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 transcoding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transcoding. Show all posts
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Adobe Media Encoder File Import Error "Could not read from source" error
Sometimes when you drag a file into Adobe Media Encoder you'll see an error "File Import Error" and something about "Could not read from source".
This usually happens with .mov files for some reason. I'm not sure why, but to solve it temporarily I've just been renaming .mov files by appending .mp4 at the end. These files are in fact .mp4 files but for some reason Adobe Media Encoder seems to get confused if they're named .mov. Go figure.
If you change it to something and it still won't import...I have no idea.
This link from Adobe offers a little more information. Even they admit it's a confusing mess:
"The codecs that are found in Adobe Media Encoder depend on which version of Creative Suite or standalone program that is installed. So, while a codec might be installed in one version of Adobe Media Encoder, it might not be found in another."
This usually happens with .mov files for some reason. I'm not sure why, but to solve it temporarily I've just been renaming .mov files by appending .mp4 at the end. These files are in fact .mp4 files but for some reason Adobe Media Encoder seems to get confused if they're named .mov. Go figure.
If you change it to something and it still won't import...I have no idea.
This link from Adobe offers a little more information. Even they admit it's a confusing mess:
"The codecs that are found in Adobe Media Encoder depend on which version of Creative Suite or standalone program that is installed. So, while a codec might be installed in one version of Adobe Media Encoder, it might not be found in another."
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Compressor and Empty Batch Name error
Sometimes, albeit rarely, you'll see Compressor toss up an error sheet with something about "Empty Batch Name" when you hit Submit but little further help.
It has to do with how you drag items into the target window.
Make sure you drag the media in there first, then drag in settings. You may see the error if you have multiple media files and drag them all in at once then highlight them all and drag a settings to them en masse. If so, just try again. Compressor's funky like that.
It has to do with how you drag items into the target window.
Make sure you drag the media in there first, then drag in settings. You may see the error if you have multiple media files and drag them all in at once then highlight them all and drag a settings to them en masse. If so, just try again. Compressor's funky like that.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Perian is going bye-bye
Perian has announced that they're ceasing development. But they're doing the right thing and making it open-sourced on Google Code or GitHub so tell any developers you know.
Perian is really an essential tool to the roaming editor especially those who cut a lot of documentaries where people tend to hand you bizarre formats. Hopefully someone will take up the reins and continue it's development.
Perian is really an essential tool to the roaming editor especially those who cut a lot of documentaries where people tend to hand you bizarre formats. Hopefully someone will take up the reins and continue it's development.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Removing GoPro Cineform Studio's Menubar CodecStatus
UPDATE:
In the latest version of GoPro Studio (v2.5.7 as of this updated post) on OS X 10.11.3, the method easier, yet a bit hidden.
1. Launch GoPro Studio
2. Hit COMMAND + COMMA to open it's Prefs (or go to the menu bar and select GoPro Studio . Preferences...)
3. Uncheck "AUTOMATICALLY IMPORT FROM GOPRO CAMERAS"
4. The annoying menubar icon should be gone.
Sneaky, eh?
The old post below...
If you have a GoPro camera you've likely installed GoPro Cineform Studio. However it also installed a menubar item that deals with codecs and whatnot. If you've never asked for it to be there and don't use it it can be hard to get rid of it as it shows up every time you boot up. I'm not even sure what it's officially called but at the bottom of the menu it reads Check Codecs or something.
If you look at Activity Monitor you'll notice a process running called "StereoModeStatus" which is located in /Applications/GoPro/Tools/StereoModeStatus.app (technically it's inside the package here /Contents/MacOS/StereoModeStatus).
Now I don't like things being installed without my asking and I really dislike not having a way to uninstall specific things or at least permanently turning them off. You can select to quit the menubar item but it'll come back upon a reboot.
Also note that it's standard operating procedure to be able to hold down Command and then drag a menubar item around and OUT of the menubar. This thing doesn't let you Command + Drag it out of the menubar. Evil.
Here's what I did to get rid of the CodecCheck menubar thing.
Before this however, you can head to System Settings and look for "Cineform" pane and under the Process tab at the bottom you'll see "Show Stereo Status Menu". Now while this will hide the menu, it doesn't seem to always prevent the process from running. If you're like me and want the process to never run, continue reading:
1. Launch Activity Monitor (Hit Command + Shift + U to open up your utility folder and then hit A to highlight it then Command + O to launch it).
