If you are going to edit and encode video for the Internet, the first thing you should know is the fact ( Not myth or opinion) that Mac's edit & encode video more efficiently than any PC.

cleaner 6 for Mac is all new and should not be compared to cleaner XL which is the PC based product. Having used both, I think cleaner 6 is by far superior to cleaner 5. The first thing you will notice after installing cleaner 6 for Mac is an all new AQUA interface optimized for OS-X. I felt instantly comfortable with the new interface. Without reading any instructions and was able to use it right out of the box.

Priced at $599, this is a product for video and Internet professionals. However, it doesn't require much professional skill to use.

This is because Discreet's expert team of compressionists have provided over 150 compression pre-sets for DVD, web and even cell phones and PDA's. Import your final edit, select a file format , size it , click! That's it! Of course, you can tweak the settings, but I figure Discreet's people are smarter than me.

If you are like me, you prefer to spend your time, effort and energy creating great content, not working on a Ph.D. in compression algorithms. Lots of people can shoot and edit good quality video. But keeping up with the rapid advancement and changes in the players and codecs of the streaming video wars, and then encoding your masterpiece to stream to the world, is a whole different ball game.

Discreet's cleaner 6 for Mac allows you to make your videos look and sound their best. Internet video has made such huge improvements over the last decade of it's existence it is hard to find fault or complain about this product. However, I do have a few suggestions for Discreet.

Suggestion #1

When I purchased Final Cut Pro 2, it included a product called cleaner EZ. Not everyone can or is willing to spend $599.00 for a top of the line product that does everything. Bring back an updated version of cleaner EZ with 15 -20 popular presets for $99.00

Suggestion #2 Call Bill Gates and tell him that if Microsoft doesn't want to provide your company with the information you need to make a great encoder, Discreet will simply leave Microsoft's Windows Media out of the next release. Discreet does not make mediocre products.

Consider Discreet's only competition here is Sorenson Squeeze 3 . The Mac version of Sorenson Squeeze 3 ($449.00) conspicuously doesn't export to Windows Media. (The PC windows version does.)

To my knowledge, cleaner 6 for Mac is the only way to create Windows Media on a Mac. It was for this reason I was most excited to get the new version of Cleaner 6.

However, I was quite disappointed with the Windows Media results. Maybe I expected more? Perhaps I didn't do something right?

I called Discreet's tech support. The person I spoke with confirmed I had taken the correct steps. Then, to my astonishment, he suggested I would have better results to export my Mac edited footage to DV tape, feed it into a PC and then use the free encoder from Microsoft for Windows Media. So I did - suffice to say the tech support person was honest.

While the new Cleaner product does an acceptable job of exporting to Windows Media, don't expect to be impressed. Save your money if you think this is a solution to create Windows Media. I suspect the reason may be more of a Apple V.S. Microsoft OS issue than Discreet's software.

If Microsoft wants to get their player content, they need to create a Mac based encoder for Windows Media. It is not that Microsoft could not create one, but rather they have chosen not to. Apple isn't going to do it. Myself and the vast majority of content creators are simply not going to give up our editing Macs & switch to PC's just to be able to encode Windows Media.

Exports to Real Player produced exceptional results, equaling if not exceeding those from Real Producer Pro. A 256k cable preset viewed in full screen was simply amazing, and it was hard to tell my display wasn't a television.

Internet Video has come a long way since my first Internet video which was a postage stamp sized pixilated 3 second blur. Remember when everyone thought we were crazy and said Internet Video would never work?

Just for yucks I churned out a Kinoma file, posted it on our server and used a coworker's Palm to view it. The clip was 15 seconds of wireless video nirvana. YES! This is the future. Very Cool!

I was most impressed with the results for Quicktime 6. Cleaner 6 supports MPEG4 and AAC ( Advanced audio codec) a new audio format brought to you by the same people that created the .mp3 format. (More accurately MPEG2 layer 3.)

My initial thought process is why do I need cleaner 6 when I have Quicktime 6 Pro and my G-4 will export to Quicktime including MPEG4 and AAC? cleaner 6 has some filters you can't get any other way. This allows you to generate great looking MPEG4 Quicktime video.

I also found this at interesting. Look at Apple's new G-5 video promo.

Once the video loads - save it to your desk top. Then look in the annotations and you will notice that Apple encoded this video with Cleaner.

Another great feature of cleaner 6 is batch encoding. This is what makes cleaner 6 worth the money. You can instruct it to encode multiple video files in different formats and sizes and go to sleep. When you return, it is all done.

Other goodies included in cleaner 6 are watch folders that allow you to speed your work flow and insure uniform exports. This is especially useful if a group of people are all working on the same project. You can save a tremendous amount of time with easy drag & drop automated encoding.

You can have your companies streaming media expert make the decision and have everyone else follow his template simply by dropping their video into the project watch folder. You can also instruct Cleaner 6 to post the exported video directly to your server. Of course, I would follow the practice of always checking the results. You never know...

The included Cleaner 6 manual (which I did eventually read most of) is very complete and covers about anything you would like to know with a well laid out index - plus a glossary in case you stumble on a word you can't define. For more tips and instruction in using cleaner 6. I would recommend a visit to http://www.benwaggoner.com He has written an informative and helpful book that is well worth the $24.95

Also, get Ben Waggoner's Compression for Great Digital Video:...   from Amazon

When considering purchasing a product- it is always a good idea to consider the alternatives. Sorenson's Squeeze 3 may be worth your review - if only to affirm cleaner 6 as the better choice. I can't accurately compare the two because I haven't used Sorenson's product. At one time I tried to order it, but hung up after being left on eternal hold inexcusably long. When you buy software it is kind of like buying a car. You have to consider service and support AFTER the sale. What I can accurately state is that Discreet is superior to Sorenson when it comes to customer service and getting a hold of a knowledgeable tech support person. To me that is a big consideration.

Mac World, a trusted and reputable source has reviewed both products. They rated cleaner "4 mice" ( of 5) in the June 2003 issue.

Not found on the Mac World website at the time of my writing this article ( but should be posted soon) is a Sorenson Squeeze review (August 2003 issue) Mac World rated Sorenson's product "3.5 mice" of 5.

Which is better? Like many things, it depends on who you ask. In my view, I'm sticking with the more popular choice of most professionals. Cleaner 6

Article written by 4Video exclusively for Internet Video Magazine. Kevin Hicks better known as 4Video in streaming media circles is an early pioneer of Internet Video - and one of this sites favorite contributors. Comments, criticism & compliments may be sent to 4Video at internetvideomag.com

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