Converting videos is doing my head in

[mrnabo]

Is it me, or are Macs seriously complicated when it comes to rendering and reading video? For all its shocking pitfalls, PCs have Sony Vegas (and Soundforge) which are, it has to be said, the bees knees when it comes to video and audio work.

However, I migrated to the wonderful world of Mac a few years ago and this has been a recurring problem for me - opening videos sent to me from clients and rendering out a decent-sized video that is readable by all with just the basic software that comes with an intel Mac (i.e. iMovie, Quicktime [upgraded to pro] and iDVD).

Should I be investing in Final Cut express or even (gulp) FCP studio to solve my problem? I purchased Stomp (by Shinywhitebox software) and upgraded to Quicktime Pro to do the conversion process for me, but I've repeatedly come up against problems with videos I can't open, files not rendering properly and general wa*k results (massive files or ridiculously poor quality, even when using the H264 codec).

Please tell me there's something I'm missing here, like some golden 'I'll do it all for you and wash the dishes afterwards' software.

Thanks

 

[LethalWolfe]

If you need to do lots of video conversion look at Sorenson Squeeze or Episode.


Lethal

 

[Sonicjay]

Quicktime Pro is extremely slow for conversion.. I think I tried it once and that was that.. I have FCE and FCS; FCS comes with Compressor that I really like for conversions

 

[CaptainChunk]

Yes, FCS2 comes with Compressor, but I wouldn't spend $1,300 for it for that reason alone. If you're doing fine with what you have right now, Sorensen Squeeze would be a more cost-effective option.

 

[mrnabo]

Thanks for getting back to me.

Is Sorenson Squeeze going to be a good option for converting lots of different formats, or does it only accept the basics like .avi, .mpg and DV etc.?

For example, sometimes I'm given flash, .wmv or even divx files to work with...

I was just recommended this: http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/

Is it any good?

Thanks

 

[Toniola]

Visual Hub has WAY less features than Flip4Mac, and Episode is the better yet. If you want to start with good quality and pretty easy functionality, go with F4M and Quicktime Pro. From there you can handle most stuff.

 

[spinnerlys]

You're given flash, WMV and Divx source material?

That's quite strange, as they are highly compressed and only suitable for distribution.

What kind of work do you do, if you don't mind my asking?