2. Look for "StereoModeStatus". Highlight it.
3. At the top of Activity Monitor's window hit Quit Process. Notice the menubar item vanishes. Yay!
4. Close Activity Monitor.
5. Navigate to your Application folder. (Hit Command + A to open it) Drill down to GoPro folder then inside there open up the Tools folder.
6. Right click on StereoModeStatus and select "Compress "StereoModeStatus".
7. After a second you'll see a new file called "StereoModeStatus.zip". This is your backup copy in case you ever need this thing again. Once you've confirmed this .zip file is there right click on "StereoModeStatus" (the original, not the .zip) and select Move To Trash.
It may ask you for your admin password to put it in the trash; further evidence of it's evil nature.
8. Empty your trash (Shift + Option + Command + Delete) and you're done.
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.
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, 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.
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
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
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
How To Convert .MOD files for Final Cut Pro
I've mentioned .MOD files before but thought I'd just update a bit of my workflow when using them.
I'm getting ready for a multi-cam project that involves many, many small Cannon cameras (all synced) which create troublesome .MOD files.
Now a .MOD file is just an mpeg2 file with another name. Look at a .MOD file using the File command in the terminal and you'll see:
"MOV001.MOD: MPEG sequence, v2, program multiplex"
So, it really isn't anything special but Final Cut Pro won't ingest them.
What happens if you rename one to say .mpg? Quicktime will open it (not sure if Perian helps here or a default install will do) and will report that it's an "MPEG2 Muxed @ 29.97 fps.
After renaming it FCP will ingest it but, as it's a Muxed file, there will appear to be no audio tracks; the same goes or when it's opened in Quicktime.
You must convert -actually transcode- it and my transcoder of choice in this case would be MPEG Streamclip.
Open the .MOD file in MPEG Streamclip and hit Export. But make sure that you've set it to the correct aspect ratio because depending on the type of camera and what it's set to the image may be 4:3, 16:9 and /or Squeezed…or not. That's what the handy "Preview" button is for. Oh, you don't need to rename it in order to transcode it.
I like to transcode them to ProRes (especially for multi-clip editing) but the export format is up to you. I recommend testing a small file (or portion thereof) first for testing your export settings.
I'm getting ready for a multi-cam project that involves many, many small Cannon cameras (all synced) which create troublesome .MOD files.
Now a .MOD file is just an mpeg2 file with another name. Look at a .MOD file using the File command in the terminal and you'll see:
"MOV001.MOD: MPEG sequence, v2, program multiplex"
So, it really isn't anything special but Final Cut Pro won't ingest them.
What happens if you rename one to say .mpg? Quicktime will open it (not sure if Perian helps here or a default install will do) and will report that it's an "MPEG2 Muxed @ 29.97 fps.
After renaming it FCP will ingest it but, as it's a Muxed file, there will appear to be no audio tracks; the same goes or when it's opened in Quicktime.
You must convert -actually transcode- it and my transcoder of choice in this case would be MPEG Streamclip.
Open the .MOD file in MPEG Streamclip and hit Export. But make sure that you've set it to the correct aspect ratio because depending on the type of camera and what it's set to the image may be 4:3, 16:9 and /or Squeezed…or not. That's what the handy "Preview" button is for. Oh, you don't need to rename it in order to transcode it.
I like to transcode them to ProRes (especially for multi-clip editing) but the export format is up to you. I recommend testing a small file (or portion thereof) first for testing your export settings.
Monday, March 21, 2011
How To Crop A QuickTime Movie
Cropping a QuickTime Movie is a hassle; but there are some ways to go about it to make it slightly less hassleful. (yes, I just made up that word)
A: Use an image editing program to make a mask.
1. Open the movie file in QuickTime and hit Command + C to Copy it. (You're actually just copying a frame)
2. Launch your image editor and paste in the clipboard's contents (the frame of your video file) into a new document. Make sure the document size is the same size as the image you just pasted.
3. Using the Selection, Paint Bucket, Fill or whatever tools you have available make the part of the video you want solid black. Make the part of the video you want to crop (to go away) solid white.
4. Save out your image as a .jpg or .gif or whatever format you like.
5. Open the movie to be cropped in QuickTime 7 if it's not already, and then hit Command + J for "Show Movie Properties".
