Copyright © 2004-2005 Squared 5
MPEG-2 ファイルの再生と書き出しには Apple MPEG-2 再生コンポーネントが必要。
Final Cut Pro 4/5 か DVD Studio Proがあれば、同コンポーネントはインストール済み。その他の場合、Appleから購入する。QuickTime Pro不要。
http://www.alfanet.it/squared5
squared5@alfanet.it
このソフトはイタリアのSquared 5が書いたものです。アプリケーション内のコードは AC3デコーダ、DreamBox ・Topfield 5000*1向けツールを含めて全てオリジナルです。第三者のコードは、オープンソースで自由に使えるものを含めて一切使っていません。このソフトのデザインもオリジナルです。第三者のアプリケーションのリバースエンジニアリングは一切していません。このアプリケーションが動作するのは、旨く書かれているからであり、きちんと動作するのはソースコードを流用していないからです。
"Interlaced Scaling"設定がデフォルトになっています。プログレッシブ(インターレースでないもの)ムービーではこれをオフにして下さい。
MPEG-4 exporterにiPod用の設定ボタン追加。
exporter設定をデフォルトに戻すボタン追加。
AVI save, export用の新しい(詳しい)プレファレンス追加。この設定でプレビューとプレイヤ画面でオートリサイズが可能に。
exporterのバグ修正
"Fix streams with data breaks"機能を若干向上
export設定に"Use B-Frames"追加。iPodでは使わない事。
書き出し用データレートの値をkbps/Mbps (kilobits/megabits per second)に変更。以前はKB/s ,MB/s (kilobytes/megabytes per second).
HDTV向けフレームサイズを変更。Final Cut Pro 5のHDV codecサポート向上の為。
QuickTime互換ムービーの大半を開き、変換できるようになった。これによりMPEG Streamclipは単なる再生/エディタではなく、Mac OS X用のホンモノの動画変換機となった。
新しく開けるようになったファイル形式
MOV, DV, AVI, DivX, MP4;
DivX ファイルを開くには、DivX codec, 3ivx codec, XviD codecのいずれかが必要。
WMV ファイルを開くには、Flip4Macの WMV Player購入が必要。
フルスクリーン再生をウィンドウメニューから開始可能にした。フルスクリーン再生中に矢印キーの上下でズームアップ/ダウン可能。
変換/demux したファイルはToast 7,DVD Studio Pro 4互換。
ISO MPEG4 (MP4) フォーマットへのexport。QuickTime 7があれば、H.264 codecを使用可能。
書き出し後のファイルのフレームレート変更が可能。frame blending optionを使う。
DV exportで 16:9 flag の使用が可能 (iMovie HDで便利)。
"Save as AVI"コンポーネントを MPEG Streamclipにビルトイン。"Save As…"から使う。
preferenceで、skip ボタン▶▶ and ◀◀のデフォルトのスキップ間隔 (10秒)を変更可能に。
preference (composite display) で、Zoran社のchipsetを持つDVD player固有の問題に対処。
DreamBox用に、DM-7020 との互換性を追加。オプションキーでより多くのファイルを削除できる
MPEG Streamclip is a converter, an exporter, a player and an editor.
It can open many file formats: muxed files MPEG, MPG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD, VRO, DAT; transport streams TS, M2T, MMV, REC, VID, AVR; demuxed files M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, AIF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3; QuickTime-compatible files MOV, DV, AVI, MP4, DIVX, WMV.
MPEG Streamclip supports MPEG-1 video, MPEG layer 1/2 audio, AC3/A52 audio and PCM audio. MPEG-2 video is supported in conversions, but for playback and export you have to buy the MPEG-2 Playback Component ($19.99) from Apple. To open DivX files, you have to install one of the free DivX-compatible codecs (DivX 5 or 6, 3ivx, XviD). To open WMV files, you can buy Flip4Mac WMV Player ($9.99).
Converter features:
Exporter features:
Player features:
Editor features:
And many more features are available!
Please send a mail to Squared 5. The best way to help Squared 5 in improving MPEG Streamclip is, of course, making small samples of your files available (1 MB is usually enough). The preferred way is uploading samples to a web site, or using file sharing on your iDisk, if you have one. The MPEG file must not contain any personal information.
You can open the preferences window of MPEG Streamclip by choosing "Preferences..." from the MPEG Streamclip menu. Preferences are stored on disk and you won't lose them when you quit MPEG Streamclip (presets are also stored on disk, but other settings are not). You can set the following options:
Choose "Open Files" from the File menu, select one or more source files and click Open.
If you want to open audio files you have to choose "Audio Files" in the pop-up menu below.
You can select files with the following extensions: (Video Files) .ts, .ps, .vob, .vro, .dat, .rec, .mpeg, .mpg, .m2p, .m2t, .m2v, .m1v, .mpv, .mmv, .mod, .vid, .avr, .mov, .dv, .avi, .mp4, .divx, .wmv; (Audio Files) .aiff, .aif, .m1a, .mp2, .mpa, .ac3. Also supported are MPEG, AIFF, MOV files with no extension.
If your MPEG file comes with an unsupported extension, you can choose "All Files" in the pop-up menu and try to open it. With "All Files" you can also go into an iDVD project and open its MPEG files.
