Is there something I can use to open, edit and save MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files in OSX?

February 25, 2004 9:04 AM

Digital video: Is there something I can use to open, edit and save MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files in OSX? Bonus question: What would I need to render said files from After Effects, Final Cut Pro, etc?

I've spent some time downloading and testing various freeware/shareware solutions, but none of them are giving me the functionality I need. Any suggestions welcome.

posted by erebora to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Isn't this something that the paid version of Quicktime does?
posted by terrapin at 9:21 AM on February 25, 2004

QT Pro will allow me to export video from MPG-1 to any format I have a codec for, but the audio appears unavailable and thus the exported movie is silent.
posted by squirrel at 9:35 AM on February 25, 2004

Quicktime Pro only exports MPEG-4 as far as I can tell.
posted by erebora at 9:38 AM on February 25, 2004

While I haven't tested mpeg1, Final Cut Pro 4 will import mpeg2 both in a .m2v and .vob formats. As for exporting, there is the ever-excellent compressor, which is included in the FCP 4 package.
posted by jazzkat11 at 10:20 AM on February 25, 2004

There is an MPEG2 component for Quicktime that costs extra. (I think it's $15.) This isn't QT Pro but a separate thing, it's in the apple store as a download. Otherwise FCP/compressor will be your (expensive!) best bet. There are a bevy of open source tools but you may find yourself stuck in dependency messes and no good UIs.
posted by neustile at 12:38 PM on February 25, 2004

Mpeg-1 and mpeg-2 files are highly compressed. Think of them like VHS- they are a distribution format, not for editing.

They work on a GOP- group of pictures where only one frame in so many has the full information and then the frames in between describe what pixels have changed.

When I have had a client say they need to edit them, it's best to transcode them to something else: DV, uncompressed, whatever, where editing can happen.

Cleaner 6 or 5.1.1 (os x) will permit you to change the flavor inputting MPEGs and outputting footage that FCP, imovie or Avid can work with natively.

Again, I don't believe of making these files directly from AE, FCP, etc. Work with footage in their native format- take them over to a transcoding/compression app for their strengths.

Why? I like AE (and FCP, and teach both) but the idea is their filters aren't able to show you the before/after of compression.

Things to look at:
Compressor (MPEG-2), Bitvice (MPEG-2), Cleaner 6 (slow- MPEG 1, 2)

Here's a bunch more from versiontracker :
Macintosh Software Updates - VersionTracker.com
posted by filmgeek at 3:58 AM on February 26, 2004

thank you very much filmgeek! this gives me something to work with.
posted by erebora at 7:23 AM on February 26, 2004

Thanks for the lesson, filmgeek. Do you know if DV-PRO compression is lossy? Also, do you know if the new G5s are fast enough to playback/render uncompressed video in realtime?

Some day there will be consumer-level DV cams with detachable 200GB hard drives that you can just slip into a bay in a RAID or attach to your CPU via FW/USB-2. Someday soon I hope. Death to linear data storage!
posted by squirrel at 11:04 AM on February 27, 2004