6. Click "Video Track" in the top portion of the window.
7. Click "Visual Settings" in the lower portion.
8. Under "Mask" on the left hit the "Choose…" button. (or, even easier, drag your mask image file into the Well here.
9. You'll INSTANTLY see your opened QuickTime movie crop to the mask.
10. Notice that both the Movie Properties and QuickTime Player windows have "unsaved" dots in the close widget. Close the Movie Properties window.
11. Export away.
B: Use MPEG Streamclip.
1. Download and install the FREE program MPEG Streamclip if you don't have it already.
2. Open your QuickTime clip in MPEG Streamclip.
3. Hit Command + E for "Export to Quicktime".
4. At the top of the "Movie Exporter" window that pops up under "Compression" select the codec you want. (yes, you may see ProRes 422 listed twice; no I don't know why. It's likely the bottom one is actually ProRes HQ, but that's just a guess)
5. Monkey with all the rest of the options there if you know what your'e doing. If you don't, don't touch.
6. Near the bottom, above the "Presets…" button Checkmark the "Cropping:" checkbox.
7. At the end of this line you'll see a pulldown. You'll probably want to leave it on "Destination".
8. Now, how the heck do you know what numbers to put into here? Open the SAME QuickTime clip you're cropping in QuickTime 7. Yes, really.
9. Make sure it's full size and then hit this key combo: Command + Shift + 4 which will let you take a screenshot of a portion of the screen. Click-N-Drag out a box that has only what you want the exported QuickTime movie to have. Let go of the mouse. You'll have a screenshot on your desktop.
Note: You can just watch the cursor here to get the numbers right before you let off the mouse but it's up to you.
10. If you didn't memorize the numbers the cursor showed in step 9 before you let off the mouse go and look at the Get Info of the screenshot (on your Desktop) that you just took. Depending on how you have your Finder options set up, you make see the size of the image listed under it or next to it. If you don't, highlight it, tap Command + I for "Get Info" and look for "Dimensions" under "More Info:"
Lets just say it's 604 X 636, for fun.
11. While you have your QuickTime clip opened in QuickTime hit Command + I for "Show Movie Inspector" and jot down the size under the "Format" line. Let's say ours is 830 X 876 to make things interesting.
12. MATH TIME!!!! Now we can rough in the crop numbers.
For the top to bottom take the actual height and subtract the desired height: 830 - 604 = 226. Now divide (we're distributing it equally) it by 2 and we get 114.
For Top and Bottom in MPEG Streamclip's Cropping line enter 114.
Now for the side to side: 876 - 636 = 240 and divided by 2 that equals 120. Type 120 into both the Left and the Right boxes in MPEG Streamclip.
13. Hit the bottom-left "Preview" button at the bottom.
Is it close? Told you we roughed it in.
Adjust the cropping numbers until you're happy.
In my test my final numbers were:
Top: 114 Left: 120 Bottom: 127 Right 124
instead of:
Top: 114 Left: 120 Bottom: 114 Right 120
Oh, and fee free to monkey with the Center options in this window as well. The Positive Numbers in the first box will move your image to the RIGHTWARDS while Positive Numbers in the second box will move your image DOWNWARDS.
Honestly, I'm not sure why it's off like that but I've used this method to rough it in for a while. I discovered it when I was on a company's Mac that didn't have an image editor at the time and the IT people (Grrr…) REFUSED to allow me to install an image editor to make an image mask with.
Sure there are other ways but they usually involve people mentioning VisualHub which is getting mighty long in the tooth and is totally unsupported now (sniff…) or they're even more convoluted than these two methods. If you have another way you like please pass it along.
QuickTip: Keep a flash drive on in your pocket with Gimp installer (it's FREE) on it but it's not much help if you don't have Admin access to the machine anyway. There are ways around this though.
A: Use an image editing program to make a mask.
1. Open the movie file in QuickTime and hit Command + C to Copy it. (You're actually just copying a frame)
2. Launch your image editor and paste in the clipboard's contents (the frame of your video file) into a new document. Make sure the document size is the same size as the image you just pasted.
3. Using the Selection, Paint Bucket, Fill or whatever tools you have available make the part of the video you want solid black. Make the part of the video you want to crop (to go away) solid white.