For .m2v, .m1v, .mpv video files, if a valid audio file with the same name and the .aiff, .aif, .m1a, .mp2, mpa, .ac3 extension exists, it will be opened together with the video file. If more than one audio file with a valid extension exists, the first will be opened using the above search order (that is, .aiff first, .ac3 last). Opening a demuxed video or audio file may take time; a progress indicator appears and you can stop the process with Command-. or Esc.
The extension may be uppercase or lowercase; mixed case extensions are supported only on Mac OS X 10.3 and later.
AIFF audio files must be 16-bit uncompressed and have a supported sample rate.
Alternatively, drag & drop any supported file over the application icon or into the player window. This is valid for single video files only; if you drag multiple files, only one of them will be opened. To open multiple files together, always use the File menu.
You can drag & drop audio and other files with unsupported extension if you hold down Command and Option before dropping the file.
If you select more than one file, please make sure that all selected files are part of a single MPEG stream (perhaps larger than 1GB), and they are shown in the correct order in the open file panel (that is, first file before last file). If they do not, please change the order by clicking the triangle in the Name field. Note that the order in which you make the selection is not relevant; only the display order applies.
If you select (or drag) just one file and it is clear that the file is part of a longer MPEG stream, this application gives you the option to open all the files of the stream together. Examples are: VTS_01_1.VOB + VTS_01_2.VOB (DVD);
Recording.ts + Recording.ts.001 (DreamBox);
Movie_0501220105~0.vid + Movie_0501220105~1.vid (Humax).
Please contact Squared 5 if your device splits MPEG files using a different pattern.
You can open an info window for the current stream using "Show Stream Info" from the File menu. All relevant data are reported in this window.
The "Video PID" pop-up menu lists, for MPEG files, the available video tracks and the "Audio PID" lists the available audio tracks; only the selected video and audio track will be converted.
The two times under "Trimming" indicate the portion of the movie shown in the player: they change when you trim the movie. The "In" and "Out" times indicate the portion of the stream to be saved, exported or converted: they represent the current selection.
Scrambled or encrypted streams are not supported. If you open these files, you may get unpredictable results. However, if a stream is just partially scrambled, this application attempts to find a portion of the stream which is not scrambled; if it succeeds, the Readable Size will be shown in the info window.
A single MPEG stream can deliver more than one video and one audio track (e.g. more than one language). A single video or audio track (also called elementary stream) is identified by a number called PID (Packet IDentifier) which is unique to that track.
Before playing a stream or doing a conversion, you should select the proper audio and video PIDs, using the two pop-up menus, to specify the audio and video track to play or include in the destination file; otherwise, two default PIDs will be chosen for you.
Muxed MPEG files, unlike transport streams, have no PIDs but may still have more audio and video tracks, each identified by a different "start code". For muxed files, the PID menus will show the start code of each available video and audio track.
AC3 audio tracks support up to 6 different channels (L, R, Center, LS, RS, LFE) but MPEG Streamclip can only play/convert two channels at a time. Using the "Audio Mode" pop-up menu you can choose the two channels to be used. If you have no special needs, you can use the default audio mode (Stereo Mix); otherwise, keep on reading for more detailed info.
You can use the last 4 modes to make 4 AIFF files holding all the content of the AC3 track. You can then put these files into A.Pack to make a new AC3 file with the same content; but make sure to disable A.Pack preprocessing option "Apply 90º Phase-Shift".
The number of channels that are present in an AC3 stream can be deduced from the AC3 coding mode (shown using two digits separated by a slash or a plus sign). This is a list of all AC3 coding modes with their channels:
For MPEG audio tracks (MP1, MP2) two different audio levels are available for playback and conversion to MOV, DV, AVI, MP4 and AIFF: "High Level" and "Low Level". You can choose one of these two levels using the "Audio Mode" pop-up menu. The default level is "High Level". Use "Low Level" if, and only if, the converted movie or AIFF file shows an excess of volume.
The selection is the part of the movie included between the In and Out points. You can set the In and Out points, and therefore make a selection, in one of these alternative ways:
The selection will be highlighted in the player.
To cancel a selection, you can use the X key, or choose "Cancel Selection" in the Edit menu. Remember these commands because there is no other way to cancel a selection.
Please note that, while the In point is included in the selection, the Out point is not included.
You can also move the playhead to the desired In and Out points using JKL navigation (an explanation of JKL navigation can be found later in the section "Playing the stream"), or with the navigation buttons, and use the left and right arrow keys to step the playhead through single frames, or the up and down arrow keys to step through keyframes. If you hold down the Option key, you can use the left and right arrow keys to jump directly to the In and Out times.
Once you have made a selection, you may choose to trim the selected portion, temporarily cutting away anything before the In point and after the Out point. Use "Trim" from the Edit menu, and the movie will be trimmed to the selected portion (or something less, according to keyframe positions); you can then perform further (and finer) selections. "Trim" does not affect source files in any way.
If you want to undo the last trimming operation, you can use "Undo" from the Edit menu. If you want to undo all trimming operations you've done, you can use "Revert Trimming" from the Edit menu.
Trimming is not part of movie editing; it's just a way to temporarily restrict the part of the stream shown in the player and available for conversion and editing. You can use trimming without worries since you can revert it at any time without losing any editing you may have done to the stream. Also if you edit a part of the stream and then trim that part away, editing is not lost but just hidden; you can get it back at any time if you use "Revert Trimming".
