Here's a handy FREE app to convert Audio pretty painlessly.
MediaHuman Audio Converter
It's pretty straight forward in use. Drag audio files in, set output format and hit go.
Don't forget to head to preferences and set it's output destination to someplace you'd like first. I set it to source folder, the default is in iTunes' music folder.
Showing posts with label handy software. Show all posts
Showing posts with label handy software. Show all posts
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Friday, July 5, 2013
Your Startup Disk is Almost Full
I was editing on a computer that I don't normally use today and suddenly Mac OS X yells that Your Startup Disk is Almost Full, from out of no where.
Being on a machine I've never used before I had no way of knowing what had been done to it. Usually this stuff is caused by caches, render files or someone setting the capture folder to the wrong place, or a surprising amount of the time, multiple exported full-res versions of a project.
I looked around at macupdate and found an app called DiskWave which shows sizes of folders in a pretty simple to use format.
In this case it was Adobe's Cache folders in the user's Library folder, about 5 GBs worth. I trashed 'em without asking the client and went on working.
So if you run out of space this little free app is pretty handy.
Being on a machine I've never used before I had no way of knowing what had been done to it. Usually this stuff is caused by caches, render files or someone setting the capture folder to the wrong place, or a surprising amount of the time, multiple exported full-res versions of a project.
I looked around at macupdate and found an app called DiskWave which shows sizes of folders in a pretty simple to use format.
In this case it was Adobe's Cache folders in the user's Library folder, about 5 GBs worth. I trashed 'em without asking the client and went on working.
So if you run out of space this little free app is pretty handy.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Conversion - A Video Transcoder
Conversion is a new video transcoder that's as of this post in beta but it seems promising.
It's FREE as of right now (beta) and transcodes many formats into many (including wmv for those clients) other formats, thanks to it's use of ffmpeg. It claims DVD encoding support but I haven't tried that yet.
Give it a try and see what you think.
It's FREE as of right now (beta) and transcodes many formats into many (including wmv for those clients) other formats, thanks to it's use of ffmpeg. It claims DVD encoding support but I haven't tried that yet.
Give it a try and see what you think.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Amazing Free Online Toolset for Video and Editors
Michael Cinquin has a pretty amazing page with some handy FREE online tools that you may want to bookmark.
I'm on the road (again) and needed to convert a .srt subtitle file to .stl and his online converter worked beautifully.
Check it out and see if anything is helpful to you and drop him a thank you note if you have the time.
There is help for Final Cut Pro, RedCode, Conforming sounds, Subtitles...and lots more.
I'm on the road (again) and needed to convert a .srt subtitle file to .stl and his online converter worked beautifully.
Check it out and see if anything is helpful to you and drop him a thank you note if you have the time.
There is help for Final Cut Pro, RedCode, Conforming sounds, Subtitles...and lots more.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
How to convert a single audio file to separate ones with a .cue file
A client sent me a link to their FTP server of a VO for a project I'm cutting. It turns out that whatever place they used to record the VO, I guess, just left their equipment recording while the VO talent read the script.
Meaning, it's one giant 400 MB .Flac file.
A, why they sent it as a .Flac file is beyond me.
B, why it's one large file is equally beyond me other than they literally never hit pause during the entire recording session, which is exactly what it sounds like they did.
Hearing the client "direct" the professional voice over talent is priceless btw…
But, at least they provided a .cue file.
Seriously. I know.
So my task was to either complain and loose my job and sanity -imagine trying to explain .flac, .mp3 and .cue files to a client- or just find a way to break them up myself.
One solution would be to dump the audio into Final Cut and just Control + V at all the gaps or actually listen to it all and copy paste into new timelines or make subclips or something else equally archaic. Another way was to use an app to cut the audio when it encounters silence but that would likely lead to it cutting at pauses in long sentences.
It turns out it's easier than I had thought. First off Toast won't due it easily (if at all) which was my first thought and attempt. I didn't make much progress with it -it seems the more Toast is updated the more confused it becomes as to what it's main function is- but I did remember a cool little free app called Max that I had used a long time ago so I did what I usually do when awakening an old app…look for any updates first.
Looking at some software sites I saw that Max hadn't been updated in a while but as a "related" search item I saw the FREE app XLD which is an acronym for "X Lossless Decoder" which I knew of but never had much use for outside of the odd conversion.
Now, while Max would likely work I decided to try XLD because it was more recently updated, by a lot.
What you need to do to break up a single file into separate audio files using a provided .cue file (technically you could make your own) is this:
1. Drag your .cue file onto XLD. It'll launch.
2. After XLD's window appears look at the left column. There you'll see the main recording. Make sure it's highlighted and active and you'll see the list of individual tracks on the right in the main window.