4. Save out your image as a .jpg or .gif or whatever format you like.
5. Open the movie to be cropped in QuickTime 7 if it's not already, and then hit Command + J for "Show Movie Properties".
6. Click "Video Track" in the top portion of the window.
7. Click "Visual Settings" in the lower portion.
8. Under "Mask" on the left hit the "Choose…" button. (or, even easier, drag your mask image file into the Well here.
9. You'll INSTANTLY see your opened QuickTime movie crop to the mask.
10. Notice that both the Movie Properties and QuickTime Player windows have "unsaved" dots in the close widget. Close the Movie Properties window.
11. Export away.
B: Use MPEG Streamclip.
1. Download and install the FREE program MPEG Streamclip if you don't have it already.
2. Open your QuickTime clip in MPEG Streamclip.
3. Hit Command + E for "Export to Quicktime".
4. At the top of the "Movie Exporter" window that pops up under "Compression" select the codec you want. (yes, you may see ProRes 422 listed twice; no I don't know why. It's likely the bottom one is actually ProRes HQ, but that's just a guess)
5. Monkey with all the rest of the options there if you know what your'e doing. If you don't, don't touch.
6. Near the bottom, above the "Presets…" button Checkmark the "Cropping:" checkbox.
7. At the end of this line you'll see a pulldown. You'll probably want to leave it on "Destination".
8. Now, how the heck do you know what numbers to put into here? Open the SAME QuickTime clip you're cropping in QuickTime 7. Yes, really.
9. Make sure it's full size and then hit this key combo: Command + Shift + 4 which will let you take a screenshot of a portion of the screen. Click-N-Drag out a box that has only what you want the exported QuickTime movie to have. Let go of the mouse. You'll have a screenshot on your desktop.
Note: You can just watch the cursor here to get the numbers right before you let off the mouse but it's up to you.
10. If you didn't memorize the numbers the cursor showed in step 9 before you let off the mouse go and look at the Get Info of the screenshot (on your Desktop) that you just took. Depending on how you have your Finder options set up, you make see the size of the image listed under it or next to it. If you don't, highlight it, tap Command + I for "Get Info" and look for "Dimensions" under "More Info:"
Lets just say it's 604 X 636, for fun.
11. While you have your QuickTime clip opened in QuickTime hit Command + I for "Show Movie Inspector" and jot down the size under the "Format" line. Let's say ours is 830 X 876 to make things interesting.
12. MATH TIME!!!! Now we can rough in the crop numbers.
For the top to bottom take the actual height and subtract the desired height: 830 - 604 = 226. Now divide (we're distributing it equally) it by 2 and we get 114.
For Top and Bottom in MPEG Streamclip's Cropping line enter 114.
Now for the side to side: 876 - 636 = 240 and divided by 2 that equals 120. Type 120 into both the Left and the Right boxes in MPEG Streamclip.
13. Hit the bottom-left "Preview" button at the bottom.
Is it close? Told you we roughed it in.
Adjust the cropping numbers until you're happy.
In my test my final numbers were:
Top: 114 Left: 120 Bottom: 127 Right 124
instead of:
Top: 114 Left: 120 Bottom: 114 Right 120
Oh, and fee free to monkey with the Center options in this window as well. The Positive Numbers in the first box will move your image to the RIGHTWARDS while Positive Numbers in the second box will move your image DOWNWARDS.
Honestly, I'm not sure why it's off like that but I've used this method to rough it in for a while. I discovered it when I was on a company's Mac that didn't have an image editor at the time and the IT people (Grrr…) REFUSED to allow me to install an image editor to make an image mask with.
Sure there are other ways but they usually involve people mentioning VisualHub which is getting mighty long in the tooth and is totally unsupported now (sniff…) or they're even more convoluted than these two methods. If you have another way you like please pass it along.
QuickTip: Keep a flash drive on in your pocket with Gimp installer (it's FREE) on it but it's not much help if you don't have Admin access to the machine anyway. There are ways around this though.
Ingesting & Importing A Screen Recording .mov into Final Cut Pro
As if we didn't have reason enough to hate QuickTime X here's another:
You can't just ingest a Screen Recording you make into FCP. Nope. You have to convert it first to something else.