So you can take advantage of trimming to make fine editing on smaller parts of the stream. E.g. with a long stream, you can select and trim the first 20 minutes, cut commercials, then revert trimming, select and trim the next 20 minutes, cut commercials, revert trimming and so on.
Using "Cut" from the Edit menu, you can remove the selected portion of the stream (from In to Out; or something more, according to keyframe positions). This is useful if you want to remove commercials from the stream. You can make any number of cuts you want, and even cut a part that already contains one or more cuts.
You can locate each cut using the edit list (read "Using the edit list" below for more details).
With "Copy" and "Paste" you can copy a part of the stream and paste it in the same stream or in another compatible stream. You can also use "Cut" and "Paste" to move a portion of the stream. The part of the stream copied with "Copy" is, like for "Cut", the selection from In to Out (or something more); if there is no selection, "Copy" does a copy of the whole stream (if you trimmed the stream, only the trimmed part will be copied).
The part of stream copied with "Copy" or "Cut" is preserved when you close the stream, so you can use "Copy", close the stream, open another stream and use "Paste". This is the preferred method to join two or more streams; however all the streams must have the same PIDs, the same start codes, and the same audio/video properties (that is, they must come from the same source or channel).
For MPEG files, editing is performed at MPEG level; video is reassembled and audio is resynchronized. Audio/video sync is ensured even when a large number of cuts is present in the same stream.
Editing does not alter the source files; you must use Save As to save the edited movie into another file.
You can undo the last "Cut", "Copy", "Paste" or "Trim" using "Undo" from the Edit menu ("Undo" works only once, multiple undo is not supported). You can undo all your editing and trimming using "Revert All Changes" from the Edit menu.
For QuickTime files, editing and trimming operations are frame-accurate. But for MPEG files, these operations are not frame-accurate since MPEG packs pictures into GOPs (Group Of Pictures) usually with a duration of half a second. MPEG Streamclip does not split GOPs, so the accuracy of editing is about 1/2 second; but the accuracy of audio/video sync after editing is much higher, and usually less than 1/2 frame, regardless of the number of cuts. Please note that in this version, Trim leaves "at most" the selection, while Cut removes "at least" the selection and Copy copies "at least" the selection. Editing and trimming can be accurate only if In and Out are both on keyframes; you can go to keyframes using the up and down arrow keys or the "Go to Keyframe" command in the Edit menu.
NOTE: sometimes, with some MPEG files, the Cut command may slightly corrupt one of the pictures that precedes the cut. This issue does not happen with most MPEG files.
Some MPEG streams may have discontinue time code (this is particularly true for VOB files). You can use "Fix Timecode Breaks" from the Edit menu to make MPEG Streamclip handle these streams correctly.
All timecode breaks found will be listed in the log window, and also in the edit list.
In some cases, you can use this command to join two or more MPEG files into a single stream; but again, the files being joined must have the same PIDs, the same start codes, and the same audio/video properties. Using "Convert to MPEG" before joining the files can be helpful, because it changes PIDs and start codes to a default value.
If the video transition between two files looks bad, you can use the Cut command to improve it.
The edit list contains a list of all the cuts you have made to the stream, and also all timecode breaks found by the "Fix Timecode Breaks" breaks command. To open it, please choose "Edit List" from the List menu.
Precisely, the edit list shows all segments of the stream included between two cut points (or two timecode breaks). For each segment, the Start Time and the Duration are listed.
If you double-click a segment, or click the "Select" button, the segment will be selected in the player. That is, the In and Out points will be changed to show the segment, and the playhead will be moved to the beginning of that segment.
You can open the log window using "Log Window" from the List menu. The log window records the start and stop time of each conversion, and all error messages. The window also shows the position of all data breaks found during a conversion, and all timecode breaks found by "Fix Timecode Breaks"; when the option "Fix streams with data breaks" is enabled, the window may also show messages like "fixing video" or "fixing audio" that indicate where the stream has been fixed.
If you click "Check Stream" you can start a stream check; like a conversion, this will find and list in the log any data break found. With the "Clear" button you can clear the log.
Use "Save As..." in the File menu to save a copy of the stream. If you set the In and Out points or trimmed the stream, only the part of the stream between the In and Out points will be saved; otherwise, the whole stream will be copied.
If you have edited the stream, it will not be copied but it will be saved with editing instead.
Multiple source files will be joined into a single destination file, which may be larger than 2GB, if needed.
All the video and audio tracks will be saved, regardless of the selected video and audio PIDs. Unless you have edited the stream: in this case, only the selected video/audio tracks will be saved.
For QuickTime, DV, AVI, and MPEG-4 files you can choose the destination format among MOV, MP4, and AVI. Every movie can be saved as MOV, but only some movies can be saved as MP4 or AVI.
To save DivX files as AVI, you have to install a codec (3ivx D4, DivX 5.1.1, or XviD). Some DivX files, when edited and saved as AVI, may not play well.
NOTE: Squared 5 assumes that you have the legal rights to make a copy of the stream!
Select "Export to QuickTime..." or "Export to AVI..." or "Export to MPEG-4.." from the File menu and the Movie Exporter or the AVI/DivX Exporter or the MPEG-4 Exporter window will appear. It will let you export the part of the stream between the In and Out points (or the whole stream if In and Out points have not been set). If you have edited the stream, it will be exported as it appears after editing.