3. Hit Command + Comma for XLD's preferences.
4. In the Preferences window select the Output Format you want (double check the Options button if you need precise control of the output format, say for like a TV station or something), then set the Output Directory to where ever you'd like it. You can also set things like the format of the file name and the Maximum number of Threads here. Close the Preferences window.
5. Back in the main window hit the Transcode button and away you go.
Meaning, it's one giant 400 MB .Flac file.
A, why they sent it as a .Flac file is beyond me.
B, why it's one large file is equally beyond me other than they literally never hit pause during the entire recording session, which is exactly what it sounds like they did.
Hearing the client "direct" the professional voice over talent is priceless btw…
But, at least they provided a .cue file.
Seriously. I know.
So my task was to either complain and loose my job and sanity -imagine trying to explain .flac, .mp3 and .cue files to a client- or just find a way to break them up myself.
One solution would be to dump the audio into Final Cut and just Control + V at all the gaps or actually listen to it all and copy paste into new timelines or make subclips or something else equally archaic. Another way was to use an app to cut the audio when it encounters silence but that would likely lead to it cutting at pauses in long sentences.
It turns out it's easier than I had thought. First off Toast won't due it easily (if at all) which was my first thought and attempt. I didn't make much progress with it -it seems the more Toast is updated the more confused it becomes as to what it's main function is- but I did remember a cool little free app called Max that I had used a long time ago so I did what I usually do when awakening an old app…look for any updates first.
Looking at some software sites I saw that Max hadn't been updated in a while but as a "related" search item I saw the FREE app XLD which is an acronym for "X Lossless Decoder" which I knew of but never had much use for outside of the odd conversion.
Now, while Max would likely work I decided to try XLD because it was more recently updated, by a lot.
What you need to do to break up a single file into separate audio files using a provided .cue file (technically you could make your own) is this:
1. Drag your .cue file onto XLD. It'll launch.
2. After XLD's window appears look at the left column. There you'll see the main recording. Make sure it's highlighted and active and you'll see the list of individual tracks on the right in the main window.
3. Hit Command + Comma for XLD's preferences.
4. In the Preferences window select the Output Format you want (double check the Options button if you need precise control of the output format, say for like a TV station or something), then set the Output Directory to where ever you'd like it. You can also set things like the format of the file name and the Maximum number of Threads here. Close the Preferences window.
5. Back in the main window hit the Transcode button and away you go.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Adapter - Another FREE transcoder
I've been busy lately, and part of the reason I've been so busy is clients like to revive long dead projects so they can play them on the latest and greatest outdated video servers at TV stations.
When A client asked for a project that has been planted firmly in the video graveyard several years ago to be converted to "an mpeg two" I eventually got around to it.
Looking around I ran across a transcoder that I hadn't heard of before called Adapter. It's FREE and isn't all that bad for transcoding stuff. Here's the list they provide when they say "Convert anything to anything"
"3g2, 3gp, 4xm, RoQ, ac3, alaw, asf, asf_stream, au, audio_dice, avi, crc, daud, dc1394, s, dv, dv1394, dvd, ea, ffm, film_cpk, flic, flv, gif, h261, h263, h264, idcin, image, image2, image2pipe, imagepipe, ipmovie, m4v, matroska, mjpeg, mmf, mov, mov, mp4, m4a, 3gp, 3g2, mp2, mp3, mp4, mpeg, mpeg1video, mpeg2video, mpegts, mpegvideo, mpjpeg, mulaw, nsv, null, nut, ogg, psp, psxstr, rawvideo, redir, rm, rtp, rtsp, s16be, s16le, s8, sdp, shn, sol, svcd, swf, u16be, u16le, u8, vcd, video4linux, vmd, vob, wav, wc3movie, wsaud, wsvqa, yuv4mpegpipe"
As always, your milage may vary, but it's handy to know about and since it's free it's worth a shot.
When A client asked for a project that has been planted firmly in the video graveyard several years ago to be converted to "an mpeg two" I eventually got around to it.
Looking around I ran across a transcoder that I hadn't heard of before called Adapter. It's FREE and isn't all that bad for transcoding stuff. Here's the list they provide when they say "Convert anything to anything"
"3g2, 3gp, 4xm, RoQ, ac3, alaw, asf, asf_stream, au, audio_dice, avi, crc, daud, dc1394, s, dv, dv1394, dvd, ea, ffm, film_cpk, flic, flv, gif, h261, h263, h264, idcin, image, image2, image2pipe, imagepipe, ipmovie, m4v, matroska, mjpeg, mmf, mov, mov, mp4, m4a, 3gp, 3g2, mp2, mp3, mp4, mpeg, mpeg1video, mpeg2video, mpegts, mpegvideo, mpjpeg, mulaw, nsv, null, nut, ogg, psp, psxstr, rawvideo, redir, rm, rtp, rtsp, s16be, s16le, s8, sdp, shn, sol, svcd, swf, u16be, u16le, u8, vcd, video4linux, vmd, vob, wav, wc3movie, wsaud, wsvqa, yuv4mpegpipe"
As always, your milage may vary, but it's handy to know about and since it's free it's worth a shot.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
8mm Distress Kit goes HD
Back in 2009 (remember 2009? Your iPhone wasn't quite 3 years old yet and Slovakia just adopted the Euro) I reviewed a pretty spiffy piece of kit called the 8mm Distress Kit. Back then in the before-time™ it was in SD.