I suspect it's because of the odd frame rates that screen recordings are in. Take a look at this example:
8.23 FPS.
If you try and ingest it into FCP you'll see this:
What's going on? How can you load a QuickTime movie (a format by Apple) made by Quicktime X (software from Apple) into Final Cut Pro (Video editing software made by Apple)?
Insane, right?
I think it has something to do with the frame rate. Although I can't fathom why, FCP seems to want some "normal" frame rates in this case.
Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 29.97 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ "current" FPS (8.23)
Result: FCP will NOT accept.
Test #4 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 29.97 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
Bonus Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 8 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
Bonus Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 8 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
I have no idea why QuickTime X records Screen Recordings at a frame rate that FCP doesn't like. Likewise, I have no idea while FCP won't accept certain frame rates, but at least there's a work-around.
Btw, this is FCP 6.0.6. I haven't tested it under FCP 7.x yet.
I'd recommend transcoding your Screen Recordings into ProRes at 8 FPS which will make them a bit smaller compared to 29.97 (obviously) and less CPU intensive.
You can't just ingest a Screen Recording you make into FCP. Nope. You have to convert it first to something else.
I suspect it's because of the odd frame rates that screen recordings are in. Take a look at this example:
8.23 FPS.
If you try and ingest it into FCP you'll see this:
What's going on? How can you load a QuickTime movie (a format by Apple) made by Quicktime X (software from Apple) into Final Cut Pro (Video editing software made by Apple)?
Insane, right?
I think it has something to do with the frame rate. Although I can't fathom why, FCP seems to want some "normal" frame rates in this case.
Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 29.97 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ "current" FPS (8.23)
Result: FCP will NOT accept.
Test #3 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ "current" FPS (8.23)
Test #4 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 29.97 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
Bonus Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 8 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
Bonus Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 8 FPS
Result: FCP will accept.
I have no idea why QuickTime X records Screen Recordings at a frame rate that FCP doesn't like. Likewise, I have no idea while FCP won't accept certain frame rates, but at least there's a work-around.
Btw, this is FCP 6.0.6. I haven't tested it under FCP 7.x yet.
I'd recommend transcoding your Screen Recordings into ProRes at 8 FPS which will make them a bit smaller compared to 29.97 (obviously) and less CPU intensive.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Uploading to Vimeo
I use Vimeo a lot for client previews since videos can be password protected.
The problem is knowing how to export your video so it displays properly on Vimeo. Files like native 1280x720 DVCPRO HD won't always work. I was having trouble with one particular which kept (after uploading and encoding at Vimeo) was VERY choppy and squeezed.
The most reliable way I've found to upload something to Vimeo is to convert it to H.264 first. Specifically I'll either use Export Using Quicktime Conversion… right in FCP or just Export as Quicktime Movie from FCP and then encode that to H.264 using QuickTime (since Compressor is kinda slow).
If you need to do this a lot, go ahead and make a droplet for H.264 conversion via Compressor.
Vimeo really seems to like H.264 as it's upload format. Make sure the aspect ratio is correct and you should be okay. If I get a chance I'll post some more detailed instructions when I (finally) get back home.
Unfortunately you may notice a Gamma Shift with your uploaded videos. That's mostly like caused by the compression tool you used. You'll never get it exactly right but you can get closer using something like x264Encoder from here. Test test and test again, that's becoming my motto it seems.
QuickTime has (and has had) an Gamma Issue for years now. It will force a Gamma of 1.8 on videos and fixing it is a mess and probably good fodder for another long post.
Bottom line for Vimeo, if you have an issue with your uploaded file, try H.264 and re-upload. Keep in mind that if it's not in HD when you upload it, it won't be in HD (or have the toggle option) when you play it on Vimeo.
The problem is knowing how to export your video so it displays properly on Vimeo. Files like native 1280x720 DVCPRO HD won't always work. I was having trouble with one particular which kept (after uploading and encoding at Vimeo) was VERY choppy and squeezed.
The most reliable way I've found to upload something to Vimeo is to convert it to H.264 first. Specifically I'll either use Export Using Quicktime Conversion… right in FCP or just Export as Quicktime Movie from FCP and then encode that to H.264 using QuickTime (since Compressor is kinda slow).
If you need to do this a lot, go ahead and make a droplet for H.264 conversion via Compressor.
Vimeo really seems to like H.264 as it's upload format. Make sure the aspect ratio is correct and you should be okay. If I get a chance I'll post some more detailed instructions when I (finally) get back home.
