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Exporting Mov into a good quality edit.

seciors

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Hey Stygma Raptor,

i think you need to do some research/reading up on video editing / delivery codecs and container files. I don't have a reference handy, but google should help out, and I know the FCP 7 manual covers this as well. Quickly, codecs define how a format is encrypted and compressed. containers are how the computer organizes the various components of a file so the computer software can understand how to open it and play it back properly. Prores and h264 are codecs, while mov, avi, mp4 are containers.

when you are editing, you need to a codec that makes it easier on your computer to do so, which means less compression and thus a bigger file size. On the mac, you want to use prores for this, which can handle both HD and SD formats. Believe it or not, prores is still a compressed, lossy format. However, it is well suited to editing since it loses very little information when transcoded and exported. If you are really pressed for space, you can edit SD using the DV PRO codec; it will save you a lot of space, but note that the quality is definitely inferior to prores. It's not the end of the world, but I just thought I'd mention it. One thing to make sure you are doing though with SD material is to retain the anamorphic flag. Again, there are guides out there to show you how if you don't know already.

on the Mac, the container you want to use (which contains the video as well as other components such as audio) on the Mac for editing is QuickTime - mov. On PCs the typical container is AVI.

when it is time to share or export your file so others can watch it, the best codec to choose is h264, since it can give you great quality in a highly compressed file, and players are widely available (and these days, lots of hardware has built in decoders for h264). Generally speaking, when on the Mac, exporting to the MP4 container is fine and is well accepted by most players cross platform, as well as Vimeo and YouTube. When uploading to the aforementioned streaming sites, you should take a look at their guidelines which will tell you the best way to export your video in terms of the settings which make your video best compatible for streaming. You can also search for other guides made by others which give you step by step directions.

Regarding your DVD material, it's possible you might be able to restore it within FCP if you were auto saving and access the auto save vault. Otherwise, ripping a DVD again doesn't take that much time....just make sure to transcode to an editing friendly codec and to retain the anamorphic flag! :)

FYI - on apple's site, there are forums specifically available for each of their products, including FCP 7. Or just use google....these are general video editing topics not specific to fan editing, and there's lots of expertise out there. While people on this site are super helpful, it's really best to first get yourself up to a certain basic level of knowledge using easily available resources such as product manuals, reference books, and online sites/forums dedicated to these very general (not fab editing specific) topics.

Hope some of this helps, and good luck on your journey!
 

Stygma Raptor

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Alright!!! You where right, I am getting the movie up as we speak. Tomorrow it should be up and running.
A few rouge frames got here and there but they are barely noticeable.

Ill upload the better version later on, but first enjoy the current one. It has been a long wait for everyone.:p
 

Gatos

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Ill upload the better version later on, but first enjoy the current one. It has been a long wait for everyone.:p

It has barely been two weeks. You might as well wait and upload the best version when its ready. We're a patient bunch :p
 

seciors

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Yeah, assuming you mean "better version = no rogue frames/editing issues" and not "better = HD" -- the community won't look well on errors like that (even if there's just a few of them, and trust me, "barely noticeable" is like "a little pregnant" when it comes to getting reviewed; they will be noticed and commented on...you want to make a good first impression, especially this being your first edit and all.

I think this type of discussion might be more suited to your work-in-progress thread though. So, assuming we've answered your technical questions, I will leave it at that! :)
 

bookwin69

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im doing my 1st fan edit.the files im using to edit are 720p.BluRay.nHD.x264 .mkv.I have iSkysoft iMedia Converter Deluxe and MPEG Steamclip.I would like to know,possible with a screenshot,what would be good setting to use to convert these files to import into FCPX mac.And in FCPX i would like to know what setting to export the edit so the file is not so huge but keeps a good quality.
 

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If Final Cut Pro has an option to export using a lossless codec, then do that. This will give you a MASSIVE file to start with, but you'll be able to put that file into a program like Handbrake, and encode using that. This will give you a better quality to file-size ratio than using Final Cut Pro, because Handbrake is a program whose ONLY job is to re-encode things; it's better at it than Final Cut Pro.

You can then delete the lossless file and you'll end up with a better file than before.
Another thing that might help is to export a very small fraction of your film (maybe a minute or two), and then just encode that using a few different settings. Then look at the file size of that little segment and compare it to the quality. Pick the one you like best, and encode the whole film using that setting.

Instead of setting the encode settings to a specific bitrate, you should always enable a mode called "constant quality," or CRF. This setting is better because it looks at the picture and adjusts the bitrate depending on what the scene is.

For example, people's eyes don't notice defects in the picture when there's a lot of fast camera movement. But when there's a still scene, those problems stand out much more. So when you enable constant quality mode, the program goes through the film and takes bitrate from the places where it isn't needed and gives it to the places that are needed.

But just remember that with the CRF setting, a lower number means higher quality picture. 0.0 is lossless, and around 20 is a standard file. Spend a bit of time adjusting this number using your small samples of film, until you're happy with the results.

There also might be an advanced setting in Handbrake called something along the lines of "Lookahead," which determines how many frames ahead the program looks when adjusting the bitrate. For example, if one second a person is sitting down and the next they jump up and start shooting someone or something, the programs take the bitrate from the shooting part (where we won't notice it) and give it to the sitting down part (where we will notice it).