But, now, in the future world of today when your iPhone 4S shoots 1080HD footage the kit's gone Hi-Def, and only for a modest increase in price. What was then in then dollars was $35, is today, in today's dollars only $59.
In the virtual box you'll get 2 files which contain 28 clips sized at 1440x1080 running at 29.97 or 25fps if you swing that way.
The crazy thing is that this comes at the perfect time for me for a documentary that I've been working on for the past 86 years (well, it feels like 86 but if you want to get down to brass tacks, it's technically closer to 85) which involves super-8 footage and I wanted something to help me obtain some visual interest with some bland-talking-head interviews I've been handed which run the gamut from HD all the way down to SD DV tapes to even some (hold on to something) Flip footage. *gasp*
I think Mediapreview.net's HD 8mm Distress Kit is not only going to help make the documentary look like it cost more but I'll be able to invoice for more since it looks like it costs more which will make it cost more so it's all honest that way.
Check it out, give it a spin; there are some samples to play around with, a nifty little tutorial and more on their site. And with film going away, but people still having an intense interest in it's qualities (look at Instagram, lomography, me taking well over 11,000 photos with my nearly 8 year old cell phone just because they look "lo-fi" and cool), and the feature film Super-8, it looks like the super-8 look as well as the clean-slate innocence of that bygone time which accompanies it won't be forgotten soon.
It's funny; my assistant has never shot or touched film, never placed a needle on a phonograph record and has only seen 8-tracks on tv. He's never used a pay-phone or adjusted rabbit-ear antennas, either.
But there is something that speaks to us visually through the ages with film; there's a strange personal investment -or perhaps connection is a better word- in it when we see something shot on film, especially older formats like 8mm, super-8 and 9.5mm (look it up). There's some manner of ephemeral hypotactic permanence with it that digital just can't obtain. Sure digital is beautiful, the future and in many many ways better than film but the tangible hic et nunc of it is difficult for our minds to grasp; you have a pocketful of little digital cards or "files" tucked away in the dark recesses of a hard drive, unlike film where you can simultaneously see and hold history and memories and movement literally right in your hands...without needing any batteries.
Maybe it's the analog simplicity of it that encourages us to capture (and indeed slow down and notice) the simple things in life, and for that matter life itself. But then again, I'm old and have an 8 year old cell phone.
Give the kit a whirl and see how it changes the flavor of your footage, not just stylistically, but perceptually. To me it gifts digital footage with an import that it otherwise doesn't have. That's the language of film at work; that's why tilt-shifted footage looks miniature and in my mind and for my money, adding effects like what's in the distress kit makes footage as large as life.
But, now, in the future world of today when your iPhone 4S shoots 1080HD footage the kit's gone Hi-Def, and only for a modest increase in price. What was then in then dollars was $35, is today, in today's dollars only $59.
In the virtual box you'll get 2 files which contain 28 clips sized at 1440x1080 running at 29.97 or 25fps if you swing that way.
The crazy thing is that this comes at the perfect time for me for a documentary that I've been working on for the past 86 years (well, it feels like 86 but if you want to get down to brass tacks, it's technically closer to 85) which involves super-8 footage and I wanted something to help me obtain some visual interest with some bland-talking-head interviews I've been handed which run the gamut from HD all the way down to SD DV tapes to even some (hold on to something) Flip footage. *gasp*
I think Mediapreview.net's HD 8mm Distress Kit is not only going to help make the documentary look like it cost more but I'll be able to invoice for more since it looks like it costs more which will make it cost more so it's all honest that way.
Check it out, give it a spin; there are some samples to play around with, a nifty little tutorial and more on their site. And with film going away, but people still having an intense interest in it's qualities (look at Instagram, lomography, me taking well over 11,000 photos with my nearly 8 year old cell phone just because they look "lo-fi" and cool), and the feature film Super-8, it looks like the super-8 look as well as the clean-slate innocence of that bygone time which accompanies it won't be forgotten soon.
It's funny; my assistant has never shot or touched film, never placed a needle on a phonograph record and has only seen 8-tracks on tv. He's never used a pay-phone or adjusted rabbit-ear antennas, either.