These are the available settings:
Scaling is performed in the YUV color space, using a powerful 2D-FIR scaler. This scaler outperforms the built-in bicubic scaler of Final Cut Pro, bringing quite sharper pictures in less time. So, if scaling is required, It is recommended that you use MPEG Streamclip to make a scaled movie, rather than import the unscaled movie into Final Cut Pro and scale it there.
FIR scaling has excellent quality but it slows down the conversion. When scaling is not enabled, the conversion is fast; it is slow when either horizontal or vertical scaling is enabled; when both horizontal and vertical scaling is enabled, it's even slower.
You can disable FIR scaling by choosing the "unscaled" frame size; however, DV codecs may still need to scale the picture using their own faster, low-quality scaling algorithms, resulting in a very bad video quality.
Scaling also includes some advanced TV standard processing. For instance, when MPEG Streamclip scales a 320 x 240 stream up to 720 x 480, it adds two 8-pixels wide black bars at each side of the picture, to conform to NTSC and PAL standards.
If you left the Frame Rate field empty, this option has no effect unless the original move has a variable frame rate (that is, when in the "Stream Info" window the symbol "~" appears before the frame rate, e.g. ~20 fps, or when two video tracks are listed with different frame rate).
Field dominance is not changed for progressive files, and for files whose height is up to 288 pixels (like most MPEG-1 files) because these files can't have a field dominance.
Interlacement requires a frame height of more than 288 pixels. If the frame height of the source file is up to 288, interlaced scaling will not be enabled. If the frame height you have chosen for the exported movie is up to 288 and you check "Interlaced Scaling", MPEG Streamclip discards the lower field before scaling the picture (i.e. it performs a fast deinterlacing by dropping one field).
If you are scaling the file to a larger size, this option has no effect; the standard 2D-FIR scaler already provides the best scaling quality.
This option has no effect if the source stream is not an MPEG-1/MPEG-2 stream.
Please note that if you are changing the height of an interlaced stream (that is, you are telling MPEG Streamclip to perform vertical scaling) then you must enable either "Interlaced Scaling" or "Deinterlace Video" (at your own choice), otherwise you will see bad video artifacts in the converted movie.
To be clear: the pictures you'll see during the movie encoding are taken from the exported movie, not from the source MPEG file: so you can really check the video quality of the QuickTime or AVI or MPEG-4 movie you're making.
MPEG Streamclip makes an AVI 1.0 file, with all the limitations of this format (for example, the file cannot exceed 4GB). And many video and audio codecs are not supported in AVI files.
Summing up:
Select "Export to DV..." from the File menu and the DV Exporter window will appear. This will let you export the part of the stream between the In and Out points (or the whole stream if In and Out points have not been set) as a DV stream. Again, if you have edited the movie, it will be exported with all your editing.
The Compression pop-up menu lets you select the video compressor to be used. You have three options: DV (DV25), DVCPRO25, and DVCPRO50. For iMovie, you must use the first one.
The Standard pop-up menu lets you select the standard to be used for the stream: PAL or NTSC. It is automatically set to PAL for 24, 25, 50 fps, and to NTSC for other frame rates, but you can change this default if you need to match the standard used in your iMovie or Final Cut project. The frame size is set to 720 x 576 for PAL and 720 x 480 for NTSC; the 2D-FIR scaler will be used if necessary.
The Aspect Ratio pop-up menu lets you choose whether the DV stream should be considered as a 4:3 or a 16:9 movie. This setting does almost nothing, except that it changes a bit in the DV stream, making it easier to import in applications like iMovie HD.
Field dominance for DV streams is always lower field first, so there isn't a setting for this. Dominance conversion is performed when the original MPEG file is upper field dominant.
The "Frame Blending", "Interlaced Scaling", "Better Downscaling", "Reinterlace Chroma" and "Deinterlace Video" options have been already described in the previous paragraph.
The setting "Resample Audio to 48 kHz" changes the sample rate of the audio track to the highest rate available for DV; it does nothing when the sample rate of the source stream is already 48 kHz.
Please check "Split DV Stream in Segments" if you want to import the DV stream in iMovie. This options splits large DV streams in 1.9GB files; a 3-digit suffix is automatically added to the name of DV files following the first one.
The settings "Zoom", "Cropping" and the buttons "Presets" and "Adjustments" have been described in the previous paragraph. For "Zoom" the option "Scale" is not available because it does not apply to DV.
With the Preset Manager you can save the settings of the DV exporter. DV presets are listed together with MOV/AVI presets but you cannot load a DV preset in the MOV/AVI exporter and vice versa. Some settings are shared by all exporter windows (for instance, "Zoom", but not "Cropping"): if you load a preset in one exporter, these shared settings will be changed in all exporters.
The "Preview" and "Make DV Stream" buttons work in the same way as the "Preview" and "Make Movie" buttons of the Movie Exporter window; of course "Make DV Stream" writes a DV file and not a MOV file.
You can preview the video compression quality for a DV stream, too, and, if needed, change your settings before writing the DV stream.
You can export the frame shown in the player in a TIFF file using "Export Frame..." in the File menu. You can change the frame size (or choose the original size with "Unscaled") and you can set the options "Interlaced Scaling" and "Deinterlace Video" for interlaced streams. As usual, the picture will be resized with the 2D-FIR scaler.
