Welcome to Media Cleaner Pro 4.0

Thank you for choosing Media Cleaner(C) Pro 4.0, the industry standard for dynamic media compression.  This document contains last-minute information on potential issues, as well as important details on upgrading from previous versions of Cleaner, installation, etc.  Please review this information carefully before using Media Cleaner.

Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 is the first cross-platform version of Cleaner and is a major upgrade with many powerful new features, including support for streaming QuickTime 4, RealG2, Windows Media, MP3, and AVI file formats.
We've added professional audio processing and filters, as well as improving Cleaner's QuickTime alternate movie support.   

There are numerous other enhancements and features ... for more details, please see the "What's New in Cleaner 4" chapter in the Media Cleaner User Manual as well as the "Media Cleaner Pro 4 User Manual Addendum" PDF file on the Media Cleaner CD-ROM.

We hope you enjoy this new version of Media Cleaner, and we sincerely appreciate your support.  Happy compressing!

- The Terran Team



System Requirements

Macintosh System Requirements
 Power Macintosh or MacOS-compatible computer with PowerPC processor
 MacOS 8.0 or later
 QuickTime 3.0 or later (version 4.0 strongly recommended, and required for streaming QuickTime).  
 16 Mb of available application RAM with 1-2Mb available for System
 Monitor capable of displaying 640x480 pixels in thousands of colors (16-bit).  Monitor capable of displaying at least 800x600 pixels in millions of colors (24-bit) recommended.
 CD-ROM drive (2x or faster recommended)
 5 Mb of hard drive space for application.  Additional 35 Mb of hard drive space required for all sample movies.

Windows System Requirements
 Pentium or equivalent processor (200 MHz or faster recommended)
 Windows 95/98/NT4
 QuickTime 3.0 or later (version 4.0 strongly recommended, and required for streaming QuickTime). 
 32 Mb RAM for Windows 95/98, 64 Mb RAM for Windows NT
 Monitor capable of displaying 640x480 pixels in high color (16-bit).  Monitor capable of displaying at least 800x600 pixels in true color (24-bit) recommended.
 CD-ROM drive (2x or faster recommended) and mouse
 5 Mb of hard drive space for application.  Additional 35 Mb of hard drive space required for all sample movies.



Installation Instructions
To install Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 on both Mac and Windows, please run the installer and follow the directions provided.  Please see the "System Requirements and Installation" chapter of the Media Cleaner User Manual for more details.

Media Cleaner Pro's Settings Wizard uses sample movies to illustrate your options.  These movies are installed to your hard drive with the "Easy Install" on Mac and the "Typical" install on Windows.  If you wish, you may choose to not install these movies with the "Custom Install" option on Mac or "Compact" or "Custom" install options on Windows.  If you don't install these movies on your hard drive, the Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 CD-ROM must be in your CD drive in order for you to view the sample movies within the Settings Wizard.

NOTE:  The User Manual states that these movies take approximately 150 Mb of hard drive space.  We've reduced their size significantly, so that they actually take approximately 35 Mb of drive space.




Upgrade Instructions
If you own a previous version of Media Cleaner, please run the installer as normal.  Doing so will create a new folder containing Media Cleaner Pro 4.0, and will leave your old Media Cleaner folder untouched.  You should not need to re-enter your serial number to use version 4.0.

NOTE:  Owners of Movie Cleaner 1.x, Media Cleaner EZ, and Movie Cleaner LE  will need a new serial number if upgrading.  Please contact us if you haven't already received your new serial number with your upgrade.  You may reach Terran Interactive at:  Phone (408) 356-7373, Fax (408) 356-9373, Email info@terran.com, Web http://www.terran.com.

If you wish to use your previous Media Cleaner Pro settings with version 4.0, you can simply copy these settings into the "Media Cleaner Settings" folder in the new Media Cleaner Pro 4 folder.   Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 will automatically convert older settings to the Media Cleaner Pro 4 setting format when you use these settings within version 4.0.

NOTE:  The default settings Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 creates are more optimized than the default settings from previous versions.  We strongly recommend that you use the default settings from 4.0 instead of the older default settings. 




