Interframe Compression

In our last post, we covered intraframe compression - easy to edit, high quality, and inexpensive to implement. It sounded dreamy. But there are some issues. Let's say you want to implement a tape-based HD acquisition format. The world already knows and loves cheap and cheerful miniDV tapes. Why not just put HD on those? Well, HD is more than four times the number of pixels, so we need to run the tape four times faster. Suddenly your 60 minute tape is only good for about 12 minutes. Even worse, you need to engineer motors, write heads, and lots of other bits that work reliably at four times the speed. And you need to hope that those miniDV tapes won't spontaneously combust. Clearly, this will not do.…

Intraframe Compression

Serious video compression is a mix of math, science, and black arts. Discussion of the many esoteric features of modern compression technology is well beyond the scope of this blog, and is better dealt with by folks like Jason Garrett-Glaser. However, there are a couple bits of terminology we want to review so that we can better discuss workflow and post production technologies. In this post, we're going to discuss intraframe compression. In the next post, we'll cover its controversial brother, interframe compression.…

ClipWrap 2.4.7

We've released ClipWrap 2.4.7 today. The primary enhancement in this release is support for the 25p and 30p modes in the Panasonic DMC-GH2 with the version 1.1 firmware. With this update, users of the GH2 will be able to generate native progressive files from the "psf" stream recorded by the camera. Additionally, this release resolves an issue with very short file names (1-2 characters), and improves support for AVCHD files which don't begin with an I-frame. ClipWrap 2.4.7 is available for download now from the trial page.…

Testing ClipWrap

Testing an application like ClipWrap can be complicated. There are thousands of combinations of cameras, computers and editing applications that need to be taken into account. It's a complicated process, and we're looking for your help to make it even better. …

Announcing ClipWrap 2.4.6

We released ClipWrap 2.4.6 today. Improvements include:

• Fixes issue which affected file creation/modification times
• Increases reliability of transcodes on machines with Perian codecs installed
• Enhances support for DNxHD 24p transcodes
• Increases stability in large conversion batches (100+ files)
• Fixes issue with PowerPC audio conversion

Optimizing your Avid workflow with ClipWrap

As many long-time Final Cut Pro users give Avid Media Composer a new look, we've gotten numerous inquiries about the best workflow for going from HDV or AVCHD to Avid. Because it's a common question, we thought a blog post might help clear things up.…

ClipWrap 2.4.4 update

We've released ClipWrap 2.4.4 today with a number of improvements:

• Metadata parsing
• Automatic detection of Canon pF25 and pF30 formats
• Better support for DNxHD transcodes
• Improved support for PAL DV and DV-Anamorphic transcoding
• Better support for FCPX audio codecs

Using HDV with Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X has been making huge waves in the Mac non-linear editing space for the last six months - some positive, some negative. As with any massive, ground up rethink of an application, there are bound to be issues. Luckily, we've got solutions! Update, 1/31/2012: With the release of Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3, it appears this issue has been resolved, and these utilities are no longer necessary. If you're still having trouble, please let us know.…

ClipWrap 2.4.3 update

Fresh out of the oven, we've posted an update to ClipWrap allowing users more control over the resulting files. You'll notice a new preferences window with options to:

• Preserve you original file's creation date in the new movie
• Control audio mixdown of 5.1 surround
• Automatically open resulting files in another application

ClipWrap 2.3 update

We just shipped an update to ClipWrap. Version 2.3 has a bunch of improvements for timecode, transcode options, improved stability, AF100 support, and a brand new manual. Best of all it's free! Available immediately on our trial page or as an automatic update in your current copy of ClipWrap.…

InDepth: Choosing a Post Production Codec

One of the most common questions we receive from ClipWrap users is “Which format should I use?” ClipWrap provides users a variety of choices beyond rewrapping. You can choose Apple Intermediate, DV, DVCProHD, HDV, along with a pile of variations on ProRes and Avid DNxHD. So which one is right? Well, that all depends. …

In Depth: H.264 Decoding on the Mac

“It works for me.” These are the words that strike fear into the hearts of developers and users alike. Months of testing and still a file that opens or plays fine on one computer gives a frustrating error on another. More often than not, in the world of ClipWrap, these issues come down to H.264, the video codec behind AVCHD. In this post, we’re going to look at the current state of H.264 decoding on the Mac.…

ClipWrap 2.0.3 update

I just posted the second update to ClipWrap in as many days. Now problems with simpler codec implementations (mostly still cams and AVCLite)/ transcoding to AIC & ProRes/ corrupt video frames should all be a thing of the past. I want to thank everyone for their patience - an application like ClipWrap covers a lot of permutations of cameras and computers, far more than we can afford to test with, and far more than we get exposed to even during the months and months of beta testing we did.…

ClipWrap 2.0!

Today is a big day. When we started this upgrade to ClipWrap almost a year ago, no one knew if it was even possible. Today I'm happy to say, ClipWrap 2.0 is rewrapping mts/m2ts files from nearly every AVCHD camera on the market.…

NAB 2009 wrapup (and coupon code!)

I'm a bit late in posting this, but I wanted to followup NAB 2009 with a brief wrap up. We decided not to exhibit this year, instead choosing to save the money for more directed advertising and customer outreach this coming year. This seems to be the stance of many companies as of late. However, ClipWrap and ScopeBox did make a number of appearances at the show…

ClipWrap 1.1.1 upgrade posted

Version 1.1.1 has just been posted of ClipWrap. This fixes a bug introduced in 1.1 for users with 24P/ F footage. In addition, we've started to remove the impediments to using ClipWrap with more generic m2t streams such as those from DVRs or other non HDV sources. New in 1.1.1…

ClipWrap 1.1 released!

We're pleased to announce the release of ClipWrap 1.1. New in 1.1

• No longer requires Final Cut Pro to be installed on the re-wrap machine
• Adds transcode to AIC, ProRes, DVCProHD, and DNxHD.
• Now works with Final Cut Pro/Express, iMovie, Avid or any other QT app on any machine!
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ClipWrap launches!

It official, ClipWrap is available for sale. You can check out our new site at www.clipwrap.com. There you can d/l a trial which will convert the first minute of each clip. ClipWrap sells for $49.95.…

Coming soon, ClipWrap

With a week or two to go before release, it's time to let the cat out of the bag. Since NAB, we've been in development on a new app - ClipWrap. ClipWrap allows you to batch convert m2t files into QuickTime movies that can be played on any machine with Apple's FCPStudio codecs installed. By rewrapping the original mpeg data rather than transcoding, we are able to achieve blazingly fast speeds and zero image degradation. Currently it works with all major m2t formats by the big camera manufacturers…