mpeg for broadcast?
 

i just learned that a piece i did will be aired on TV here in Burundi, but they need it in MPEG format. the last piece that aired here they wanted a PAL DVD, so i did the 14 hour transcode in preparation for this... ha ha. anyway, i have the m2v movie and a separate AAC audio file that i pulled into DVDSP, but i suspect they want something else?
sooo, would that be one of the MPEG-2 settings in compressor? and if so, which one-program stream? MPEG-4?
i apologize for needing the info quick (i will also SEARCH!!!) but they want it YESTERDAY, of course, so am rushed and would appreciate any help, or even suggestions on the best quality settings in compressor (Robert Lane???). also, is this a normal format for broadcast? Burundi can be kinda funny...

and one more question... it is HDV 30f from an NTSC camera and i'm in a PAL zone....
does this throw another wrench into the MPEG transcode?

I had to send a commercial out of state recently, and they gave me specific settings on how to make an MPEG-2 file for them (they don't use Compressor, they are PC based). Anyway, I entered all their settings into Compressor, compressed the file and sent it to them. They said it dropped right into their system and looked great. I can't tell you any more than that, but here's a link to where you can download the Compressor setting. (you'll probably want to rename it. hehehehe)

Index of /ftp/compressor

Hope it helps! :)

Brian: yes, they probably want a multiplexed MPEG, where the audio and video are together in the same file for server playback. Check what bitrate they are looking for. 30f to 25i will add time to the encode (and probably lose SOME quality) but Compressor can handle that easily.

The broadcaster SHOULD be able to provide you with a spec sheet on what their playout server needs.

And if it is for the playout server, it's very likely they want MPEG-2, not MPEG-4.

I know this is off topic, but...

I was once doing a TV show for nationwide TV station.. They are VERY picky with quality, or so they say. Every show goes through a myriad of technicians before being broadcast.

But one day, my deck and Premiere were playing games with me... under no circumstances was I able to output the finished show to a tape. So I exported the show to MPEG2, imported to a new project and laid out that on a tape, crossing my fingers that the technician won`t notice the obvious drop in quality. He noticed nothing.

TV technicians eyeball things all the time.

Brian,

What you need to ask them is if they need a "program" or "transport" MPEG stream. Get their preferred settings and plug those into Compressor or Episode, whichever you have.

(MPEG was originally designed as a transport stream for the networks to use for uploading via SAT-link; it was later modified as a program stream for edit purposes and HDV adopted that format)

i love this forum: it's a living, breathing encyclopedia of knowledge that you can ask questions!!!
thanks for the responses. i will ask the Burundian TV station what settings they prefer, but my last experience with them made me a little crazy, and i don't trust their capacity so much. they were trying to extort money from the organization sponsoring the program, and it almost wasn't aired because i used a few 'fade to black' transitions that they thought were glitches in the video. convincing them otherwise was a long hard process, not to mention the language difficulties...
i came across this method of combining the m2v PAL video and AAC audio that i transcoded for DVD into one file:
'You could take the soundtrack, compress it to MP3 or AAC, open it in QT, Select All, Copy, then open the MPEG2 video file and hold Option, and choose "Add" from the Edit menu... that would give you both in the same file I believe.'
would this possibly work for my purposes and save another painfully long transcode (i transcoded the HDV to PAL for DVD, and it looks surprisingly good)?
or are the m2v's for DVD radically different from a program MPEG transcode?
Mitchell: i followed that link and it showed me a string of code that i am unsure what to do with... i think i may need to find an 'xml for dummies' book?