Known Issues

Windows Media (ASF) Support in Macintosh Version
The Mac ASF encoders are BETA in Media Cleaner Pro 4.0.  Additionally, as of the date of this ReadMe, the Windows Media Player for Mac was beta, and may exhibit periodic instability.  Because of these facts, you may experience playback issues with files created on the Mac platform when these files are played with the Windows Media Player on Mac.  

NOTE:  Files created by the Mac version should play fine on Windows.  Additionally, these issues don't affect the Windows version of Cleaner, due to the more advanced state of ASF on Windows. 

We are working closely with Microsoft to address the Mac ASF beta status, and should have a 4.0.1 release of Cleaner to fix this issue shortly ... please check our web site for the latest information.  


ASF with Non-Standard Codecs
There are many ASF codecs available, some of which are beta or have serious flaws.  Using non-standard ASF codecs within Cleaner may cause erratic behavior or crashes.   Cleaner's "Easy Install" on Mac, or "Typical" install on Windows automatically installs the verified ASF codecs you need for normal authoring, so we recommend that you avoid adding additional codecs to your system unless necessary.  If you experience erratic behavior after adding a new ASF codec, please try uninstalling it to determine if it is causing the issue. 


Premiere Export Module for Windows
Due to development delays, the Premiere Export Module for Windows was not ready for inclusion with Media Cleaner Pro 4.0.  We are working on this feature, and should have an update soon ... please check Terran's web site for the latest information.   In the meantime, you can create a QuickTime or AVI movie from Premiere using a high quality codec (such as Photo-JPEG, or your capture hardware codec) and then open this movie with Media Cleaner for compression.


Windows 2000 Pro not Qualified
Version 4.0 of Media Cleaner Pro has not been qualified with the Windows 2000 Pro beta.  We'll shortly address this new version of the Windows operating system in an upcoming revision.


Extension Conflicts
On the Macintosh, Media Cleaner Pro has known compatibility problems with the following extensions:  

 Cameraman(TM) (a screen capture extension) ... on the Mac, we recommend using Snapz Pro(TM) 2 or later by Ambrosia Software (www.ambrosiaSW.com), which is verified to work properly with Media Cleaner.

 Certain versions of the Whiteboard extension (installed by Netscape Navigator(TM) & QuickTime Conferencing).

If you experience erratic behavior or crashes, we strongly suggest deinstalling these extensions while using Media Cleaner.


Cross Platform Palette Issues
Due to QuickTime issues, Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 stores palettes in different formats on Mac and Windows (Mac uses PICT files, Windows uses BMP files).  This means palettes made on one platform may not work on the other.  Additionally, the Windows version of Cleaner cannot read palettes from PICT files.  We are working to address these issues in a future release.


Setting Names
Certain default setting names are somewhat different than the names described in the manual, which is most noticeable in the tutorials.  The new setting names are very similar, and should be clearer than the previous names.


Alternate Movies with Poster Frames and/or Create HTML
When creating a QuickTime alternate movie group, Media Cleaner defaults to using the last movie listed within the group as it appears in the Process window to determine what settings to use for the poster frame and/or HTML creation.  If you only set the poster frame option for one of the movies listed earlier in the alternate group, Cleaner will not create a poster frame.

We'll address this issue in a future release ... in the meantime, we recommend that you enable the Poster Frame or Create HTML option within all the settings in the alternate movie group.  Alternately, you can switch to "List View" in the Process window, assign the movie alternate with the Poster Frame or Create HTML setting a lower priority, then sort the list by "Priority" so that this alternate is moved to the bottom of the alternate group.  


Out of Disc Space Error when Using Audio CDs as Sources
Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 for Mac can copy the audio tracks from an audio CD for processing.  When Cleaner does this, it copies the CD tracks to the "Media Cleaner Translated Files" folder within the Media Cleaner Pro 4 folder.  These files are fairly large (one full length CD holds about 650 Mb).  Media Cleaner does not automatically delete these files when done processing, so these tracks may fill up your hard drive rapidly if you don't periodically remove them.  We will automate this deletion in the near future, but in the meantime recommend that you manually delete these tracks when you are done processing a given CD.


