There are commercial solutions for this. But not everyone wants to invest money straight away when they have just bought a computer and editing programme and are now faced with another problem. Or you work with the free version of DaVinci Resolve (DR for short) under Windows or Linux and don’t want to buy the studio version for the time being. This is less relevant for the Mac because you have already acquired support for many codecs with the purchase of the machine, but not everything works there either.
A very helpful programme comes into question here – Shutter Encoder(shutterencoder.com), which I expressly do not want to call “free” for good reason, but simply “donationware”. The developer, Paul Pacifico, has clearly earned our donations. It is based on ffmpeg, which means that anyone who is not afraid of command lines could do much the same thing. For everyone else, it is the Shutter Encoder (SEnc for short) that simplifies all its possibilities for users. It runs under Windows, Linux (Ubuntu) and on Macs with Intel or Apple Silicon. At first glance, it is only available for 64-bit systems, but under “older versions” you can even find 32-bit versions.
Thanks to a number of helpful translators, the programme is available in many languages, including German. However, I would like to mention one of the few points of criticism here: It is irritating when “Conversion” is listed under “Without conversion”. This is an unfortunate translation, as the English term would be “rewrap”. Although this is more correct, it is certainly not familiar to everyone. The translation is also not ideal in a few other respects. I do not want to replace the comprehensive documentation (English) in the following, but only explain a few basic applications.
Codecs and containers
Of course, the terms are familiar to experienced professionals, but they are probably also familiar with the programme or can easily hack their way through ffmpeg. For the less experienced: Containers are like digital boxes in which the actual video and audio data is packed. These include MP4, Quicktime, MXF, MKV and AVI, to name just a few of the most common. The processes used to digitally store video and make it visible again at the end are called codecs (coders and decoders). Today, this almost always involves a compression process, otherwise the video files would be gigantic. The sound is also often compressed, with processes such as MP3, AC3 or AAC, although compression of audio data is rather mistrusted by professionals
Compression of audio data tends to be avoided by professionals.
There are now dozens, if not hundreds, of such codecs, and the same container can contain completely different ones. So it is of little use if someone delivers you a file and says, for example, “This is a QuickTime, have a look at it.” If you can’t watch it after all, he or she had better tell you which codec is in it. If you don’t know this, SEnc can also provide detailed information. It uses the freeware MediaInfo to do this without you having to switch to that programme. While SEnc can handle an almost infinite number of container and codec versions, this is not a matter of course for an editing system.
There may be cost reasons for this, for example DR accepts fewer codecs in the free version on PC than the studio version. Or the codec is simply too exotic or outdated, so that the developers have dispensed with it. Some formats are not even displayed by the standard player of the respective operating system. A second reason for problems can be that some codecs are recognised, but are so demanding that they cannot be played back smoothly. This applies, for example, to H.265 (aka HEVC), especially for UHD. A number of RAW formats can also require a lot of computer power, but these are pretty much the only ones that SEnc does not read. However, it can usually extract the audio from such a file.
Repackaging
Sometimes it helps if a codec is simply moved to another container (rewrap). Some editing programmes, for example, do not take everything in MXF, but then as QuickTime. It is definitely worth a try, as this process is not only very fast, but also completely lossless. To do this, select “Conversion” under “Without conversion” in the German version and then the desired target container. If you wish, you can also shorten the clip first, whereby GOP codecs can only be cut on an I-frame (not quite correctly referred to here as a keyframe). These codecs include, for example, the common variants of MPEG, H.264 and H.265.
Repackaging an .mpg file (MPEG-PS) to MOV, for example, already helps DR to process the file. However, a correct timecode is essential for reliable processing in the editing programme and even more so for transfer to other editors. However, this is not always read correctly (e.g. with MP4) or the camera has not written any at all – it is suspicious if it always starts at zero. SEnc can then add a timecode during the rewrap, the start value of which you specify yourself. When processing a batch list, this can also be incremented if required.
Conversion
Converting the codec into another codec (also known as transcoding) is necessary if a codec cannot be read in a video programme regardless of the container. This also makes sense if a codec places too high a demand on the hardware in order to run smoothly. This typically applies to H.265, where some versions are not even recognised by the free DR on PCs. Even if they are accepted, the hardware performance of older PCs (especially laptops) and many Intel Macs is not sufficient for smooth playback. This is where converting to a less demanding codec helps, whereby the metadata can be retained if desired.
Now you will probably already know that you should not convert a highly compressed codec to another codec of the same type if you value picture quality. So please don’t convert H.265 from a camera to H.264 just because your computer can handle it better. The so-called editing codecs were developed for this purpose and can be found in SEnc under “For further processing”. The most common are ProRes, DNxHR and CineForm. They have different variants, but with the same amount of data they are also comparable in terms of image quality. From ProRes 422 HQ, DNxHR HQX or Cineform high, these codecs are visually lossless, especially for originals from semi-professional cameras.
Such codecs put much less strain on the computer, and current Macs even have their own hardware built in for ProRes. In practice, this means that you can also edit high video resolutions smoothly or use more tracks for multicam. Of course, nothing comes from nothing: the converted files are considerably larger, but they are usually only needed temporarily.
What’s more, storage space is much cheaper than a new computer these days. Incidentally, CineForm is somewhat more compact with the same visual quality. QT Animation, on the other hand, is hopelessly outdated and inefficient, while Uncompressed simply produces gigantic amounts of data.
This is not a problem with sound, where you should use an uncompressed format such as AIFF or WAV for further processing. Superfluous audio tracks can be deactivated before editing. After editing, you can also use SEnc to compress your final product without hesitation if your computer is unable to cope with simultaneous rendering and compression. All this is very luxuriously supported with a batch list, several output formats and automatic start when the computer is idle.
Clips from smartphones are converted to a constant frame rate using “conform” with various algorithms. The programme is even capable of working with subtitles, text overlays or watermarks. Finally, de-interlacing and slow motion should also be mentioned. Specialised programmes such as TVAI (see page 48) can do this even better, but SEnc is really fast instead. We could fill several more pages with the complete list of functions, but if you understand English, you can find everything here: shutterencoder.com/documentation.html
Comment
A programme with such a wide range of functions for which the author only expects a donation? Donate plenty! We have noticed one more little thing: When right-clicking on a video file, the programme is not automatically offered as a target. This is a tolerable flaw, as there is drag’n’drop and even a watch folder
even a watch folder – of course, “watch folder”.