The two options in "Pixel Aspect" make a little (nearly unnoticeable) correction to the picture aspect. Choose "Computer Graphics" if you want to use the picture in a computer graphics or photo application. Choose "Industry Standard" if you want to use the picture in a video application. These options have effect only if the frame size is 4:3 or 16:9.
The following commands are available only if the source stream is in MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format; they do not require the Apple MPEG-2 Playback Component.
Choose one of the "Convert to" or "Demux" commands from the File menu to perform the desired conversion or demuxing. Again, only the part of the stream between the In and Out points will be converted or demuxed; also, editing will always be included in the converted files.
These conversions run as fast as possible and they are just limited by the hard disk speed and the audio conversion speed. When no audio conversion is required, they usually perform at the same speed of a Finder copy; with audio conversion they will run slower, depending on the processing speed of your Macintosh.
Destination files may exceed 2GB, and will not be split. However you can change the In and Out points to make smaller destination files, if you need.
All the files written by these commands (when In and Out points are the same) have the same duration, the same start and end time, and they are kept synchronized by a special time-detection technology. So you can perform multiple conversions and use the resulting files together.
This is a brief description of the available commands:
IMPORTANT: if you still have Toast 6, please update it least to version 6.0.9. Previous Toast versions could alter audio/video sync of muxed MPEG files; this no longer happens in Toast 6.0.9 and later, or in Toast 7.
A warning message will tell you if there are data breaks in the stream. A data break means that the stream is corrupted.
If the file being converted has data breaks, audio/video sync may be lost. In this case, please enable "Fix streams with data breaks" in preferences before doing the conversion, and MPEG Streamclip will try to recover A/V sync.
You can use this application to play (even at full screen) QuickTime, DV, AVI, MPEG-4 files; but above all, you can play MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 (if you have the MPEG-2 Playback Component) muxed files with MPEG, AC3, PCM audio, demuxed M2V files with AIFF audio, and transport streams with MPEG or AC3 audio.
Playback of MPEG-2 files requires a Macintosh with a fast G4 processor (especially when playing files with AC3 or PCM audio); please do not expect to get full frame rate playback on a G3 computer.
Open a stream, and then start playing it in the usual ways: double-click the picture, or hit the space bar on keyboard, or click the play button ▶.
You can also start playback using the L key, since the player supports JKL navigation. This is a quick explanation of JKL navigation: the L key starts forward play at 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x... doubling forward speed (or halving backward speed) each time you hit L; the J key starts backward play at -1x, -2x, -4x, -8x... doubling backward speed (or halving forward speed) each time you hit J; the K key stops playback.
You can resize the player window using the commands in the Window menu. Still with the Window menu, or with Command-0 (zero) you can start full screen playback. You can zoom the picture with the up and down arrow keys; you can go back to normal playback by clicking the mouse or pressing Esc or 0 (zero) or Command-0 or even Command-W.
Most navigation keys can be used in full screen mode.
You can use the up and down arrow keys to reach the previous or next keyframe (for MPEG files, the first I-frame of the GOP); also, you can use the command "Go to Keyframe" in the Edit menu to get to the nearest keyframe. The other two arrow keys, as usual, move the playhead by one frame. Yo can also move through frames using the scroll wheel of your mouse, if you have it (the Option key makes scrolling faster).
You can also use the up and down arrow keys to set the sound volume. Command + Up/Down or Ctrl + Up/Down increases/decreases the volume; Command + Shift + Up or Ctrl + Shift + Up raises volume above its maximum; Option + Up/Down turns sound on/off.
There are 5 navigation buttons under the player; this is how they work:
▶: starts/stops forward play at normal speed;
▷: starts forward play; doubles forward speed at each click (same as L key);
◀: starts backward play; doubles backward speed at each click (same as J key);
▶▶: jumps 10 seconds forward (same as Page Down);
◀◀: jumps 10 seconds backward (same as Page Up);
Option + ▶: starts repeated playback of the current selection, from In to Out (same as Option-K);
Option + ▷: starts slow motion; halves slow motion speed at each click (same as Option-L);
Option + ◀: starts backward slow motion; halves slow motion speed at each click (same as Option-J);
Option + ▶▶: jumps 1 minute forward (same as Option-Page Down and Ctrl-Page Down);
Option + ◀◀: jumps 1 minute backward (same as Option-Page Up and Ctrl-Page Up).
If you hold down the Shift key, you can extend the selection with the four arrow keys, Page Up/Down, the ▶▶ and ◀◀ buttons or the scroll wheel.
The skip interval of the ▶▶ and ◀◀ buttons, initially 10 seconds, can be changed in preferences.
You can play a file or stream even while you are exporting, converting or saving it: however, in this case, both the playback and the conversion will slow down.
Please select the correct audio and video PIDs before playing a stream with multiple audio or video tracks; if you don't, a default audio and video track will be played.
If you open an MPEG-2 file or stream, but you have not installed the MPEG-2 Playback Component, an empty player will appear. It won't play anything but it will let you set the In and Out points for the conversion.
The Apple MPEG-2 Playback Component cannot play files larger than 4GB. For this reason, MPEG Streamclip has to play large streams in blocks of 4GB max; consequently, at each 4GB boundary, audio and video may stop for a while.
