Adobe - Red .r3d to Mpeg 2

[Jim Exton]

I am pretty sure it will, but I just wanted to ask....

If we are working with native Red files, we can edit, color correct and then just use Adobe Media Encoder to output directly to Mpeg 2 files?

What if I want to use another encoder, what would be the best format to output to? 1080p Quicktimes?

[shashbugu]

mpeg 2 is the hardest format to encode to from anything above SD formats. yes you can export from the R3D files, with the upcoming support. but the results will be horrendous. Unless Adobe CS$ proves to have a new HD to SD mpeg2 compressor/encoder

[lonny dill]

Is anyone successfully exporting to an Mpeg2 right now? It would be nice if we could do this in redcine.

[David Wilson]

A direct RedCine to mpeg2 would be great.

As a PC route, however, I've been doing just fine transcoding with CineForm R2CF bringing the shots into Premiere, color grading with Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse and the exporting with Abobe Media Encoder to mpeg2.

It's a few steps but the material looks great to me as an mpeg2 played through a PS3 on a Panasonic 1080p projector.

It all would be easier (and better I think) if the color metadata could be preserved out of RedCine through R2CF to Premiere.

Or, as ldill suggests, export directly from RedCine to mpeg2.

[lonny dill]

I am concerned, we have been trying just about everything to get to mpeg2 but constantly end up with noise or mpeg noise. We have been going redcine quicktime to Final Cut Pro then to mpeg2. But, I am not at all happy with the results. I have no choice, all my projects must be in mpeg2. Please help. :)

[dudekill]

I am concerned, we have been trying just about everything to get to mpeg2 but constantly end up with noise or mpeg noise. We have been going redcine quicktime to Final Cut Pro then to mpeg2. But, I am not at all happy with the results. I have no choice, all my projects must be in mpeg2. Please help. :)

Lonny, have you tried Cleaner? We use it all the time. Not for mpeg2, but for wmv. It is faster and the file sizes are much, much smaller than exporting from the adobe media encoder. The interface sucks, but the code under the hood rocks.

EDIT: Another good encoding product is Sorenson Squeeze. Cleaner seems to give us superior results, but the Squeeze is also top notch.

[Noah Kadner]

An intermediate uncompressed format such as uncompressed QuickTime or DPX on the way to MPEG-2 would be fine. We do this with HD as well for our DVDs. First we edit in the native format- such as XDCAM EX or DVCPROHD, then output to ProRes HQ in standard definition for the SD master. Then load that ProRes into Compressor and create an MPEG-2.

We could also create an uncompressed master but in general we find that the HD to SD downconversion looks really sharp in ProResHQ and makes a more portable(especially now that ProRes is Mac/PC) and easier to playback archive than fully uncompressed. And it's a great source for MPEG-2 encoding.

Doing the encode to MPEG-2 directly from the native timeline is an option to. But then the NLE is tied up bigtime what with encoding and downconversion from HD. And if anything goes wrong it's a long time to wait. So in short, making an intermediate SD version on the way to an MPEG-2 is a solid option, especially coming from 4K or 2K.

Noah