Unfortunately you may notice a Gamma Shift with your uploaded videos. That's mostly like caused by the compression tool you used. You'll never get it exactly right but you can get closer using something like x264Encoder from here. Test test and test again, that's becoming my motto it seems.
QuickTime has (and has had) an Gamma Issue for years now. It will force a Gamma of 1.8 on videos and fixing it is a mess and probably good fodder for another long post.
Bottom line for Vimeo, if you have an issue with your uploaded file, try H.264 and re-upload. Keep in mind that if it's not in HD when you upload it, it won't be in HD (or have the toggle option) when you play it on Vimeo.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Video Downloader Helpers
Downthisvideo.com probably isn't the best thing to recommend to a client to use to grab that exemplary "can-we-make-it-look-like-this" video they want. (note: "we" mean's "you" in this -and every- case)
downthisvideo.com's search tag cloud is not only NSFW but also hilarious.
Remember kids, just because your assistant thinks it's okay doesn't mean the client will agree.
downthisvideo.com's search tag cloud is not only NSFW but also hilarious.
Remember kids, just because your assistant thinks it's okay doesn't mean the client will agree.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Ripping Audio from Flash Video Files (.flv)
An interesting hint showed up on macosxhints.com on Wednesday with all manners of ways to extract audio from an .flv. which means I get to write a nice long wall-of-text TLDR post while I sip coffee.
One method not mentioned is simply to use something like Click2Flash (you can also get it as a Safari extension here) and set it's prefs to allow downloading of the .flv which will have the added convenience of downloading the video as an H.264 if the site hosting the video supports that. Extracting the audio from the H.264 is straightforward after that.
Once you do download a vanilla .flv though you very well may find that VisualHub can't convert it to anything (*cries a little*), so you need to try some other options like this one. If it's a .swf you can try this.
TIP ON DOWNLOADING THE VIDEO FILE:
An easy built-in way is to find it in the Activity Window (Command + Option + A) of Safari and Option-Double-Click it.
Macosxhints' hint + comments can be broken down into this list of methods.
Using VLC:
01) Open it in VLC.
02) Hit Shift+Command+W to open the "Streaming/Export Wizard" window.
03) Hit the "Transcode/Save to file" Radio Button.
04) Hit "Next" (Return)
05) Hit the "Existing playlist item" Radio Button.
06) Select the file to extract the audio from, from the list.
07) Hit "Next" (Return)
08) Tick the "Transcode audio" tick box.
09) For the Codec Pulldown select FLAC (you can really choose whatever is best for you here depending on your needs, Uncompressed may be quite useful.)
10) Hit "Next" (Return)
11) Confirm "RAW" is selected.
12) Hit "Next" (Return)
13) Choose... where to save the file file to.
14) Open the saved audio file in whatever audio editing tool you enjoy. The hint suggests Audacity.
ALL-IN-ONE-SOLUTIONS:
- Use iExtractMP3. FREE. (Didn't try because it's last update was 12-05-08)
- Use RichFLV. FREE. (Didn't try it because it requires Adobe Air)
- Use ffmpegX. FREE. (You very likely already have this installed. It's a bit out of date though)
- Use SWFTools. FREE. (Installing is a bit complex and using the app itself is a little tricky)
- Use Miro Video Converter. FREE. (I've mentioned this one before. Can occasionally be handy, check it out.)
- Use Browser Extentions. (There are too many to list here)
- Use FLV Crunch. FREE (If you haven't tried this app you should give it a whirl)
- Use MediaConverter.org. FREE (It's a website that does conversion for you. I haven't used it much)
Using QuickTimeX and QuickTime Player 7:
01) Open it in QTX. (ymmv)
02) Export it to something QT7 can open.
03) Open it in QT7 and Export... it as audio. (Export Sound to AIFF or whatever your choice is)
04) Optionally, use the semi-hidden Extract audio function: With movie open hit Command + J for the Properties Window, click on the "Sound Track" you want, tap the Extract button at the top left of the window and then Save As... or Export... the resultant window to whatever you fancy. Notice the dot in the center of the close window widget, that means it's not saved.