If you want to use batch processing, please open the batch list using the List menu. The batch list shows a queue of tasks that will be executed when you click the Go button.
If you have many files you want to convert, you can click the "Add Files" button, or drag & drop the files into the batch list. You will be asked to choose a task and a destination directory. For export, you will also need to enter the export settings; if the files don't have the same frame size, rate, and aspect, you will be asked for export settings several times. PIDs for the conversion will be chosen automatically for each file.
Loading all files in the batch list may take time: you can stop the process with with Command-. or Esc, if necessary.
But there is another way to fill the batch list. In fact, while the batch list is open (even when hidden by other windows) every conversion you choose in the File menu will be added to the batch list instead of being performed immediately (so remember to close it when you want to do an immediate conversion). This includes Save As, Export to, Convert to, Demux to; and even Download and Upload from/to supported PVR devices. The source stream used is of course, the one shown in the player.
If you add tasks this way, all editing, trimming, In/Out points, and chosen PIDs, will be saved in the batch list; thus a batched conversion gives the same results as an immediate conversion. If you then make further changes to the source stream in the player, these changes do not affect editing, trimming, In/Out points, and PIDs stored in the batch list. And you can even close the stream and open another stream in the player if you want; all conversion data will remain in the batch list until you delete the task or quit the application.
You can start batch processing with the "Go" button. The button's name will change to "Stop", if you click it again, processing of further tasks will be stopped but the currently running task will continue till completion. To stop the running task and all subsequent tasks, you can use the "Stop" button in the progress window.
The initial status of a task is "Waiting". If you click the "Hold" button you can change the status to "Held" and then back to "Waiting". When a task is "Held" it will be skipped during batch processing, but it remains in the batch list.
Once executed, the status of a task changes to "Completed"; if unsuccessful, the status reports the error message. To execute the task again, you need to change the status back to "Waiting" by using the "Repeat" button.
You can change the processing order of tasks by selecting one task and using the "Up" and "Down" buttons. You can remove a task from the list using the "Delete" button, or all tasks using the "Clear" button.
The DreamBox (http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.com) is a DVB set-top box. It comes in several versions (for satellite and digital terrestrial TV), with or without the hard disk. All these versions are supported.
The Enigma menu allows MPEG Streamclip to connect directly to the DreamBox, through the Ethernet interface. To enable this menu, please enter the IP address of your DreamBox in MPEG Streamclip preferences. You have to enter the password only if different from "dreambox".
If you select "Files...", the "Enigma Files" window will open, showing the files that are in the "movie" folder of the DreamBox hard disk. You can update the file list at any time with the "Refresh" button. If you click the "Open" button (or double-click a file), you can open and immediately play a file in the player, you don't need to download it before. With the "Upload" and "Download" buttons you can upload/download one or more .ts files to/from the DreamBox. Using "Upload" you can also upload to the DreamBox, the stream that is currently in the player, from In to Out. The stream will be automatically converted to .ts while uploading. And, since you can open any DreamBox file in the player, this means that you can even upload to the DreamBox a DreamBox file, after eventual editing or trimming, without passing through your Mac's hard disk.
If the batch list is open, or if you select more than one file, Upload and Download tasks will be added to the batch list so you can execute them in batch.
Once the .ts file has been uploaded, you need to update the movie list that is in the "recordings.epl" file. This procedure can be done by clicking the "Rebuild" button and forces the DreamBox to reboot.
For this reason, uploading a file in the "movie" folder is not recommended: you would better use the the "lost+found" folder for uploaded files, and leave the "movie" folder for TV recordings. In the Enigma Files window, you can go to the "lost+found" folder with the "lost+found" button and, with the "movie" button, you can go back to the "movie" folder; in the DreamBox, you can go to the "lost+found" folder in File mode, by choosing "Root" (red key on remote), then "harddisk" and "lost+found/".
With the "Delete" button you can delete a file from the DreamBox. You will be asked 3 times for confirmation. One of these three messages will contain a mini-player that will let you see the .ts file for the last time, and realize what you are going to delete. You can disable the player by holding down the Option key while you click the Delete button; this can be useful if, for some reason, MPEG Streamclip hangs before the player appears. Still with the Option key, you can select and delete many files at once.
If you select "Recorder", the "Enigma Recorder" window will open, and, if the DreamBox is on, the name and the screenshot of the current TV channel will appear, with the OSD (on-screen display) if present. Also, a remote control for the DreamBox will appear.
With the "Start Box Recording" button you can remotely start/stop recording on the DreamBox hard disk. A red signal near the button will tell you whether a recording is in progress.
With the "Start Mac Recording" button you can start recording on your Mac's hard disk. You will be asked to choose a folder and a name for the .ts file to be recorder; however, to make this procedure faster, MPEG Streamclip goes to the last folder used for recording and proposes a unique file name, using the channel name and the current date and time. This feature is just what you need to use MPEG Streamclip with a DreamBox that has no internal hard disk.
In both cases, the TV channel shown in the window is the same shown by the DreamBox, and not necessarily the one being recorded; you must avoid changing channel while recording on Mac, because the data flow may stop.
You can't start recording on Mac and on DreamBox at the same time.
Enigma Recorder, used with the DM-7000, requires at least the 1.08 firmware; the remote control requires at least the 1.09 firmware.
