Sorenson Squeeze issues...

[Brandon Rice]

Every time I create an MPEG2 file for DVD in Sorenson it gets way bright and oversaturated! What's up with that? Anything I need to do to keep my colors right?

[Brandon Rice]

Please help... no one has an answer here?

[The Cash]

Brandon, my advice to you is to use Adobe Encore for DVD's. I made plenty of them and am very happy with it. Really easy to use and very good and professional.

[DavidBeier]

Encore 2.0 is quite good but you may still have the same issues. I've found that both Avid and Sorensen tend to brighten my HVX200 footage (though mine actually look under-saturated). Why not try using the darken filter?

[Brandon Rice]

I use Encore to author, but I use Sorenson to compress...

[Ben Sliker]

that's funny b-man, cause when i use sorenson for mpeg2s it tends to darken them.

[Demistate]

Try to over compensate for it in the encoding properites.

However- Sometimes these programs use direct show filters to decode video once it is on the system (FFDSHOW is one of them) You should make sure that you dont have any external decoders installed that could interfere with your project.

Also, make sure you have the latest version for your product. Sometimes looking on sorenson's website, you can find answers to some common encoding issues that you are having.

P.s. We used sorenson at a job I worked at once, and it was more of a pain then it was a quick way to batch encode files. If you are encoding just one mpeg-2 file, the encoder built into Premier/After effects/adobe suite will suit your needs perfectly.

We should petition Adobe to make an executeable that is an encoder program that gives you all the file output that after effects has to offer...hmm...

[TuffGong]

Try to render an AVI then Squeeze it. Rendering an AVI is fast, and as uncompressed as yu can get as an export.

[vidwerk]

I haven't had any problems with Squeeze. I tend to use Procoder as it lets you select 2 pass VBR as opposed to 1 pass VBR with Squeeze.

vidwerk.

[mcallibn]

Lost on this one.

Had issues compressing. Sorenson support told me to upgrade to 4.3.3. Still have issues.

Compressing some video pumped out of Avid Express Pro with the allmighty Quicktime Reference files. Put into Sorenson using DVD_NTSC_lg. Set it to 16x9, 2 Pass VBR (and 1 Pass VBR), Progressive and the rest defaults. Tested various spots in the video. All looked well. Ran the whole thing and wala' ...mixed results.

1st attempt I got an all white video with audio.
2nd attempt I got just over 2 minutes of video before it went white for the remaining 7 minutes.

Both times, I didn't change any settings. I just reprocessed the same thing.

Sent some more fan mail to Sorenson. Waiting for a reply...

I'll try rendering it completely to a mov without the reference. See how that goes.

If anyone has ideas please let me know.

Thanks

[mcallibn]

Exporting the video as a mov without reference didn't help much. I gained 50 sec more of video then it goes all white.

How can a program suck and yet tell you everything is fine in the end. I'd figure there would be a compression error that pops up and says "hey I'm
sucking right now, think I'll quit " instead of making you wait for the surprise in the end...

I'll keep trying until I get another program..

[Beat Takeshi]

I wouldn't use it for DVDs. I use Canopus procoder for quick DVDs with no menus and I author with Sonic Scenarist which produces the best so far out of all the ones I used.

[mcallibn]

Thanks, I didn't get a response from Sorenson so,

I'll work on obtaining Canopus. Since I paid for it though I'll probably use AVID DVD for the menu creation. I haven't used it yet, maybe I'll end up getting Sonic Scenarist......

Thanks for the tip...

[Brandon Rice]

So Aram, how's Procoder? good stufff? Anyone else use other encoding software with good results?

[Demistate]

Going all white?

We use to have a similar problem at a place we consulted for. They Used Sorenson Squeeze and had similar problems to what you are describing. (Only video went all black) Here was our solution:

Upgrade the PC.

What was happening was that we were exporting Avid Refrence Files out of a DS Nitrus machine, to a 2.4ghz P4 with 256MB of ram. It would choke on HD files, due to either a codec configuration or lack of ram.

With reference files you're going to need a LOT OF RAM to handle them.

