Random Questions Answered

Here are some random questions that I have recently answered, that
may help you out in your endeavors:

1. "I have a movie on IMOVIE and I want to export it to something I can upload
as a torrent but I have a million different choices to export.
What is the best way to do this?"

You would first save it out as a Quicktime file from iMovie.
Then use an app that supports DIVX/XVID encoding, such as
ffmpegx or VisualHub.
using ffmpegx as an option, Select the quicktime .mov,
and drag and drop it into the encode window, and
select the XVID mencoder preset.




Here the mov file from iMovie pulls the default setting,
targeting a file size of 700MB with 128kbps Mp3 audio,
just fine for most torrent networks.

(if using VisualHub, simply drag and drop the Quicktime .mov
file into the AVI tab, and select the Standard Tab. This will
make an .avi file that will be encoded in the Mpeg-4 spec,
NOT DIVX/XVID, but will still be in the acceptable size of 700mb.)

2. "I have some AVI. divx video files that I want to edit on my MAC, in Final Cut Pro.
What format should I convert them to, to avoid constant rendering of the video
and audio in Final Cut?"

Go and get the latest version of MpegStreamclip.
Open the .avi files in MpegStreamclip.
Once opened in MpegStreamclip, export the files as DV Stream files
for ingestion into Final Cut Pro, thus avoiding the constant need for
rendering the Video while in use in the timeline.
The flattened vanilla DV Stream file is well liked by Apple's NLE apps
(iMovie, Final Cut Express, and Final Cut Pro), and will not cause the
dreaded "Red Must Render" notices in the apps.