But there is something that speaks to us visually through the ages with film; there's a strange personal investment -or perhaps connection is a better word- in it when we see something shot on film, especially older formats like 8mm, super-8 and 9.5mm (look it up). There's some manner of ephemeral hypotactic permanence with it that digital just can't obtain. Sure digital is beautiful, the future and in many many ways better than film but the tangible hic et nunc of it is difficult for our minds to grasp; you have a pocketful of little digital cards or "files" tucked away in the dark recesses of a hard drive, unlike film where you can simultaneously see and hold history and memories and movement literally right in your hands...without needing any batteries.
Maybe it's the analog simplicity of it that encourages us to capture (and indeed slow down and notice) the simple things in life, and for that matter life itself. But then again, I'm old and have an 8 year old cell phone.
Give the kit a whirl and see how it changes the flavor of your footage, not just stylistically, but perceptually. To me it gifts digital footage with an import that it otherwise doesn't have. That's the language of film at work; that's why tilt-shifted footage looks miniature and in my mind and for my money, adding effects like what's in the distress kit makes footage as large as life.
Friday, October 14, 2011
box.net and 50 GBs FREE storage
If you're anything like me clients are forever loosing the projects you hand then on DVD, Data-DVD, CD, Flash Drives, copy to their hard drive, hand them hard drives, upload to their FTP server, can't figure out file hosting sites CAPTCHAs, etc... ad infinitum.
SO...it just happens that box.net, a competitor to DropBox is offering for a limited time a full 50 GBs of storage FREE just for signing up.
You see where I'm going with this; while box.net doesn't have the Finder integration that DropBox does (and face reality, the client likely can't figure out anyway) it does have oodles of storage and an easy to use web interface and iOS compatibility (meaning your iPhone and iPad and iPod Touch).
You can upload a completed project to a box.net account, send (email) the client a URL to the file for them to download and then wait for the inevitable codec incompatibility calls to come in as per the usual.
But, at least they'll have the file and an email (which they'll lose) with a link to the file. Just make sure you Subject the email with the project name and the word "download" and yeah, I just used subject as a verb.
Better yet, create a box.bet account FOR THEM using their company so later on you can blame it all on them.
Update: To get the free space you may need to sign up with an iOS device like an iPhone or iPad, if you don't have one try it on a friends or run into an Apple store and set up the account.
I'm like that :)
SO...it just happens that box.net, a competitor to DropBox is offering for a limited time a full 50 GBs of storage FREE just for signing up.
You see where I'm going with this; while box.net doesn't have the Finder integration that DropBox does (and face reality, the client likely can't figure out anyway) it does have oodles of storage and an easy to use web interface and iOS compatibility (meaning your iPhone and iPad and iPod Touch).
You can upload a completed project to a box.net account, send (email) the client a URL to the file for them to download and then wait for the inevitable codec incompatibility calls to come in as per the usual.
But, at least they'll have the file and an email (which they'll lose) with a link to the file. Just make sure you Subject the email with the project name and the word "download" and yeah, I just used subject as a verb.
Better yet, create a box.bet account FOR THEM using their company so later on you can blame it all on them.
Update: To get the free space you may need to sign up with an iOS device like an iPhone or iPad, if you don't have one try it on a friends or run into an Apple store and set up the account.
I'm like that :)
Monday, September 26, 2011
Video Inspection Tools
If you get lots of strange formats and weird incompatibilities you've likely used a video inspector app before, maybe VideoSpec or Media Inspector.
A friend tipped me off to another one that's also FREE called iMediaHUD which is current and pretty spiffy. It even does folders of video clips.
I mention this because I had two clips allegedly from the same camera and one would become out of sync in the Timeline while the other wouldn't. Comparing the two with iMediaHUD showed some differences and I was able to sort it out.
It's free. Give it a whirl if you like to see some interesting specs on your video clips.
A friend tipped me off to another one that's also FREE called iMediaHUD which is current and pretty spiffy. It even does folders of video clips.
I mention this because I had two clips allegedly from the same camera and one would become out of sync in the Timeline while the other wouldn't. Comparing the two with iMediaHUD showed some differences and I was able to sort it out.
It's free. Give it a whirl if you like to see some interesting specs on your video clips.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Official VisualHub Update for Lion
Really.
It's here.
It's official.
It's free.
There have been a few (pretty complicated) ways to update VisualHub to get it to run under Lion and Kagi did somethings that maybe weren't really thought out well (and charged for it) but now there's a real-deal update that's free.
Unfortunately, it's likely the last update ever.
It's here.
It's official.
It's free.
