Video Converter Software now that Quicktime is going away?

[fl]

Now that Apple is no longer going to support Quicktime on the Windows platform, the recommendation is that Quicktime should be removed, this avoiding possible malware attacks in the future, arising from running unpatched software.

When I first upgraded to Pyramix 10, I wanted to test out the new video capabilities, so I asked a friend who works in video post if he could provide me with a clip or two that I could use for that purpose. The files I got used an ".m4v" file extension, which Pyramix 10 couldn't open. Since I own the "Pro" license for Quicktime, I was able to convert the .m4v file to a .mov file, with Pyramix opened successfully.

Moving forward, I'd like to be able to replace Quicktime Pro with another - hopefully low cost, if not free - utility that can perform the conversions needed to maintain frame for frame parity with the original. What are people using?

[charlienyc]

Hi Frank,
I've used VLC for similar purposes. http://www.videolan.org/index.html
Cheers,
-c

[fl]

Thanks Charlie.

I'm know that the use of compressed file formats (mp3, aac and the like) gives dodgy timing synchronization in those situations where absolute parity is desired. Is it the same with video file formats? If I convert one compressed format, like .m4v, to another, like mp4, am I likely to encounter frame disparity?

I see in the Pyramix 10 manual that they discourage the use of H264 compression, as it creates a load on the processor (no word on whether H265 will be added). For the occasional use I have for video capability, I don't necessarily want to have to deal with huge uncompressed video files - what's your recommended best option for compression, that introduces minimal (or preferably no) sync problems?

[charlienyc]

Hi Frank,
I'm the kind of engineer who gets video to work with audio through mostly trial and error, rarely looking back once I know something is working correctly. This might also be called a "vidiot," though in my experience that's what audio engineers call video people who treat audio in the same way (either working or not). I say all this to say you may want to wait for someone with much more experience with video conversion to address your questions.
Cheers,
-c

[mpdonahue]

Frank,
I have been doing a bunch of Operas this year and have been using the PMX video player. I have found that ProRes has been the most stable option for video playback with out an additional codec(DNxHD...). H.264 really does slow the system down and the sync is a bit suspect.
I have a couple of MAC Minis here that have FCP and I use the Compressor application to do the conversion to ProRes 422. There are many free applications that will do the conversion. Also, make sure whoever is doing the editing is sending the original audio with the picture. This is great for quickly sorting out the sync issues.
Most of the video people are actually much happier generating the ProRes since it takes less time than making the H.264.
There is a lot of work being done by the development team to add features and stability to the video playback. v10.1 has a couple of new features that will make this workflow go much smoother.
All the best,
-mark

[fl]

Thanks very much, Mark, for your insights into ProRes and Pyramix/VCube.

So far, I've identified four converters which convert a variety of formats to ProRes 422 (HQ and LT), all promising to be the fastest and the bestest, all hovering around the $35 to $40 USD price range:

Apple ProRes Converter (note: NOT Apple) ($39 USD)
http://www.appleproresconverter.com/

Bigasoft Total Video Converter ($37 USD)
http://www.bigasoft.com/total-video-converter.html

Brorsoft Video Converter ($35 USD)
http://brorsoft.com/video-converter/

Jihosoft HD Video Converter ($35 or $49.95 (up to 5 computers) USD)
http://www.jihosoft.com/hd/hd-video-converter.html

Of course, if you're already running FinalCut on a Mac, you won't need any of these.

[mpdonahue]

Frank, I know you run bootcamp, so I would also include the Apple Compressor app from the App store for $49.
All the best,
-mark

[fl]

Thanks Mark, but I have to confess that bouncing back and forth between operating systems gets tedious, so in the last while I've been finding Windows counterparts for all the processes I used to run on the Mac OS (things like meta-data tagging and editing, DDP creation, etc.). This was my motivation for purchasing a second "Pro" license for Quicktime a couple of years back, which gave me all the video conversion and editing I needed at that time. I'm hopeful that one of the ones I listed will turn out to be good for my purposes, and free of junkware or malware. So far, virus and malware scans of all those I listed haven't set off any alarm bells.

[Larry Elliott]

I do very little video work, but am wondering if it is now required convert any Quicktime file before opening it in PMX. Received an MP4 file yesterday and PMX freezes when trying to load it.

Thanks
Larry

[fl]

Larry,

Firstly, it's very possible that the file you received is damaged, but if it plays back in VLC, the answer becomes more complicated. Firstly, Pyramix has to support the file format, and secondly, the processing requirement must be kept low, so that what's available can be devoted to audio processing (high track counts, heavy plug-in processing).

MPEG4 part 14, with its .mp4 file extension is simply a wrapper which can contain any one of a variety of different video formats using any one of a variety of data compression schemes. Other wrappers you see a lot include the Matroska format with its .mkv file extension, and Quicktime with its .mov. Here's a comparison of video container formats.

Inside the wrapper, commonly used codecs include Motion JPEG, Dirac, H263, H264 and H265 and many others, any of which will burden the graphics processing to different degrees. While Pyramix currently supports H264 playback, it's not recommended for doing any processor intensive work. I'm pretty sure that H265 is not supported at all at this time, and an attempt to import such a file to Pyramix could very well result in a lock-up or crash. In any event, the degree of file compression, and therefore file size, is countered by the processing requirements in much the same way as playback of an mp3 tasks the computer more than an uncompressed wav file. You want a small file? Your processor will require more processing cycles to play it.

You may find that while the particular file you received crashes Pyramix, a different mp4 could work just fine - it all depends on what's inside the wrapper. If Pyramix can't handle it, then you have to convert or request a different file from your client. As long as you're doing that, you may as well go the extra distance and wind up with a file which plays back video while burdening your processor the least, and Mark's suggestion to use a ProRes 422 formatted file jumps to the head of that line. Any one of the converter programs I listed in my earlier post, as well as Apple's "Converter" for the Mac OS, can output these.

[Larry Elliott]

Thank you so much Frank.

Seems to be more complex than I had even imagined ;-(.

Larry

[fl]

Well, why do you think so many video editors have so little time to think about the audio?

Seriously, I think that once you find a format that works best for you, and a converter to handle any possible formats you are likely to encounter, all these concerns will recede into the background noise. Just remember that like colour TV and the Internet - all this video stuff is just a fad...

[DJS]

I am a bit mystified at what the compelling purpose of video in PMX is. Reading the scope paragraph in the v11 user manual, Video chapter, it seems its primarily a playback function, while the most interesting (to me) mention at the end is that audio can be "wrapped" into a video file using the Mixdown function.

I am not at all interested in playback, but I can see where it is useful. The manual states that ProRes or DNxHD are preferred file formats for editing, but the input video file examples in wrapping audio is clearly using MP4 which I understand is mostly an H264 container format, which is not a recommended format for PMX or vCube. Confusing.

My main purpose for video editing is substituting and aligning inferior camera audio with separate system audio in music audition and concert video, topping, tailing and republishing to compressed formats. I am demoing vCube at present, but it doesn't seem to recognise my camera files (GH4).

So its back to Edius for editing and Handbrake for publishing. I am looking at an Atomos recorder that will record ProRes natively, and this might assist significantly. Dealing with all the video file formats is a royal pain. Compressed camera formats expand out to huge uncompressed formats for editing, then have to be compressed again for publishing. All takes a lot of time and a lot of disk space. I am completely concentrated on simplifying this procedure.

[Almalutz]

Hello there, I want to know if there is provided a version of the software in which we can integrate the subtitle?