Using FFMPEG:
00) Install FFMPEG (likely you already have this installed if you read this blog)
01) Fire up the Terminal and enter:
ffmpeg -i yourFLVfile.flv -acodec copy namethissomething.mp3
You can drag the file to be transcoded into the Terminal to find it's path. Likewise, you can drag the folder you want it outputted (that's a word?) into the Termainal as well to set the path to it.
Type: ffmpeg -i
Hit space bar
Drag in file to be transcoded
Hit space bar
Type: -acodec copy
Hit space bar
Drag in location for output file.
Hit Return.
You can really do this with most files, not only .flv's, btw.
Using Handbrake:
01) Open the file in Handbrake (ymmv).
02) Export it as .mp4.
03) Extract it with QuickTime Player 7 (or even Garageband if you don't have QT7 installed or whatever app you like.) People tend to forget Garageband can do some neat stuff with audio.
Using TubeTV and Switch (free version):
I haven't tried this method not just because TubeTV is old (circa 2008) but mainly because other methods are simpler and have more options. I didn't like this line at TubeTV's site: "High quality video conversions using the H.264 codec are performed with QuickTime® and Perian." Why not just use Perian then to begin with?
TubeTV is here.
Free version of Switch is here.
Using MPEG Streamclip: (thanks to reader "andthatallthereistoit")
01) Open the .flv in MPEGStream Clip. (ymmv depending on the type of .flv)
02) File > Export Audio.
03) Done!
One method not mentioned is simply to use something like Click2Flash (you can also get it as a Safari extension here) and set it's prefs to allow downloading of the .flv which will have the added convenience of downloading the video as an H.264 if the site hosting the video supports that. Extracting the audio from the H.264 is straightforward after that.
Once you do download a vanilla .flv though you very well may find that VisualHub can't convert it to anything (*cries a little*), so you need to try some other options like this one. If it's a .swf you can try this.
TIP ON DOWNLOADING THE VIDEO FILE:
An easy built-in way is to find it in the Activity Window (Command + Option + A) of Safari and Option-Double-Click it.
Macosxhints' hint + comments can be broken down into this list of methods.
Using VLC:
01) Open it in VLC.
02) Hit Shift+Command+W to open the "Streaming/Export Wizard" window.
03) Hit the "Transcode/Save to file" Radio Button.
04) Hit "Next" (Return)
05) Hit the "Existing playlist item" Radio Button.
06) Select the file to extract the audio from, from the list.
07) Hit "Next" (Return)
08) Tick the "Transcode audio" tick box.
09) For the Codec Pulldown select FLAC (you can really choose whatever is best for you here depending on your needs, Uncompressed may be quite useful.)
10) Hit "Next" (Return)
11) Confirm "RAW" is selected.
12) Hit "Next" (Return)
13) Choose... where to save the file file to.
14) Open the saved audio file in whatever audio editing tool you enjoy. The hint suggests Audacity.
ALL-IN-ONE-SOLUTIONS:
- Use iExtractMP3. FREE. (Didn't try because it's last update was 12-05-08)
- Use RichFLV. FREE. (Didn't try it because it requires Adobe Air)
- Use ffmpegX. FREE. (You very likely already have this installed. It's a bit out of date though)
- Use SWFTools. FREE. (Installing is a bit complex and using the app itself is a little tricky)
- Use Miro Video Converter. FREE. (I've mentioned this one before. Can occasionally be handy, check it out.)
- Use Browser Extentions. (There are too many to list here)
- Use FLV Crunch. FREE (If you haven't tried this app you should give it a whirl)
- Use MediaConverter.org. FREE (It's a website that does conversion for you. I haven't used it much)
Using QuickTimeX and QuickTime Player 7:
01) Open it in QTX. (ymmv)
02) Export it to something QT7 can open.
03) Open it in QT7 and Export... it as audio. (Export Sound to AIFF or whatever your choice is)
04) Optionally, use the semi-hidden Extract audio function: With movie open hit Command + J for the Properties Window, click on the "Sound Track" you want, tap the Extract button at the top left of the window and then Save As... or Export... the resultant window to whatever you fancy. Notice the dot in the center of the close window widget, that means it's not saved.
Using FFMPEG:
(Terminal Madness Alert!)