There have been a few (pretty complicated) ways to update VisualHub to get it to run under Lion and Kagi did somethings that maybe weren't really thought out well (and charged for it) but now there's a real-deal update that's free.
Unfortunately, it's likely the last update ever.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
ffmpegx updated for Lion
I'm still not on the Lion train (officially) but some friends mentioned that ffmpegx has received an update so it's compatible with Lion, right here.
MakeMKV Updated
I love MKV and I have hopes that one day in the distant future people will standardize on it since it's such a great container format and an open standard.
I've been pushing mkv on clients for a while now and some who play things I do for them in lobbies on big tvs or on video boxes like WD TV Live or something don't care because it just works. Which is what I tell them, "Yup, .mkv just works," I'll say subtly pushing it into the recesses of their brains so they hopefully end up parroting it later to others.
Anyways, MakeMKV was just updated. Yayz! (and it's currently FREE)
I've been pushing mkv on clients for a while now and some who play things I do for them in lobbies on big tvs or on video boxes like WD TV Live or something don't care because it just works. Which is what I tell them, "Yup, .mkv just works," I'll say subtly pushing it into the recesses of their brains so they hopefully end up parroting it later to others.
Anyways, MakeMKV was just updated. Yayz! (and it's currently FREE)
Friday, August 5, 2011
Converting .MOD files for Final Cut Pro and Multiclip
I've been handed a few SD cards with .MOD files that eventually need to be edited as a multiclip sequence.
Joy.
I've talked about these problematic files before here and here but never really got into the meat of the best way to transcode them for use in Final Cut Pro. Silly me thought I'd never have to deal with them again.
Here's something to keep in mind about .MOD files (from the wiki page):
"Standard definition video can be recorded in 4:3 and 16:9 formats. Some video decoders do not interpret the aspect ratio information in the media file header correctly, so 16:9 video may appear squeezed horizontally when viewed.[4] Software that is shipped with camcorders is capable of processing the aspect ratio information correctly, aided perhaps by the metadata stored in MOI files. There are also third-party tools for modifying the wide-screen aspect ratio information in the media file header so that it satisfies decoders which would otherwise fail to interpret this information correctly in an unmodified MOD file.[5][6][7] Some tools such as MediaInfo can correctly report the aspect ratio of widescreen MOD files, but media players may or may not display them correctly depending on the capabilities of the video decoder that they are utilizing at the time."
Sure are a lot of May, May Not & Somes in those paragraphs; there's even a perhaps!
In order to nail down the workflow for transcoding these things (which, btw are Standard Definition in this particular case) I've been running some tests using MPEG Streamclip to transcode them and here's what I've discovered: (you'll likely need the MPEG-2 Component for Quicktime in addition to MPEG Streamclip)
A: Renaming the .MOD to .MPG or .mpeg and then transcoding with MSC (MPEG Streamclip) doesn't make any difference.
B: The top listing of the two ProRes exports in MSC is a HQ variety. (You may or may not see doubled up listings in your MSC exports listing depending on your setup/system etc…)
I transcoded a sample .MOD file (of about 24 seconds) to various formats, with various settings and then set up a 3 camera multiclip sequence and tested how well it played and if it was the correct aspect ratio.
What I found -after MANY MANY transcodes then importing those into FCP, setting up a multiclip sequence, then exporting and opening with Quicktime Player 7- was that what worked best for me for these files is to transcode them into:
DV25
16:9
De-interlaced
Then setup and edit your Multiclip project and export to Quicktime Movie…
Then open up your export in Quicktime Player 7 and hit Command + J for "Show Movie Properties" and hit the Presentation button and tick "Conform aperture to: Clean".
See the transcodes from MSC will have this option ticked, but after you export the multiclip from Final Cut Pro this little checkbox will no longer be ticked but will still work. In my tests this checkbox has no effect on .MOD files transcoded to ProRes which would have been nice.
Now with an edited export at the correct aspect ratio you can transcode it to H.264 or whatever you need and it should retain the aspect ratio.
Why DV25? Well the original files are MPG2 in a .MOD wrapper and taking data per pixel, data rates and all that there's not a whole heck of a lot of quality loss (a couple of percentage points?) going to DV25. I suppose DVCPRO25 would work just as well.
Now, keep in mind this is what works for me right now, with .MOD files with this setup that I'm sitting in front of at the moment. The resulting file will be high quality and at the correct aspect ratio.
Joy.
I've talked about these problematic files before here and here but never really got into the meat of the best way to transcode them for use in Final Cut Pro. Silly me thought I'd never have to deal with them again.