If you change the setting of the "Lookahead" option to a higher value, the bitrate will be distributed a lot better.

One more tip I can give is to go into the advanced settings of Handbrake and enable any grain/noise reduction setting that you can. What happens when the computer is re-encoding your film is it picks up all the little bits of grain (those black specs) and interprets that as movement that needs to be included. In reality, the grain isn't all that important and so including it in the picture is just a waste of valuable data.

So if you eliminate the grain, you'll be able to save that data for more important stuff like the actual picture.

Again, I'm not familiar with Handbrake, but I'd be amazed if those features aren't included in the program. Hopefully I've been of some small help.
 

seciors

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Hi bookwin and Radinsky,

I am going to compose a detailed response to all that's been said above, but don't have the time right at this moment. Here are the highlights though:

To bookwin:
(1) I don't understand what you mean by "the files im using to edit are 720p.BluRay.nHD.x264 .mkv"
unless you are saying that your source file is currently a mkv file using the x264 codec whose resolution is 720p. That's not a good place to begin. You should begin from the Blu Ray source itself. Can you explain this further as to why you aren't ripping directly from the blu ray itself?
(2) I can provide you info on using mpeg stream clip, as well as the command line ffmpeg. Essentially speaking you need to convert to prores, and I'd advise using prores 422LT which will save space and still maintain a very high level of quality (e.g., for fan editing, quality loss will not be perceptible). Will explain more later.

To Radinsky:
(1) I have said this many times and really need to create a post that becomes a sticky for the mac forum. When using final cut pro, the BEST codec to use is Prores. When doing an export from FCP for the purposes of final rendering, I always use prores 422. That is a perfect codec to use for this purpose. (I will explain when/how to use the other prores variants later)
(2) Only use Handbrake to generate a final delivery format for viewing purposes (e.g., mp4 or mkv). Do not use it as a way for prepping material for further editing.
(3) Generally speaking, using CRF is a good approach, but it isn't always best, and it is also misleading to say that a lower number means a higher quality picture. It completely depends on the quality of your source. At a certain point, all you are doing is creating a larger file size and not gaining any additional quality. And as the number goes down, the file size increase is not linear.
Generally speaking, 18 is really the lowest CRF number you should need to go to. Many people actually argue that 20 is a fine number to use. It's probably more important to use the more advanced x264 options to assist with quality...see my next point.
(4) I have some excellent x264 settings I can share (again...I've done so in another thread) that should give excellent results when encoding using a high quality HD source. Will share soon.
(5) DO NOT enable any type of "filter" such as grain/noise reduction in Handbrake, as you really don't have any control over how this will be accomplished. This should be done within your editing workflow, either by your main editing software, or a plugin to that software, or another software dedicated to this type of work where you have more control over settings. Handbrake should ONLY be used to encode your final output using the x264 codec, and the only settings you should adjust should be related to the encoding process itself.


Ok, have to stop for now, but would like to hear back from bookwin regarding about my first question, as that really will drive the answers to his other questions/concerns.
 

seciors

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Ok, so here are my settings for Handbrake when encoding to MP4 (and I assume I will use the same for MKV). These are the settings I used for my Star Wars Episode II edit, which was uniformly praised for very high visual quality. I got these settings by doing a lot of research ahead of time.

Note: using these settings will make rendering take a LONG time! I get like ~4fps I think. But, if you want high quality in a small package, this will give it to you.

Note2: As you will see below, I use CRF=20. Feel free to change that, but please don't go below 18 as you will just be wasting file space.

I think Radzinksy's suggestion about encoding a short sequence using different CRF settings, then trying to see if you can tell any difference is a good one. Choose a sequence with a lot of action, and/or something that is a bit dark.

Note3
: It is assumed that the input to handbrake is prores 422LT or better. That would include any losslesss codec as well.

Note4: You will need to adjust picture settings based on what is right for your content; mostly that means adjusting the cropping appropriately as Handbrake can make mistakes.

Video Settings page

Video Codec = H.264 (x264)
FPS = same as source (constant framerate) * this should work fine assuming your source material does not vary in frame rate. I like to specify constant framerate explicitly just to make sure but it probably isn't necessary.
Video Quality: Constant Quality RF=20 (though see notes above, and at the end)
"Use x264 Advanced Options Panel" is checked

Advanced Options Panel

HandbrakeOptions_zps506169ae.png


for easy copy/pasting, here is the Advanced Option String:
Code:
b-adapt=2:rc-lookahead=60:ref=4:direct=auto:me=umh:subq=10:merange=24:analyse=all:trellis=2:psy-rd=1.0,0.15:deblock=-1,-1

Note: the option string gets built as you select options from the panel. But I might have some extra options in there that aren't from the panel. I suggest you first make the panel look like mine, then check for anything extra I might have in the options string.


Of course, I am not saying these are perfect settings. So if anyone has any improvements they would like to share, feel free to do so!

One final note about my settings -- I got them from information where people were trying to aim for the quality of 1080p that the Apple iTunes store provides, while aiming for the same file size based roughly on film length. The easiest way to increase the quality is just slightly lower the CRF value (as mentioned above). Again, I wouldn't go any lower than 18.

Hope this helps!
 
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