We upgraded the client's PC, to a new P4 with 2 gigs of ram, and it was smooth sailing from then on. Of course the PC was re-loaded as well. So take that into concideration while you are searching for a solution to Sorenson Squeeze.

[mcallibn]

Sorry about all the specs on my machine, I cut and pasted from an
invoice. The system was totally built new in July with the following specs.

I hope it's not a lack of hardware. But I do wander if there is something about
SATA drives. Who knows maybe something interrupting the read and write during a compression. I think I'll copy the video to another system with SCSI and give that a shot.

Still working with Sorenson on the issue. I also bought Canopus Express and it did the same thing half way through the video except instead of an all white screen, I got a stuck frame for the rest of the video.

The configured DV Warrior Dual CPU:
Motherboard: Dual Core P4, DDR2, PCIe, SATAx4, GIG NIC, 64-bit and &
32-bit PCI slots
CPU: Dual Core P4 3.4GHz CPUs 800 MHz bus, 2MB cache
Memory: 2GB DDR2 533MHz RAM (2 x 1GB)
Chassis: Wavemaster, 11 bays, top I/O panel, 485w P/S
Capture Card: Firewire 1394
VGA Card: Quadro 540e, 128MB, DVI + VGA + HD out
Boot Drive: WD 160 GB SATA II, 8MB cache 7200rpm
Storage Drives, A/V: two 250 GB WD SATA II RAID, 16MB cache, 7200rpm
Storage Drives, audio and utility: 250 GB WD SATA II RAID, 16MB cache,
7200rpm
CDROM, DVD Drives: Pioneer DVR111 16x Dual layer DVD R/RW+/- burner,
black
Soundcard: on-board sound
Speakers: no speakers
Keyboard, Mouse: Keytronics USB 104-key keyboard Logitech Optical Mouse,
blk
Video I/O options: two 1394 PCI Firewire capture, 6 ports 32/64-Bit
Digital Video Deck: No Video Recording Deck
Software, Video: AVID Xpress Pro HD with MOJO
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional
LCD Monitor: Viewsonic 922VX blk+silv, 19in 1280x1024, 4ms, thin edge
Training DVDs: AVID training DVD
NIC, Modem: On-board 10/100/1000 ethernet
Warranty: 1-year parts and labor limited warranty
Support: Standard support, first 90 days software support
Other: AVID component output and input cables (set of 2)

[Beat Takeshi]

Thanks, I didn't get a response from Sorenson so,

I'll work on obtaining Canopus. Since I paid for it though I'll probably use AVID DVD for the menu creation. I haven't used it yet, maybe I'll end up getting Sonic Scenarist......

Thanks for the tip...

Just be prepared for the sticker shock. Sonic scenarist runs about $33,000.

[Beat Takeshi]

Procoder kicks butt. The settings are easy to use and have a ton of ways to tweak. I use Sorenson for quicktime webstuff only.

[Brandon Rice]

What does procoder run?

[mcallibn]

Just be prepared for the sticker shock. Sonic scenarist runs about $33,000.
33k ? No I don't believe I'll be getting that. It must be some good stuff.

Update on my issue:
Sorenson wanted me to put my raw video on DVD and send to them. I can't
do that for them.

I ended up cutting my video into eight slices and encoding each piece separately. I think my issue has something to do with memory. I monitored
the compression batch. When the program got to around 350mb of mem usage, Sorenson stopped processing the video and only compressed the audio. I had to close Sorenson and reopen to complete each video one at a time. So either I have a memory issue or the program does or it's coincidental.
I did notice that as you compress then delete the job, Sorenson does not put the memory back. Which is odd.

Now I have to somehow stitch the videos back together, then do my DVD authoring.

If I ever find out what's going wrong, I'll be sure to post the findings.

Thanks,

[mcallibn]

Procoder kicks butt. The settings are easy to use and have a ton of ways to tweak. I use Sorenson for quicktime webstuff only.
Is that the express version or Procoder 2.0 ? The express version crapped out on my video just the same as Sorenson. This weekend I'm testing compression on a different system to see If my issues are system related.

[Beat Takeshi]

Procoder 2.