Here's something to keep in mind about .MOD files (from the wiki page):
"Standard definition video can be recorded in 4:3 and 16:9 formats. Some video decoders do not interpret the aspect ratio information in the media file header correctly, so 16:9 video may appear squeezed horizontally when viewed.[4] Software that is shipped with camcorders is capable of processing the aspect ratio information correctly, aided perhaps by the metadata stored in MOI files. There are also third-party tools for modifying the wide-screen aspect ratio information in the media file header so that it satisfies decoders which would otherwise fail to interpret this information correctly in an unmodified MOD file.[5][6][7] Some tools such as MediaInfo can correctly report the aspect ratio of widescreen MOD files, but media players may or may not display them correctly depending on the capabilities of the video decoder that they are utilizing at the time."
Sure are a lot of May, May Not & Somes in those paragraphs; there's even a perhaps!
 |
| These are some weird file types. |
In order to nail down the workflow for transcoding these things (which, btw are Standard Definition in this particular case) I've been running some tests using MPEG Streamclip to transcode them and here's what I've discovered: (you'll likely need the MPEG-2 Component for Quicktime in addition to MPEG Streamclip)
A: Renaming the .MOD to .MPG or .mpeg and then transcoding with MSC (MPEG Streamclip) doesn't make any difference.
B: The top listing of the two ProRes exports in MSC is a HQ variety. (You may or may not see doubled up listings in your MSC exports listing depending on your setup/system etc…)
I transcoded a sample .MOD file (of about 24 seconds) to various formats, with various settings and then set up a 3 camera multiclip sequence and tested how well it played and if it was the correct aspect ratio.
What I found -after MANY MANY transcodes then importing those into FCP, setting up a multiclip sequence, then exporting and opening with Quicktime Player 7- was that what worked best for me for these files is to transcode them into:
DV25
16:9
De-interlaced
Then setup and edit your Multiclip project and export to Quicktime Movie…
Then open up your export in Quicktime Player 7 and hit Command + J for "Show Movie Properties" and hit the Presentation button and tick "Conform aperture to: Clean".
See the transcodes from MSC will have this option ticked, but after you export the multiclip from Final Cut Pro this little checkbox will no longer be ticked but will still work. In my tests this checkbox has no effect on .MOD files transcoded to ProRes which would have been nice.
Now with an edited export at the correct aspect ratio you can transcode it to H.264 or whatever you need and it should retain the aspect ratio.
Why DV25? Well the original files are MPG2 in a .MOD wrapper and taking data per pixel, data rates and all that there's not a whole heck of a lot of quality loss (a couple of percentage points?) going to DV25. I suppose DVCPRO25 would work just as well.
Now, keep in mind this is what works for me right now, with .MOD files with this setup that I'm sitting in front of at the moment. The resulting file will be high quality and at the correct aspect ratio.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Smart Converter
SmartConverter [app store link] is a FREE transcoder that outputs to many popular formats.
It has some good reviews and could be handy for quickie conversions.
It'll transcode (sometimes just re-wrap which is really fast) to:
Apple TV
Google TV
iPod
iPhone
iPad
PSP
Playstation 3
Sony Barvia TV
Xbox 360
Windows
Android Tablet
Android Phone
Music (just audio)
It's super simple and you can click on the thumbnail to get some info about the video you want to convert.
It'll tell you what it thinks the transcoding speed will be in terms of Slowest > Fastest (if no transcoding is needed, just a re-wrap).
I didn't try to see what happens if you drag less common formats into it without Perian installed but with it installed it seemed to like an .avi (mpeg4 with mp3 audio), an .mkv (H.264), and a random .flv. It even accepted a .FLAC file.
After converting it automatically "sent" the audio file to iTunes but displays a "Show File" button which is handy because it kind of buried the transcoded audio file in ~Movies/SmartConverter/ which I probably wouldn't have found right away on my own.
It has some good reviews and could be handy for quickie conversions.
It'll transcode (sometimes just re-wrap which is really fast) to:
Apple TV
Google TV
iPod
iPhone
iPad
PSP
Playstation 3
Sony Barvia TV
Xbox 360
Windows
Android Tablet
Android Phone
Music (just audio)
It's super simple and you can click on the thumbnail to get some info about the video you want to convert.
It'll tell you what it thinks the transcoding speed will be in terms of Slowest > Fastest (if no transcoding is needed, just a re-wrap).
I didn't try to see what happens if you drag less common formats into it without Perian installed but with it installed it seemed to like an .avi (mpeg4 with mp3 audio), an .mkv (H.264), and a random .flv. It even accepted a .FLAC file.
After converting it automatically "sent" the audio file to iTunes but displays a "Show File" button which is handy because it kind of buried the transcoded audio file in ~Movies/SmartConverter/ which I probably wouldn't have found right away on my own.
VisualHub and Lion (OS 10.7)
A friend just sent me an interesting email about VisualHub.
Although Universal, VisualHub doesn't work in OS 10.7 Lion.
