 |
|
REVIEW: | ||||||||||||||
|
Canopus ProCoder Express |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
| Canopus Corp., maker of high end video editing solutions for Windows, has brought a lot of technology that it has created for high end video editing down to the consumer/prosumer level with a series of entry level applications targeted at the consumer/prosumer. These applications are competitively priced with others for which they compete, and offer a lot of tools previously reserved for the high end offerings. In the next few months, we'll be taking a look at some of these tools, starting with ProCoder Express. Canopus Corp. released a video transcoding application a few years ago called ProCoder. The Windows-only application is highly regarded, and offers a compelling alternative to discreet's cleaner. The company has taken the engine from its ProCoder application and wrapped some of the features into a wizard-based transcoding tool called ProCoder Express. This application, priced at $59 enables you to create video files from a variety of formats and output them to a variety of video formats, including DVD (MPEG-1 MPEG-2), VCD, Web streaming in RealVideo, QuickTime, and Windows Media, and even in the DiVX format. [an error occurred while processing this directive]Within ProCoder Express, there are several different windows that, based upon your selection, will lead to other windows that help you to optimize the video file that you are transcoding. Load Source, Use the Wizard or Select History Entry, Select Target are some of these windows. After Select Target, depending on which format you chose, another window opens and gives you a choice to choose which video setting you wish to target your video for. For example, if you choose Web Video, the next window gives a list of web video formats from which to choose, in this case, QuickTime, RealMedia, and Windows Media. Selecting DVD let's you choose between NTSC and PAL format, and so on.
Load Source The Load Source window is where you load the source video that you want to convert. In the Source parameters window, you'll find detailed information about the source clip. It details the name of the file as well as the length of the file, the frame size, and the video codec used. It also details the video aspect ratio and the audio information as well. To the right of the Source parameters window is a preview window, which enables you to scrub through the source video to get a general look at what the file is composed of. This enables you to determine how you will trim the video in the next wizard window, the
This window is where you can crop the specific portions of the video that you want to convert. The software does not alter the original source video at all, as the in and out points that you set are only applied to the video that is converted. The Set Source in and out point details information about the source video such as the duration of the original video, the in point, the out point, and selection. When you set an in point, the timeline bar before that in point turns gray, noting that that portion of the video will be cut in the final converted video. The same is done with the out point. If you click on the default button, the original settings of the video are returned. So you can experiment until you are satisfied with your in/out points.
Once you have trimmed out what you don't want to be in the final converted video, select next and the Advanced Settings window pops up. This window enables you to crop out unwanted artifacts that may appear on the bottom or top edges or on the sides of the video. You can choose no cropping, auto, which let's the software do the cropping, and manual, which gives you the control to crop.
You can also select a custom cropping size that can closely match your playback device. When you Select Cropping, a window opens and gives you crop handles on all sides of the crop window. Moving the handles crops out that portion of the video that you don't want to show up in the final converted video. All areas outside the crop handles (the gray areas) are not included in the final converted video. Clicking on the select settings window opens up another window that gives you a little more control of the process. The aspects of the video that can be adjusted are denoted with a pulldown arrow and are white in color. After you are finished with the Advanced Settings window, you are ready to select a target using the Use the Wizard or Select a History Entry. This window is where you select how you want the video to be encoded. here you can Use the ProCoder Express Wizard to select a target, Select a generic target, or select a previous history setting (which is handy when you convert to the same format and size on a regular basis). When you Use the ProCoder Express Wizard to select a target, a window opens asking you what kind of video you wish to create. Your choices here are Web video, CD-ROM video, VideoCD, Super video CD, DVD, HD, email attachment, and video editing. Once you make your choice in this window, a second window opens when you click next asking you which type of file format you'd like to make a file for.  