Reference .mov, Chapters, Metadata Hootenanny, Sizzle 0.1

If you have two QuickTime .mov files (not MPEG2 files), you can use QuickTime Pro or BTV Pro (trial) to paste the second movie at the end of the first movie, then save as a reference movie which takes up practically no space. The reference .mov should play the two underlying movies seamlessly, and should hand off the content to an app like Toast. This applies to .mov files that use video codecs like DV, MJPEG A, Media 100, etc. Seems to work for a .mov that uses mpeg-4 codec too.

Suppose you want to add user-defined chapters to a .mov file (not an MPEG2 file) before handing it off to Toast or iDVD? Sometimes it's inconvenient to add chapters in iMovie because the .mov is too large or iMovie doesn't like the codec. Download the freeware Metadata Hootenanny 1.1.4 via Version Tracker:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/17583

Or the pre-release 1.1.5 beta is supposed to work better with iDVD 5:

http://www.applesolutions.com/bantha/MH115.zip

Read this quick tutorial on how to use "Metahoot" to add chapter markers:

http://www.applesolutions.com/bantha/MHguide.html

Metahoot was designed to do many things, but you can ignore most of its widgets and just focus on chapter creation. It gives you a visual interface for playing the .mov and quickly adding/editing chapters. Then save as a reference movie and hand off to Toast or iDVD. (If you open the reference .mov in QuickTime Player, you should be able to use the chapters to navigate. If you don't see the chapters in QT Player, Toast or iDVD probably won't see them either. Try again in Metahoot.)

AFAIK, you can't use this direct method with MPEG files, even if you stuff an MPEG into a .mov container or create a reference .mov to an MPEG. However, you can still use Metahoot's visual interface to create a chapter list for an MPEG, save the chapter list to a text file, and paste it into Sizzle 0.1. (To play an MPEG2 in Metahoot, you'll need the Apple QuickTime MPEG2 Playback Component.)

User havema-1 mentioned in this thread that Sizzle (freeware) lets you add user-defined chapter markers to an existing MPEG2 when authoring. I agree that Sizzle 0.1 is the best version to use:

http://www.thefridgeowl.com/sizzle/sizzle0.1.dmg

I may do a short guide for Sizzle 0.1, but for now I'll mention that the correct format for a Sizzle 0.1 chapter list is

0:00:00,h:mms,h:mms,h:mms,h:mms,h:mms, etc.

So if you want to add a lot of chapters to an MPEG2 and are fussy about the hit points, you can use Metahoot to create the chapter list, save it to text, and massage the text file to get it in the comma-delimited form specified above. Then paste it into Sizzle 0.1.

More about Metahoot... Sometimes you might want to edit a film rate MPEG2 with pulldown by Exporting it to a non-iMovie codec like DVCPRO50, MJPEG B, or Component. You can do cuts-only editing in QuickTime Pro, BTV Pro, or MPEG Streamclip, save the edited .mov, and use Metahoot to add chapter markers via a reference movie before handing off to iDVD or Toast.

-Pianoman

First, let me simplify: If you have a .mov file that you're going to send to Toast or iDVD for burning to DVD, you can try using Metadata Hootenanny to add chapters first. This is not always possible in iMovie, if iMovie doesn't like the codec or the .mov is very large.

Terry, I'm a hobbyist on a budget, and I like finding free or cheap solutions to workflow issues like adding chapters. No question that pros should save up and buy products like Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro.

But guess what? Last night I authored a DVD with Sizzle 0.1 and popped it in my set top box. It played immediately and the chapters I defined worked from the remote. The video looked perfect because there was no re-encoding anywhere in my workflow.

Learning to use freeware apps is a good way for hobbyists to gain experience in how video works, and how to design a workflow that gets the job done. Then if you graduate to a better set of tools, you'll be able to get the most out of them.

The Metahoot tutorial I recommended is the short one on adding chapters, not the one on sprites which is not my thing either.

One reason I posted is because in this thread user njhorn talked about burning his large mpeg-4 .mov files of the Rose Bowl using Toast. So I thought he could probably use Metahoot to add custom chapter markers first.

In this thread started by SeattleJoe, Frobozz mentioned that Toast 7 still doesn't let you add user-defined chapter markers to an MPEG on the fly. So I thought it would be worth pointing out that MPEG Streamclip + Metahoot + Sizzle 0.1 is a freeware "pipe" to reauthor a long title from a standalone recorder and put chapter markers where you want them.

These are inelegant, hackish solutions, but they can be fun for hobbyists, and they can get the job done for little or no $. Think about it: How many times have you read something like this: "I'm kind of a computer geek, so the other kids at the orphanage asked me to put together a DVD showing what conditions are like here. The thing is, our budget is only $12.99..."

My heart goes out to people like that. Hey, if you're hungry and can't afford filet mignon, mac&cheese tastes like heaven! -Pianoman