"VisualHub:
Version: 1.34.1
Last Modified: 8/6/08 1:53 PM
Kind: Universal
64-Bit (Intel): No
Location: /Applications/VisualHub.app"
Btw, to see what apps you have that are PowerPC (which will not run under Lion) paste the following into the Terminal and then open up the resultant "MyFileTypes.txt" on your desktop.
system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType >~/Desktop/MyFileTypes.txt
It may take a moment to write out the file. Look for the "Kind" section to see if an app is PowerPC or not.
Anyways, it is possible to run VisualHub under Lion by modifying VisualHub's package a bit.
Specifically, three files need to be modified:
buttons.scpt
main.scpt
snippets.scpt
Once modified (check around on Google for more info because I'm not sure of the legality of all this and you do so at your own risk) it'll patch into ffmpeg 0.6.4 and should be good to go until some Lion update breaks it.
One note of caution however; my friend tells me that the .scpt files are locked and "run-only" so you can't easily see what they are or do.
Or you could just try (again, at your own risk) an updated, patched and faster version of ffmpeg. More info here.
Or you could just use iFFmpeg or ReduxEncoder. Neither are free and ReduxEncoder seems a little unstable in my testing but iFFmpeg isn't a bad alternative to VisualHub.
Honestly, it's easier to compile your own FFmpeg binary and use it alone or with iFFmpeg, in my opinion.
Although Universal, VisualHub doesn't work in OS 10.7 Lion.
"VisualHub:
Version: 1.34.1
Last Modified: 8/6/08 1:53 PM
Kind: Universal
64-Bit (Intel): No
Location: /Applications/VisualHub.app"
Btw, to see what apps you have that are PowerPC (which will not run under Lion) paste the following into the Terminal and then open up the resultant "MyFileTypes.txt" on your desktop.
system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType >~/Desktop/MyFileTypes.txt
It may take a moment to write out the file. Look for the "Kind" section to see if an app is PowerPC or not.
Anyways, it is possible to run VisualHub under Lion by modifying VisualHub's package a bit.
Specifically, three files need to be modified:
buttons.scpt
main.scpt
snippets.scpt
Once modified (check around on Google for more info because I'm not sure of the legality of all this and you do so at your own risk) it'll patch into ffmpeg 0.6.4 and should be good to go until some Lion update breaks it.
One note of caution however; my friend tells me that the .scpt files are locked and "run-only" so you can't easily see what they are or do.
Or you could just try (again, at your own risk) an updated, patched and faster version of ffmpeg. More info here.
Or you could just use iFFmpeg or ReduxEncoder. Neither are free and ReduxEncoder seems a little unstable in my testing but iFFmpeg isn't a bad alternative to VisualHub.
Honestly, it's easier to compile your own FFmpeg binary and use it alone or with iFFmpeg, in my opinion.
Monday, July 11, 2011
MakeMKV gets an update
The FREE MakeMKV was just updated. I tend to use it for client videos where they show the video via some hardware box like WesternDigital Live or PS3 or something.
MakeMKV is a simple and FREE transcoder to transcode vids into MKV. Give it a whirl if you get the chance.
"WHAT'S NEW
MakeMKV is a simple and FREE transcoder to transcode vids into MKV. Give it a whirl if you get the chance.
"WHAT'S NEW
Version 1.6.12:
"
- MKV engine fixes:
- Some MKV files produced from h.264 AVC blu-ray discs were not seekable
- Subtitles were displayed too short on some players
- Occasional errors on titles with forced subtitles
- Improved compatibility of produced MKV files
- Added workarounds for new DVD protections
- Miscellaneous stability and UI improvements
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Fixing Quicktime's Gamma Export Problem with H.264
For a LONG time now Quicktime has had an issue exporting to H.264 where it'll bump up the gamma and make your exports look brighter than it did originally. It's a long-standing bug that I'm fairly shocked hasn't been addressed yet.
A simple-ish fix is to install x264encoder from here. It's FREE.
After installing it, re-launch your export software and select "x264Encoder" from the export options and before anything else, hit the Options… in the lower left.
From there hit "Tagging".
At the top left checkmark "Add gamma 2.2 (SD/HD content)".
This will dramatically fix or at least help the gamma H.264 shifting problem.
x264encoder seems complicated but since there are some really great presets you can get amazing results, small files sizes with only a few clicks. Exports will take longer to encode though sometimes so be aware.
A great article on this is here which goes into much more detail.
For curiosity a deprecated method (in case you don't have x264 installed or have don't a connection on location) is here. x264encoder is something you should have on that flash drive in your pocket, btw.
Thanks to IK for reminding me I never posted this after mentioning it ages ago.
A simple-ish fix is to install x264encoder from here. It's FREE.