00) Install FFMPEG (likely you already have this installed if you read this blog)
01) Fire up the Terminal and enter:
ffmpeg -i yourFLVfile.flv -acodec copy namethissomething.mp3
You can drag the file to be transcoded into the Terminal to find it's path. Likewise, you can drag the folder you want it outputted (that's a word?) into the Termainal as well to set the path to it.
Type: ffmpeg -i
Hit space bar
Drag in file to be transcoded
Hit space bar
Type: -acodec copy
Hit space bar
Drag in location for output file.
Hit Return.
You can really do this with most files, not only .flv's, btw.
Using Handbrake:
01) Open the file in Handbrake (ymmv).
02) Export it as .mp4.
03) Extract it with QuickTime Player 7 (or even Garageband if you don't have QT7 installed or whatever app you like.) People tend to forget Garageband can do some neat stuff with audio.
Using TubeTV and Switch (free version):
I haven't tried this method not just because TubeTV is old (circa 2008) but mainly because other methods are simpler and have more options. I didn't like this line at TubeTV's site: "High quality video conversions using the H.264 codec are performed with QuickTime® and Perian." Why not just use Perian then to begin with?
TubeTV is here.
Free version of Switch is here.
Using MPEG Streamclip: (thanks to reader "andthatallthereistoit")
01) Open the .flv in MPEGStream Clip. (ymmv depending on the type of .flv)
02) File > Export Audio.
03) Done!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Ripping Sections of DVDs with Free Stuff
I've been working on a monster of a documentary and some of the footage is showing up on DVDs despite what I've been telling sources and clients. I am typing this in english right?
So here's my (free) workflow for ripping portions of source DVDs to extract the bits of footage that's needed for this project.
You'll need:
MPEG Streamclip
Perian
Optional:
Fairmount
I'm avoiding using Cinematize Pro because, frankly, it's old. I think the last update was something like two years ago. Ok, here we go...
0) Optionally, use Fairmount to copy the DVD's VIDEO_TS to your hard drive. (I'll let you figure this one out on your own but it's of Very Low Complexity)
1) Open up the VIDEO_TS folder and start looking at the .VOB files until you find the one with the clip you need. With Perian, you can open them up in Quicktime Player 7 (which I like to call Quicktime That Doesn't Suck).
2. Make notes of which .VOB files you need and then open them up with MPEG Streamclip. Why not open then with MPEG Streamclip right away? It's your choice but I feel that Quicktime is faster for previewing.
Oh, Quicktime will likely be unable to play the audio since they're MUXed files so if audio is important head straight to MPEG Streamclip here. I should have told you that earlier.
Now, when you open a .VOB file with MPEG Streamclip you may (probably will) see this:
Since the purpose of this post is to just get sections of .VOB files and not the entire file hit "Open 1 file".
3) Now, set In and Out points in MPEG Streamclip using the I and O keys. How about that?
4) Under File in MPEG Streamclip select "Export to Quicktime..." and choose your poison. I like ProRes but select whatever you want. Hit "Make Movie" and grab a sip of coffee.
5) There is no step 5. Hah!
So here's my (free) workflow for ripping portions of source DVDs to extract the bits of footage that's needed for this project.
You'll need:
MPEG Streamclip
Perian
Optional:
Fairmount
I'm avoiding using Cinematize Pro because, frankly, it's old. I think the last update was something like two years ago. Ok, here we go...
0) Optionally, use Fairmount to copy the DVD's VIDEO_TS to your hard drive. (I'll let you figure this one out on your own but it's of Very Low Complexity)
1) Open up the VIDEO_TS folder and start looking at the .VOB files until you find the one with the clip you need. With Perian, you can open them up in Quicktime Player 7 (which I like to call Quicktime That Doesn't Suck).
2. Make notes of which .VOB files you need and then open them up with MPEG Streamclip. Why not open then with MPEG Streamclip right away? It's your choice but I feel that Quicktime is faster for previewing.
Oh, Quicktime will likely be unable to play the audio since they're MUXed files so if audio is important head straight to MPEG Streamclip here. I should have told you that earlier.
Now, when you open a .VOB file with MPEG Streamclip you may (probably will) see this:
3) Now, set In and Out points in MPEG Streamclip using the I and O keys. How about that?
4) Under File in MPEG Streamclip select "Export to Quicktime..." and choose your poison. I like ProRes but select whatever you want. Hit "Make Movie" and grab a sip of coffee.
5) There is no step 5. Hah!
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