If you select "Web Interface" the browser "Enigma Web Interface" will appear. This browser has limited functionality, but enough to operate the Enigma web interface. It is powered by Safari.
With the "<" and ">" buttons you can go to the previous and next page. The "Reload" button reloads the web interface, while the "Refresh" button reloads the current page.
If you select "Easy Firmware" the window "Enigma Easy Firmware" will open. This window lets you update the firmware in the flash ROM, and install multiboot images in a USB stick connected to the DreamBox.
Enigma Easy Firmware has been included in MPEG Streamclip only for your fun: Squared 5 does not take any responsibility for proper or improper use of this tool, and for any consequent damage that might happen.
Enigma Easy Firmware is not yet compatible with the DreamBox DM 7020. But you can still use "Backup Settings" and "Restore Settings" in the 7020 without problems.
When you open it, the window shows some data like the presence of DreamFlash, the name of the active image, the size of USB stick, and the names of multiboot images already installed on USB. You can update these data at any time using the "Refresh" button.
With the "Update Firmware" button you can install a firmware image in the flash ROM. Please keep DreamUP and Virtual PC ready: if the update fails you might need them.
The button "Backup Firmware" will let you recover the firmware stored in the flash ROM and will store it in a .img file.
With the "Install DreamFlash" and "Remove DreamFlash" buttons you can install or remove the DreamFlash plugin, required for starting multiboot images. For the firmware 1.09 you must use DreamFlash 2.5 or later; for the firmware 1.08.x you must use earlier versions of DreamFlash (2.0 through 2.3a). Please click "Install DreamFlash" and follow the instructions. When DreamFlash is installed, don't forget to configure it by pushing the blue key of your remote control, and choosing "DreamFlash". Select "USB Stick" and don't change any default setting. DreamFlash is a copyright of Mechatron and is therefore not included in MPEG Streamclip; you can download it from:
http://www.bernyr.de/
With the "Backup Settings" and "Restore Settings" buttons you can respectively save on your Mac the settings of the currently active image, and restore the previously saved settings in the active image. Of course you can use "Restore Settings" to load one image's settings in the other images. Settings are stored in a .tgz file and they include only basic settings of Enigma. If you need to save/restore more settings, you can use the software DreamXman.
Note that "Restore Settings" will force the DreamBox to reboot.
With the "Format" button you can format the USB stick, completely erasing all its content. You will be asked twice before proceeding.
With the "Install Image" button you can install a multiboot image in the USB stick. The procedure is automatic and you don't have to use your remote control. Also, some essential settings (like IP address and language) are automatically copied from the active image to the installed image. The list of installed images will appear on the DreamBox display at reboot, and you will be able to choose the image to be used with your remote control.
With the "Rename Image" button you can change the name of installed images, while with the "Delete Image" button you can delete an image and its settings.
Finally, the "Reboot Box" button will let you reboot the DreamBox: useful if you want to activate another firmware image.
The Topfield TF5000PVR/TF5500PVR (http://www.topfield.co.kr) is a DVB set-top box. The TF5000PVR comes in two versions: one for satellite and the other for digital terrestrial TV. There are also other devices in the same family, like the TF5800PVR, the TF5010PVR, the TF5100PVR and the TF5510PVR; they are usually supported.
The Altair menu allows MPEG Streamclip to connect directly to the Topfield TF5000PVR/TF5500PVR, through the USB interface. To enable this menu, please select "Enable Altair" in MPEG Streamclip preferences.
If you select "Files...", the "Altair Files" window will open, showing the files that are in the "\DataFiles" folder of the Topfield hard disk. You can update the file list at any time with the "Refresh" button. If you click the "Open" button (or double-click a file), you can open and immediately play a file in the player, you don't need to download it before (for smooth playback, you must have an USB 2.0 port on your Mac). With the "Upload" and "Download" buttons you can upload/download one or more .rec or .ts files to/from the Topfield. Using "Upload" you can also upload to the Topfield, the stream that is currently in the player, from In to Out. The stream will be automatically converted to .rec while uploading. And, since you can open any Topfield file in the player, this means that you can even upload to the Topfield a Topfield file, after eventual editing or trimming, without passing through your Mac's hard disk.
You can change folder, if you wish: with the "Up" button (or double clicking "..") you can go up to the parent folder, with the "Data" button you can go back to the \DataFiles folder, and if you want to go into a subfolder, just double-click it.
In the \DataFiles folder and in its subfolders you can only upload/download files with the .rec extension. In the other folders, with the Upload and Download buttons you can upload/download files with any extension. For instance, in the \ProgramFiles folder you can upload .tap files, while in the \MP3 folder you can upload .mp3 files. And you can even upload and download a folder with all subfolders.
If the batch list is open, or if you select more than one file or an entire folder, Upload and Download tasks will be added to the batch list so you can execute them in batch.
The Altair menu has an option called "Turbo", enabled by default, which gives higher data transfer rate. When Turbo is enabled and a data transfer (download, upload, high-speed playback) is in progress, the Topfield does not respond to the remote control: in this case, if you want to use your remote, you have to disable Turbo. But please note that, unlike what happens in Altair.exe or MacTF, with Altair Files you can enable and disable Turbo at any time, even in the middle of a data transfer. The change takes effect in a few seconds. Also note that you don't have to disable Turbo when there is no data transfer: Altair Files does it for you.
