Mpeg Streamclip and Final Cut Pro .mpeg...Only 1 hour clips?

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Hey,
I am using MPEG Streamclip 1.9.2. I have a movie file that is .mpeg format and I want to convert it into something that Final Cut Pro will recognize. I want to keep the highest quality possible. I have tried Export to mpeg-4 but my 2 hour movie ends up as only 1 hours or so. Is there a setting Im not getting right? What setting or format do I want for the best possible quality for Final Cut Pro and still get the whole file converted? Thanks

[tomlee59]

Incomplete conversions can be caused by any number of things: Error in source file, insufficient disk space, disk problem, etc.

Does the source file play fine all through the section that includes where the conversion abruptly stops? Does the conversion always fail at the same place? Do you have plenty of disk space? Conversion frequently involves the generation of large intermediate files, so if you have allocated only enough space for the final result, that can be your problem.

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So your saying that it "Should" convert the whole thing then?
Yeah it seems to always stop at the same spot. But when I play the original .mpeg file thru quicktime it plays fine. I do have atleast 300 GB left over on my HDd so I dont think thats a problem. I guess now that I look at it I am selecting the Export to Mpeg-4 option. Should i be selecting one of the "Convert" to options instead? I just want to get it into something I can use in FCP...

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Well it appears like its only seeing just a little over 1 hour of the 2 hour 18 minute clip. When I set it to convert to mpeg-4 it says something like "Encoding movie at 0:35:05....58% complete".
So its not stopping halfway thru.
Is there a way to set the section of the clip I want it to convert? Then I can do the first hour and then convert the last half in 2 section. I have no problem editing the 2 parts back together again in FCP?

[tomlee59]

If it's stopping at the same point each time, that strongly suggests a problem with the source file at that particular spot. Even if QT can play through that point, that may be more of a statement about QT's tolerance than anything else. If you watch that segment carefully, do you see anything odd, such as a hiccup (or worse)? And what happens if you play the video with other players, such as VLC?

You might be able to fix things up by demuxing/remuxing (or it might fail spectacularly at the same spot). Or you might be able to use a transcoder that is QT-based, since QT seems to manage ok. Ffmpegx is one tool that allows you to choose QT as the decoder during conversions.

[terryj]

FCP accepts DV Stream.

Why are you converting a end properitary format to ANOTHER end properitary format?
You need to convert to an EDITABLE format.

1. Load the mpeg clip into MpegStreamclip.
2. FIX TIMECODE BREAKS in the file using Edit-->Fix TimeCode Breaks
3. Export to DV Stream. the default settings in MpegStreamclip,
that come up on export, should be what MS read in the file upon opening it.
4. Target a HD that is free enough for the target file.
2hrs =roughly 30GB. Let MS do it's work.

Any flavor of Mpeg ( -1,-2, and -4) should only be used to finalize
the file, ie. How you want the file to end up.
Taking a MPeg-4 file into FCP requires it to convert it to DV Stream
ANYWAY for editing, so doing this in MS, you cut out the middle man,
and save a lot of time on the Video Render.

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terryj,
I have done what you suggested. I did the fix time code breaks but it goes thru real fast and says that there werent any. Well after that I tried exporting to dv and it still stops but in a different area. Now the file comes out at the proper length but about an hour in the image pauses and freezes on screen. Then if I move the slider towards the end of the movie it just gives me that same image.
I have tried viewing the original file in both quicktime pro and mpeg streamclip. The original file seems fine. And I have over 300 GB of Hdd left over on my Hdd.
Should I try quicktime pro instead. What setting should I use?

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Is there a way to set the portion of a file you would like to be converted? I am still working on the 2 mpeg files I have that I wish to convert to DV files for Final Cut Pro. And in relation to what we were talking about above, It seems that mpeg streamclip just stops at some random point about 1 hour into a 2 hour 18 minute file. I have the first hour and 5 minutes of it converted. But if there was a way I could say, set it to just convert the last hour or so and skip the first hour that would work out great. I also have quicktime pro to use. So could I use that instead? Would that work better than mpeg streamclip?

[terryj]

Ok, there is something wrong with the mpeg stream in your file.

What we need to do now is break down the file and see if the problem
lies in (1) the video itself, (2) the audio itself, or (3) the muxing of
both into the mpeg.

Since I do not know how you happen to come about having the file
(did you encode to mpeg yourself, was it a download, was it
ripped from a DVD), let's just assume for the moment that the
file was taken from a DVD.

Steps to take:

1. Open MpegStreamclip, open the 2 hr mpeg file in MpegStreamclip.
QT Pro and MS, in this regard wouldn't have anything over the other
other than fickleness; QT Pro is more fickle than MS on bad files.

2. Does it play past the point it stops in the export to DV Stream?
if yes continue. if no see step 6

3. Run Fix TimeCode Breaks again. Going fast is fine. Stopping with an error is not.

4. Once Fix Timecode breaks is done, select "File-->Demux-->.m2v and
.ac3" if your audio is AC3, "file-->Demux-->.m2v and AIFF" if your
audio is Uncompressed / AIFF.

5. Let MpegStreamclip do its work. If it crashes or errors, go to step 6.
if it completes, go to step 7.

6. If Mpegstreamclip errors out on the file, then your only choice is
to recreate the file from scratch from its original source.
If it hoses in playback, or in demuxing, then there isn't going to
be an option of capturing via "hijacking" using a screen recorder;
the mpeg itself is messed up at the muxing process, and cannot
be undone
(there is no good data to read forward in the file).
Could have been do to a (a)bad encode, (b)a bad rip due to outdated
software, or (c)a rip that happened on a badly scratched disc.
You can rule out (b) and (c) by updating your software and
checking the original disc for scratches, but (a)points back to how
it was created.

7. with a complete demux of the Mpeg file, close out of MS.

8. re-Open MS, open the .m2v video file created from the demux.
Play through and see if the file creates a crash or error.
if not, then export this to DV Stream from MS, and import into FCP,
and then go to step 9.
if an error occurs, go back to step 6.

9. Import the audio into FCP direct if it is AIFF. if it is AC3,
open the audio into MS and export as AIFF, then import into FCP.

Now I have read back through all your postings, and something
is a bit confusing...is this an mpeg that is 2 hours made up of one
file? or is it a 2 hour mpeg made up of joining two mpeg files?

[rumplestiltskin]

Try setting the "in" and "out" points to the last half of the video and then export to DV.

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Thanks everyone for all your help. I ended up setting the in and out time to the parts it was missing and reassembled them in FCP. Ill probably be back when I have another novice/newbie question...