Let's say we want to create a CD-ROM video. Clicking next opens up another window giving you the choice of AVI, DiVX Pro, MPEG-1, QuickTime, and Windows Media. Here we chose MPEG-1, the next window asks which resolution you want, in this case you have two choices, 320 x 240 and 640 x 480. We go with 320 x 240. The next window gives you three options to choose from detailing the file quality you are shooting for. Your choices include High Quality/short duration (8X CD-ROm or faster), Medium Quality/Medium duration (4X CD-ROM or faster), and Low Quality/Long Duration (1X CD-ROM or faster). These choices determine how ProCoder Express spends its time converting the file. If you want a high quality file, the duration it takes to convert the video will take longer than if you were to choose a low quality file. Keep in mind that if you choose one of the other formats, such as Web Video, DVD or VideoCD, ProCoder Express will give you similar questions specific to the format that you choose. Say for example that somebody gives you a 500MB QuickTime video file and you want to create a DVD but you are using Adobe Encore, which does not support QuickTime. You can bring that file into ProCoder Express, select the video editing choice in the Select Target window, select NTSC, and then select the video editing format. You could choose between a host of non-QuickTime formats which Encore supports, including Canopus DV AVI, Microsoft DV AVI, MPEG-2, and raw DV. If you choose Select a Generic Target, the wizard asks you what kind of video file format you want to create. Your choices here include AVI, AVI DV, MPEG, DiVX, QuickTime, Windows Media, RealMedia, and raw DV. You would select generic target if you want to convert the video to any of these file formats but don't necessarily have a target playback mechanism in mind. If you choose select a previous history setting, ProCoder Express enables you to choose from a previous list of formats that the software has already converted to, complete with details such as type of file and resolution, and even the last time that format was used. The last window before conversion begins is Saving your File. This is where you give your file a name and location where you want the file to be saved. You can choose to retain the original source file name, or specify a new name. When I specify a new name, I generally use the source file name, and then add the new resolution at the end. So if the source file is named surfer.mpg, the converted file name would be surfer640.mpg This way I know that the file has been converted and sports a new resolution. You can also check a box that will overwrite the old file name. The Job Summary window details the source file location; the target file new location (if changed); the output format information; and an Advanced Output Settings button, which enables you one more chance to tweak the file's parameters before you choose to convert the file. Watch Folder ProCoder Express also offers the capability to create a Watch Folder. This is a folder that you place videos in that you want ProCoder Express to convert. Files that you place in the folder are converted in the format and settings that you specify. If the folder is on a network, others can also place videos into the folder for ProCoder Express to convert. Watch Folders help to automate the conversion process. ProCoder Express can also be used with Canopus' own Edius 1.5 and Let's Edit, as well as Adobe Premiere 6.x and Premiere Pro. If these applications are already installed, ProCoder Express automatically becomes an export option in these applications.
First Impressions Currently, ProCoder Express doesn't have the capability to batch process a single file into multiple formats one after the other without having to go through the wizard, but then again, this is a version 1.0 release, so the engineers and marketing types at Canopus do have something to consider in the next version. Besides, this feature is found on applications that cost four to five times as much. It is tedious to go through the wizard one at a time, but the capability is there to convert to a wide variety of formats. There also aren't any video filters such as color correction or gamma correction, but then again, this is a $59 tool not targeted at the high end of the market. Eventhough there is a bit of customization via the Advanced Settings windows, the wizard-style format is a must have feature for those who are new to the transcoding process. You have a video that you need for CD-ROM or DVD? The wizard does all the guesswork for you. Need to get a video into QuickTime or Real format for streaming video on the Web? No problem, the wizard sets all the parameters. It is really that easy. ProCoder Express is a very handy application to have in your toolbox if you need to convert existing videos to other formats. At $59, the price of entry is about the same as you would pay for a DiVX license. This means that you have the capability to convert to the DiVX format as well as all of the other mainstream formats. For more information, visit www.canopus.com 
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| Related
Forums: Related Sites: • AV Video • Corporate Media News • Digital Producer • Digital Webcast • DV Format • DVD Creation [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
||||||||||||||||