With the "Delete" button you can delete a file from the Topfield. You will be asked 3 times for confirmation. One of these three messages will contain a mini-player that will let you see the .ts file for the last time, and realize what you are going to delete. You can disable the player by holding down the Option key while you click the Delete button; this can be useful if, for some reason, MPEG Streamclip hangs before the player appears. Still with the Option key, you can select and delete many files at once.
Using the Delete button, you also can delete an entire folder (or many folders) and all the files and folders contained in it. But you have to hold down the Option key while you click Delete, and again, you will be asked three times for a confirmation. Please note that some folders, like \DataFiles, cannot be deleted.
With the "Rename" button you can change the name of files and folders. But you can't change the file extension.
With the "Folder" button you can create a new subfolder in the current folder. A default name will be proposed to you: to change it, you can click "Rename" in the window that will appear.
Altair Files does not make use of any portion of code from MacTF or Altair.exe. In fact, the I/O system included in Altair Files (and developed by Squared 5) is much more powerful than those found in MacTF or Altair.exe, and it can handle up to 3 different streams from/to the Topfield at the same time (download + upload + playback). And the user interface is more comfortable and responsive. Also, Altair Files is more reliable than MacTF.
Please note that MacTF cannot be used while Altair Files is running.
MPEG Streamclip is compatible with FireWire, Ethernet, USB and DVD devices like Elgato EyeTV digital video recorders, ReplayTV digital video recorders, the Humax PVR-8000 set-top box, the Panasonic SV-AV100 camcorder, the JVC Everio camcorder, the Sony T1 camera, the Panasonic VDR-M70 and the Hitachi DZ-MV230 camcorders; and with many other devices.
MPEG Streamclip is also compatible with MPEG-2 devices supported by DVHSCap and VirtualDVHS (free applications available from Apple as part of the FireWire SDK for developers); namely, the Sony IP7/MicroMV, the Sony HDR-FX1, the JVC GR-HD1 camcorders; the JVC HM-DH30000U and the Mitsubishi HD-2000U video cassette recorders; the Samsung SIR-T165 set-top box, and many more cameras or recorders. If you have one of these devices, please connect it to the FireWire, use DVHSCap or VirtualDVHS (whichever works better) to capture the M2T file, then use MPEG Streamclip to convert the M2T file into a more useful format.
Of course, a complete list of compatible devices is not possible since MPEG Streamclip can work with a wide range of MPEG devices and recorders. However, all known compatible devices have been listed here.
If you have a DVD and you want to play or convert its content, please open one or more VOB files from the VIDEO_TS folder.
This application does not read encrypted VOB files. Implementing DeCSS takes about 10 minutes and just a few lines of code, but this would lead to improper use of this software. Squared 5 decided not to include DeCSS. This application is intended for legal use only.
MPEG Streamclip can be localized.
Currently available translations are English, French, German, and Italian. English and Italian translations have been provided by Squared 5 (me).
The French translation has been provided by adesir. This translation is complete. You can contact adesir through his french video forum: http://mac-video.desir.fr/ where you can also find useful discussions (in French!) for MPEG Streamclip and related video applications.
The German translation has been provided by Robert Zimmer. This translation is partial (70%), but the most important parts have been completely translated. You can contact Robert Zimmer using his e-mail address: rojozi@arcor.de .
Many thanks to these two translators (they localized MPEG Streamclip for free).
French and German users please note that the translators did not have access to preview or beta versions, and also note that I have slightly edited their translation just before releasing this version.
You can add a localization for your language. Control-click the application in Finder and select "Show Package Contents" (well, if you have a localized Finder, the sentence "Show Package Contents" appears in your language...). Open the "Contents" folder and then the "Resources" folder. Duplicate the "English.lproj" folder and rename it to your language's name in English (for instance, "Spanish.lproj", "German.lproj", "French.lproj" etc...) then open the renamed folder; rename the file "Localizable(disabled).strings" to "Localizable.strings", open it in a text editor which supports Unicode (TextEdit is OK) and localize it by translating the right-hand strings. Then you can translate the other text files included in the same folder, if you want (of course, translating this user guide may be very hard!). When you are done, you can run MPEG Streamclip to test your localization. If needed, you can enable or disable a localization in the Info window that the Finder shows for the application.
MPEG Streamclip loads the strings for the user interface from the Localizable.strings file. DO NOT localize or modify the .nib file: If one of the translated strings does not fit a field in the user interface, either shorten it or ask Squared 5 to enlarge the field.
If you succeed in translating at least half of the Localizable.strings file (even from an earlier version of MPEG Streamclip), then you can submit your localization to Squared 5 (squared5@alfanet.it).
By submitting a localization, you implicitly grant Squared 5 the right to include your localized files, in whole or in part, and for free, in the next versions of this software, and the right to report your name and (if possible) your e-mail address here and in Preferences; and also the right to arbitrarily modify your files, mix them with the contents of other files, or discard them and choose another localization, at any time.
There is no support for this free application, however you can write and ask your questions to Squared 5 (squared5@alfanet.it). I will answer only if I have time.
Even if you have no questions to ask, please give your feedback because this will be helpful for me in order to improve this application.
Please report any bug you find in this application to Squared 5 (squared5@alfanet.it). Even if you get no answer, the bug will be investigated and possibly fixed in the next version.