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IRIX Installation Tools & Overlays 1999 May
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SGI IRIX Installation Tools & Overlays 1999 May - Disc 2.iso
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dmedia_eoe
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1999-04-19
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20. _M_e_d_i_a__C_o_n_v_e_r_t__T_o_o_l
Media Convert (invoked as _m_e_d_i_a_c_o_n_v_e_r_t(_1)), is a digital
media file conversion tool that provides a simple user
interface for creating movie, audio, and image files from
other movie, audio, and image files. Media Convert replaces
the tool ``Movie Master'' which was introduced in the IRIS
Digital Media Tools version 5.4 (WebForce 1.0).
For more details, consult the manual page, or the on-line
help which is available from within the tool. In addition,
you may want to refer to the documentation for _d_m_c_o_n_v_e_r_t(_1),
since Media Convert invokes dmconvert for the actual file
conversion operation. Most new features and bug fixes for
dmconvert will also apply to Media Convert.
20.1 _S_u_p_p_o_r_t_e_d__C_o_n_v_e_r_s_i_o_n__O_p_e_r_a_t_i_o_n_s
This release of the tool supports the following file
conversion operations.
sound file --> sound file
image sequence --> image sequence
image sequence --> video-only movie
video-only movie --> video-only movie
video-only movie --> image sequence
audio/video movie --> sound file
audio/video movie --> video-only movie
audio/video movie --> image sequence
audio/video movie --> audio/video movie
sound file + video-only movie --> audio/video movie
sound file + image sequence --> audio/video movie
20.2 _S_u_p_p_o_r_t_e_d__F_i_l_e__F_o_r_m_a_t_s
The following partial list of file formats is supported.
For a complete list, see the manual page for _d_m_c_o_n_v_e_r_t(_1).
Sound file formats:
AIFF
AIFF-C
NeXT/Sun
WAVE
MPEG-1 layer I, layer II audio bitstream
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Movie file formats:
QuickTime (Photo, Animation, Video, Cinepakr compression)
MPEG-1 video bitstream
MPEG-1 systems (audio/video) bitstream
SGI Movie
AVI (Indeor, Cinepakr compression) -> input-only
Image file formats:
SGI rgb image
JFIF
GIF
TIFF
FIT
PhotoCD -> input-only
20.3 _C_o_n_s_o_l_i_d_a_t_i_o_n__o_f__T_o_o_l_s
In IRIX 6.4 as in IRIX 6.2, _m_e_d_i_a_c_o_n_v_e_r_t and _d_m_c_o_n_v_e_r_t have
been enhanced to provide a superset of features that were
previously available from numerous older programs. Users of
the older programs will find the following backwards
compatibility support.
The graphical tools, _s_o_u_n_d_f_i_l_e_r(_1) and _m_o_v_i_e_c_o_n_v_e_r_t(_1), are
now symbolic links to _m_e_d_i_a_c_o_n_v_e_r_t.
The command-line tools, _a_i_f_c_2_a_i_f_f(_1), _a_i_f_f_2_a_i_f_c(_1),
_a_i_f_c_c_o_m_p_r_e_s_s(_1), _a_i_f_c_d_e_c_o_m_p_r_e_s_s(_1), _a_i_f_c_r_e_s_a_m_p_l_e(_1),
_s_f_c_o_n_v_e_r_t(_1), and _m_a_k_e_m_o_v_i_e(_1), are all still available, but
have been re-implemented to internally invoke _d_m_c_o_n_v_e_r_t.
20.4 _R_e_l_a_t_e_d__T_o_o_l_s
MMMMoooovvvviiiieeeeMMMMaaaakkkkeeeerrrr((((1111)))):::: Graphical tool for editing movie files. Not
primarily intended as a movie conversion tool, however there
is an Export Options panel which allows user to set various
export file format parameters. Tool supports SGI Movie and
QuickTime (including Cinepak) movies. Will not read MPEG
movies.
20.5 _K_n_o_w_n__P_r_o_b_l_e_m_s__a_n_d__W_o_r_k_a_r_o_u_n_d_s
This section lists problems in Media Convert and ways to
work around them.
+o If you are converting a QuickTime movie which contains
non-uniform frame durations, Media Convert will always
generate a movie with a constant frame rate.
- 3 -
Therefore, the size of the output file may increase
because Media Convert may duplicate source frames into
the output file. To work around this problem, be sure
to set the frame rate in the "Video Output Parameters"
dialog when you use a QuickTime movie as an input file.
+o If you specify an SGI movie file as output, the
progress indicator bar may show 100% completion, and a
delay on the order of a minute may occur before writing
the SGI movie file has been completed.
+o You cannot create a JPEG Cosmo compress movie from a
source movie with an odd number of pixels for the
height. You will first need to convert the source
movie to a movie with an even number of pixels for the
height, and then the intermediate movie file can be
used to create a Cosmo movie.
20.6 _C_h_a_n_g_e_s__f_r_o_m__P_r_e_v_i_o_u_s__M_e_d_i_a__C_o_n_v_e_r_t
This section lists the changes in the functionality and
interface of Media Convert from the versions shipped with
IRIS Digital Media Tools 5.4.
+o The "Open Input File" dialog is now dismissed after a
file is selected.
+o You can directly combine an AIFF audio file with an
MPEG video file.
+o The default output settings for converting to MPEG is
MPEG-1, Layer II.
20.7 _B_u_g__F_i_x_e_s
This section lists the bugs fixed since the IRIS Digital
Media Tools 5.4 version.
+o It is easier to type in a path name in the input file
text fields.
+o You can now specify input files containing a "#"
character in the file name.
+o Media Convert can accept QuickTime movies which have a
non-integer frame rate.
+o You can now drop a QuickTime movie file with audio
tracks into the Audio drop pocket.
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+o The output parameter settings are now "sticky." They
remain unchanged until a new input file is specified.
+o The default name for the output file now gets an
automatic suffix corresponding to the output type.
+o Media Convert no longer prints an error message if
Cosmo Compress is not installed.
+o If Media Convert should run into an error while
performing the conversion (running out of disk space,
for example), or if the conversion is cancelled before
it is completed, the incomplete file is now
automatically deleted.
+o Media Convert handles the error condition if the output
file specified cannot be written or created.
+o Media Convert now warns the user if the output file
will be over-written.
+o Media Convert provides better user feedback if a
necessary CODEC license is missing (such as Cinepak or
MPEG).
+o Media Convert works on smaller displays, because the
output parameters settings are displayed in a separate
dialog box, instead of expanding the Media Convert
window.
+o Media Convert now correctly converts an MPEG movie file
into a sequence of image files.
+o A problem which caused Media Convert to fail to create
a JPEG SGI movie format file has been fixed.
+o Movies created from Cosmo Compress JPEG movies have
improved image quality.