Error:  "Can't find Quicktime Authoring components. "
The QuickTime 4 installer has the option of installing playback components and/or authoring components.  To fully use Media Cleaner, you must install the authoring components, or you may receive errors when attempting to compress.  For your convenience, the QuickTime 4 installer is on the Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 CD-ROM ... if you don't already have the authoring version of QuickTime installed, please run this installer.


Modem dialing
The Mac version of Media Cleaner Pro includes an optional feature to check for News & Updates.  This makes a connection to the Internet, which can cause a modem to dial your ISP if you are using PPP or SLIP.  This feature may be disabled in the Preferences dialog if desired.


High Quality First/Last Frame Issues
QuickTime may alter the gamma of your video track on certain computers containing video accelerators, such as many of the PowerMac G3 systems.  This gamma change may be more evident with JPEG tracks, so using the "JPEG Track" option may be undesirable on these computers.   We suggest testing your movies on a wide range of machines if you wish to use the "JPEG Track" option.  

The "Basic" option merely increases the data rate of the first/last frames, so it is compatible with all versions of QuickTime, and does not exacerbate the QuickTime 3 gamma issue.  Cinepak(TM) Pro isn't compatible with the High Quality First Frame option.


MP3 as Source
Using MP3 files as sources may produce final files with skips and other audio issues regardless of the selected output format.  We will address this in a future release, but generally recommend using the original uncompressed source whenever possible to maximize the output quality of the file.


QDesign Files as Source
Using QDesign Music Codec compressed files as source material may cause repeating or other audio artifacts in the final file, regardless of output format. 


Photoshop Files as Source
Media Cleaner can use Photoshop files (.psd) as source material, but only if the files are "flattened" when saved.  Layered files will be displayed as a text message which states that Photoshop 3.0 or later is required to read the files.  


"Save Disabled" QuickTime 4 Movies as Source
One of the new features of QuickTime 4 is the option to disable saving of a file from within a WWW browser.  You may enable this option in Media Cleaner's Output tab of the Advanced Settings dialog.  

Movies created with the "Disable Saving from WWW" option enabled may not work properly within Cleaner when used as source material.  These files may not display the data rate graph in the Input window, and may exhibit other issues during processing.


IMA Compressed Sources
If your source movie sound track or audio file has already been compressed with IMA, recompressing to IMA may result in subtle, periodic "pops" or "clicks" in the final file.  If at all possible, we strongly recommend that you use the original, uncompressed audio source, since recompressing files multiple times with lossy codecs like IMA degrades the quality of the final file.


HEURIS MPEG Export Engine
IMPORTANT ... Prior to using the Pro version of the MPEG Export Engine(TM) within Media Cleaner, you must first launch the MPEG Power Professional(TM) application.  Doing so creates the preference files and templates the Export Engine needs to function within Cleaner.  

IMPORTANT ... The Pro version of the MPEG Export Engine creates temporary files during encoding.  With version 1.4 of MPEG Export Engine Pro, the location of the temporary files is the Media Cleaner folder.  This may change in the future to a defined location, or the output destination folder, but in the meantime, it is very important that you have enough room available in the Cleaner folder for the temporary files.   If the Media Cleaner folder runs out of space during encoding, processing may be halted and/or errors may occur.  We suggest that you locate your Media Cleaner folder on your destination drive to ensure adequate room for the temporary files.  NOTE:  The current Pro version of the MPEG component ignores the temporary folder location you can specify within MPEG Power Professional, and always defaults to the Media Cleaner folder.

If you encounter any memory-related errors while performing MPEG compression on the Mac, we suggest you allocate more memory to Media Cleaner. 

You must register your copy of MPEG Power Pro with HEURIS to activate your dongle.  (The "dongle" is a hardware key which plugs into your ADB port).  If you forget to register with HEURIS, your dongle may become inactive after 30 days, and attempting to use Cleaner with an inactive dongle and the MPEG Export Engine Pro may cause errors.  Please see HEURIS' documentation for the details of installing MPEG Power Professional, and activating the dongle.

The HEURIS MPEG Export Engine (both the bundled version and the Pro version) does not encode the last few frames of your material.  You may set the out point on your video in Cleaner's Source window a few frames past the desired end to compensate for this behavior.

