Compression Question
 

I am needing to compress video to .mov file 400x300 29.97
frames at 400+ data rate after I edit it with FCP HD, and I will also want to burn it to dvd using DVD SP. My question is the compression for the .mov file my boss suggested using Sorenson 3 but I have the compressor that came with Apple Production Suite, and also what would I want to compress the video to in order to burn it to DVD?

The specs you are suggesting to compress to would be worthless for a DVD but good for play back on a computer.

The simplest thing to do would be to export out of FCP as a Final Cut Movie using Export>QuickTime Movie and select "Make Movie Self Contained". That will give you a full resolution movie at whatever settings you chose for your timeline, probably DV/DVCPRO NTSC if you shot MiniDV footage.

Then you just import that movie into DVDSP, make your menu and burn it. DVDSP will convert your QT movie to MPEG2 for DVD playback

I use BitVice to make separate .m2t and .aiff video and audio elementary streams. I then use A.pack to convert the .aiff audio to .AC3 Dolby and import those into DVDSP for DVD authoring.

So what then can I use to compress to .mov file 400x300 29.97
frames at 400+ data rate for the streaming video website? I don't want to have to pay for any program (right now at least) as i haven't gotten many jobs yet and don't want to have to drop $300 when that is more than I make on two jobs.

Hi Joseph

I use File | Export | Using Quicktime Compression...

The set the video to Quicktime in the dialog and select Options. Select Mpeg 4 from the list. And set your options on that.

It gives good quality and excellent compression on long movies. Other people may use other compressors but I have had great results with that.

Donie

With DVD SP you got Compressor which is quite flexible in the choices available to you for compression. In particular you have the choice of multipass compression in which the whole stream is analyzed first and then compressed in a second pass using the results of the analysis. This should yield a better result than single pass compression but single pass is obviously faster. To use Compressor you submit batch jobs to it so they can run at your convenience while you are doing something else.

For web export:
I've found that sorenson3 gives better quality than apple's MPEG4 codec. Apple's MPEG4 codec is kind of terrible IMO. Apple's MPEG4 has lower compatibility (needs QT6; with the .mpeg4 or .mp4 extension, Real Player on PC will associate these files to itself but can't actually play it back), and encodes faster.

The sorenson pro codec that you have to pay money for does a better job than the free one you get with quicktime pro / FCP export. But you may not really need it.

MPEG4 audio is the best codec for audio if you have no money to spend. IMA is also good but it doesn't give as much compression as MPEG4.

If you see jaggies on your video (venetian blind effect when there's high motion in the scene), you will need to setup your compression to handle interlaced material properly.