spaces or any special characters in a filename (like ÅÄÖ / ? + & % etc) . the _ is normal way to replace space in filename and works in most systems. you may also want to make the filename as short as possible for compatibility but it is not that critical in most systems as long as you can identify the versions from the first about 15 characters without reading the whole 200 character long filename...

 

it is also a good idea to add render day, video and audio format and version number to the filename, it may be really painful to try to locate the right version if you have million almost similar looking files which are all named "new", "newest", "even newer" , "final version", "final version corrected", "use this" or "use that" etc. I normally add the render day first (year_month_day) so that the versions can be easilly arranged and located in Finder without needing to read the descriptions.

[Keith Walters]

None of that had anything to do with the problem I was having. You have to know where to use quotes in handling Windows paths, but it's not rocket science.

If you really want to be bulletproof, don't use any more than 8 alphanumeric characters for file or folder names. That way, the Windows and "DOS" versions of the names will be identical.

Anyway enough of the PC bashing. The simple reality is, there's a bloody sight more Windows machines out there doing a vastly bigger range of jobs than any other format, so it's not surprising that things fall off occasionally. There's also a huge amount of custom-written business and industrial software that has to run on every new generation of Windows, or Microsoft will very quickly find themselves of a job. Almost invariably, alleged software compatibility problems turn out to be due to slackarse computer manufacturers not wanting to update their drivers.

I've still got DOS software from the 1980s that will run under Windows 10; OK the hardware support is long gone, but it shows Microsoft know what side their bread is buttered on. You're lucky if Apple software can bridge two generations of operating system, which is why it is still a minority platform.

[Phil Rhodes]

Personally I think it's a minority platform because it generally costs at least 50% over the odds, but that's just me.

[David Hessel]

How about DNxHD?

[John E Clark]

How about DNxHD?

 

I asked that earlier... I think Resolve Lite supports DNxHD and would provide a 'cheap' editing capability along with output in a intermediate format useable by an audio tool...

 

Since I have Premiere and Audition, I use Resolve mostly for color work.

[John E Clark]

I've still got DOS software from the 1980s that will run under Windows 10; OK the hardware support is long gone, but it shows Microsoft know what side their bread is buttered on. You're lucky if Apple software can bridge two generations of operating system, which is why it is still a minority platform.

 

I can still run my PDP-11 machine code on a FreeBSD or Linux emulator... if I wanted...

 

Unfortunately I don't have a 9 track mag tape reader working any more... and the 1/4 inch Archive tapes of about 1983 vintage are in an unreadable format...

 

Then there's the U-Matics I bought a while ago to transfer some old video projects to the modern age...