Creating a log file with the Pro version of the Export Engine may cause a crash if the file name is too long ... be sure the final movie file name is 28 characters or less.

The Export Engine requires Apple's Multiprocessor libraries to be properly installed in the Extensions folder in your System folder.  Cleaner's "Easy Install" automatically installs these, but if you choose a "Custom Install" or manually uninstall the MP Libraries, the Export Engine won't function.

The templates used by the Pro version of the Export Engine should be left in their default location, which is the "templates" folder located in the MPEG Power Professional folder.  Moving individual templates or the "Templates" folder to a different location may cause problems with the Export Engine.

If you have multiple dongles, it is important that you do not inadvertently switch them in such a fashion that your settings no longer match the level of MPEG authorized by the current dongle.  For example, if you create an MPEG-2 setting with your MPEG-2 dongle installed, and then change this dongle with an MPEG-1 dongle, attempting to compress MPEG-2 may result in erratic behavior.   

To fix a mismatched dongle, or correct other preference related problems, throw away the "HEURIS MPEG (Quickload)" file  and the "MPEG Power Professional" preference file located in the Preferences folder of your System folder.  Run MPEG Power Professional to generate new preferences, then quit Power Pro and run Cleaner as normal.  IMPORTANT: Do not run the "Secure" application again ... this will require you to contact HEURIS for a new activation code.

The QuickTime MPEG Extension 1.1.1 (shipped with QuickTime 2.5 ... 3.0.2) plays MPEG layer-2 audio louder than it should on the Mac platform.  For example, if you play the same file compressed to QuickTime and MPEG on a Mac with MoviePlayer, the MPEG file sounds louder.  Analysis of the actual uncompressed audio samples reveal that the levels are identical; this is simply a playback issue.  You can compensate for this increase by lowering the playback volume within your MPEG player.


QDesign Music Codec
Version 1.0 of the QDesign Music Codec(TM), Pro Edition may cause several issues, including audio tracks which can't be flattened, instability in the demo mode, and difficulties if no internal hard drive is installed.  We strongly recommend upgrading to version 2.0 of the QDesign Music Codec ... call Terran for details.

Media Cleaner's Suspend & Resume feature does not work with QDesign Music.  If you resume a suspended movie/audio file compressed with the QDesign Music Codec, the audio compression will start over from the beginning.  However, the video compression will be resumed from the last keyframe.



Cinepak Pro
You must be running the Cinepak Toolkit(TM) in order to use Media Cleaner with the Cinepak Pro codec ... the Toolkit registers the codec, and without it running, you will not be able to access Cinepak Pro in any application.  We recommend that you set the Toolkit's memory partition to the minimum size, launch it, and then leave it in the background while you use Cleaner.

The High Quality First Frame feature may produce higher than specified data rates when used with Cinepak Pro.

QuickTime may incorrectly report that a movie compressed with Cinepak Pro was compressed with the basic version of Cinepak, or may show strange characters in the codec field.  This is possible even when using the basic version of Cinepak when Cinepak Pro is installed.  Cleaner is using Cinepak Pro correctly ... this is an issue with how QuickTime reports codecs; the actual files Cleaner produces are fine. 



DV  Issues
Media Cleaner Pro 4.0 requires QuickTime 4 or later to output DV files.

The Apple DV codec has both a high quality and a preview mode.  The preview mode is used by default because it is faster, but movies look extremely pixelated without the high quality option enabled.  These movies will play fine once transferred back to DV tape ... this is merely a display issue.  Please see the DV chapter in the Media Cleaner User Manual for more details.

The Apple DV codec in QuickTime 3 and 4 may not work properly on some multiprocessing Macintosh computers.  If you experience erratic results, crashes, or corrupted output when working with DV source files or when outputting to the DV Stream format, we suggest that you temporarily remove the "Multiprocessing Libraries" from your System Extensions folder, and restart your computer.  

NOTE:  The MP Library is required for MPEG export, so you may be required to output to an intermediate format (such as M-JPEG) if you need to use DV source for MPEG output on an MP machine.