After installing it, re-launch your export software and select "x264Encoder" from the export options and before anything else, hit the Options… in the lower left.
From there hit "Tagging".
At the top left checkmark "Add gamma 2.2 (SD/HD content)".
This will dramatically fix or at least help the gamma H.264 shifting problem.
x264encoder seems complicated but since there are some really great presets you can get amazing results, small files sizes with only a few clicks. Exports will take longer to encode though sometimes so be aware.
A great article on this is here which goes into much more detail.
For curiosity a deprecated method (in case you don't have x264 installed or have don't a connection on location) is here. x264encoder is something you should have on that flash drive in your pocket, btw.
Thanks to IK for reminding me I never posted this after mentioning it ages ago.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
AudioCapture - Another Audio Recording App
There are myriad audio recording apps for the Mac now. Some are (kinda) built in like Quicktime Pro's "New Audio Recording" and some are expensive like Final Cut Studio's ability to record directly into Soundtrack Pro and Final Cut Pro.
A new FREE audio recorder is AudioCapture [app store link] It records to these formats:
But it does so as a .mov which while not a deal breaker is a bit of a hassle. Still, it's free.
A new FREE audio recorder is AudioCapture [app store link] It records to these formats:
But it does so as a .mov which while not a deal breaker is a bit of a hassle. Still, it's free.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
I mentioned this FREE app [app store link] to a friend the other day and was surprised they hadn't heard of it considering they work as an editor for a tv network.
Anyways, Blackmagic Disk Speed Test stress tests a selected hard drive to determine what kind of read & write speeds it can handle and subsequently what kind of video playback performance you can reasonably expect. Check out the included manual for a quick explanation of what everything means.
Anyways, Blackmagic Disk Speed Test stress tests a selected hard drive to determine what kind of read & write speeds it can handle and subsequently what kind of video playback performance you can reasonably expect. Check out the included manual for a quick explanation of what everything means.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Disk Utility and Invalid Content in Journal
Yesterday while switching around external hard drives to media manage some old projects that are going to be handed off forever (yay!) to a client I accidentally unplugged the wrong firewire cable and disconnected a drive that was mounted but not currently in use.
I don't think it was spinning at the time but I can't be sure. However, plugging it back in I found that it wouldn't mount. I tried a few times, tried using USB but it refused to mount. All the spin up, head alignment noises were there but it didn't mount.
Running Disk Utility showed an "Invalid content in journal" error. Now this wasn't a FCP drive, just a storage drive of mine. It's good practice to not journal your render drives (if you use an external one) for reasons such as this, speed, etc…
But this storage drive was journaled and apparently something went poof when its firewire was unceremoniously unplugged.
Running repair in Disk Utility showed:
The volume BLAHBLAH was repaired successfully.
Volume repair complete.
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Repair tool completed
But Disk Utility lied. Running Verify or Repair showed the same "Invalid Content in Journal" error every time. And it still refused to mount.
I decided to give Disk Warrior a go even though my version is out of date and after it's 10+ step process of rebuilding and replacing the directory the drive mounted.
Out of curiosity I rechecked it with Disk Utility and found no errors but I did notice that apparently Disk Warrior had turned off Journaling on the external drive.
Just to see what would happen I re-enabled Journaling through Disk Utility and re-ran Verify and again, no errors.
So if a drive won't mount, and you see the "Invalid Content in Journal" error in Disk Utility give Disk Warrior a try. Looking back I wonder if I could have just disabled Journaling on the un-mounted drive and then mounted it.
I don't think it was spinning at the time but I can't be sure. However, plugging it back in I found that it wouldn't mount. I tried a few times, tried using USB but it refused to mount. All the spin up, head alignment noises were there but it didn't mount.
Running Disk Utility showed an "Invalid content in journal" error. Now this wasn't a FCP drive, just a storage drive of mine. It's good practice to not journal your render drives (if you use an external one) for reasons such as this, speed, etc…
But this storage drive was journaled and apparently something went poof when its firewire was unceremoniously unplugged.
Running repair in Disk Utility showed:
The volume BLAHBLAH was repaired successfully.
Volume repair complete.
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Repair tool completed
I decided to give Disk Warrior a go even though my version is out of date and after it's 10+ step process of rebuilding and replacing the directory the drive mounted.
Out of curiosity I rechecked it with Disk Utility and found no errors but I did notice that apparently Disk Warrior had turned off Journaling on the external drive.
Just to see what would happen I re-enabled Journaling through Disk Utility and re-ran Verify and again, no errors.
So if a drive won't mount, and you see the "Invalid Content in Journal" error in Disk Utility give Disk Warrior a try. Looking back I wonder if I could have just disabled Journaling on the un-mounted drive and then mounted it.
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