Best Quality compression wiht FC5.1

All I"m trying to accomplish is to take the video from my camcorder ( high def Sony hdr-hc1) and make the best quality video DVD that I can. I know i can't make a high def DVD since they're HD DVD players really aren't out yet, but I want the video to look as good as I can. I can get the video on the timeline etc, but am wondering if anyone has come up with a good compression formula yet. I can use compressor to compress it..but really haven't gotten it to the point yet that I'm happy. I'd also like to make a single file with video and audio come out of compressor so it's easier to use iDVD with if possible.
Any thoughts you might have would be very welcome.
And yes, I"m a newbie with FC. As much as iMovie and iDVD are touted as high def solutions, they're compression methods stink. THey may look ok on a standard tv, but if you put them on a Big Screen it looks unwatchable.
Thanks again!!

iDVD does it's own compression... compressing it to anything other than DV-NTSC won't get you anywhere.
Do you have DVDSP??
CaptM

Similar Messages

Best quality compression for DVD

Trying to compress a 7 minute project from Final Cut for best quality on a DVD, type 5. Been using the pre-set "Best quality: 90mins", but wondering if there is a higher quality compression I can get for such a short project? Have most up to date versions of Final Cut, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro. Thanks!

You can duplicate any preset you want, then adjust it to suit your needs.
-DH

Best Quality compression = No compression?

OK so it's apparently common knowledge that, to export an uncompressed Quicktime, you just go to Export> Quicktime Movie. Then check the box to make it self-contained, right?
However, when I do this and give the Quicktime to people on PCs for instance, some can't play it.
Also, when I did an Export> Quicktime Conversion using Photo JPG compressor, at full quality video... the outputted QT was a larger file size AND 'looked' much better AND played on other people's PCs.
So I was wondering, is File> Export> Quicktime Movie really the way to export the highest possible quality movie?
Hope you can help!

... the outputted QT was a larger file size AND 'looked' much better ...
By default QuickTime doesn't play DV files at full quality. You can open in QT your movie options and set it to playback at full quality. Remember it's just a playback issue, your movie allways is ay full quality in your QT file.
Besides that you can set your movie to show real pixel proportions using the Conforme Aperture options:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303928
Hope that helps !
Alberto

Compressing to dvd best quality

I am doing a project for computer and I have to put my project on a DVD I am looking for the best way to compress my movie on compressor so I get the best quality picture on my DVD can someone help.

Well alot depends on the footage. High action, low action, DV, HDV. Never one size fits all answer.
That being said, in general take a look here
http://dvdstepbystep.com/faqs_7.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/faqs_4.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/faqs_3.php
You can start with the Compressor presets based on the high quality version of the lowest time that fits your project (i.e., high 90 Minutes will be better than 120 Minutes) as a start
If you have any more details on the project it can help steer you more if you need it, but you may not

More then 2hrs to compresse 60minutes VIDEO file in MPEG 2 DVD BEST QUALITY

On my Dual 2.5 GHz 4GB RAM, is this normal ?

It took 3h30 minutes. Will I see a difference using DVD Fastest Encode ? For exemple, can it be possible to have a problem like the DVD freezing in some DVD player because I'm using a faster Encoding setting like DVD Fastest ?
This is my workflow for now:
-Export from FCP, AUDIO ONLY current settings, self contained.
-Export from FCP, VIDEO ONLY current settings, self contained.
-Import to Compresor the self contained files and compress the audio file using Dolby 2.0 before sending to DVDSP.
-Import to Compresor the self contained video file and compress using DVD Best quality MPEG2 2-pass before sending to DVDSP.
I do NOT export from FCP directly to Compressor.
Joyeux Noël,
Jean

Best Quality Share/Compression

Hi
Does anyone know the best way to Export my iMovie to get the best quality, without using iDVD? When I use the 'Full Quality' setting the resulting Quicktime looks jagged and not as good as the raw iMovie. I'm not technical enough to understand the Expert Settings. I just want to store my movies on my Powerbook without using up too much disc space, so I can bore my friends with them!
Thanks

an export "QT Full Quality" is a bit identical copy of the final project in iM... best possible quality...
BUT!
QTplayer/pro has many options to set (every frame/full quality), to see the final quality PLUS iM is for video; your Mac has 4 - 6x the res of a TV, no interlace , etc... as often told here: final quality can only be judged on a telly....
make the playback window smaller, to res of TV - quality 100%...-
to make files smaller, use the latest (QT7) codec h264 - long encoding, needs fast Mac for playback.... if you need the files just for playback, using iDVD for a diskimage (mpeg2) is no bad choice...

How to export the best quality file from FCE?

Hi people. I was wondering which is the option that I have to choose to get the best quality on an exported file from FCE4. The best quality I get is from the "Export - Quicktime movie..." option, but there is a huge compression as I see. The final product isn't as good as it should. Obviously, it won't be the same as the original material, but I was wondering if there was another way of getting a movie with much more quality, like when you use "Compressor" from the Final Cut Studio. Thanks in advance.

I imported the material through firewire (it was recorded on a miniDV tape). I respected the format of the source and the files I got are top notch. The final movie looks great on the computer, the differences come when burning it to a DVD. I'm using IDVD, and the .mov file exported through the option I mentioned.
I want to burn that .mov file to a DVD, which means there will be another compression to MPEG2 once I burn it through the DVD authoring app, but the product has some kind of "shaking" in the dark areas. It's not so bad, but I would like to get the best quality, like the ones I've got from Compressor. Is it possible using the Export - Quicktime movie option?

Best Quality Export From Final Cut Pro Into After Effects?

So I converted all my footage into Apple Pro Res 422 (24 p, 1280 x 720) for use in FCP and want to export edited parts into After Effects. What is the best quality export to bring into After Effects and also export from After Effects back into FCP?

zikade wrote:
Depending on your storage and what you're up to with your footage I'd recommend uncompressed. Large files but you won't loose any quality. Animation is also lossless if you want to compress your footage. If your drives are not fast enough, go for ProRes HQ from FCP to AE, and Animation the way back...
Since you've converted to 422, stick with that. You cannot gain anything by exporting from FCP to a codec that has a higher bandwidth such as PRHQ or Animation. You just don't want to go down.
Rendering out of After Effects going back to FCP jsut use the same base codec. Again, you will gain nothing by using a higher quality codec. However, you may want to use PR4444 or even Animation if you must have an alpha channel. PR4444 uses trillions of colors and you will get an interesting warning when you try to render to it. You can dismiss the warning.
PR4444 has the distinct advantage of being realtime in FCP7 and X. Animation requires rendering back in teh FCP timeline.
bogiesan

Help understanding workflow for best quality.

Greetings.
I've read countless hours on this forum in the effort to understand this extremely complicated subject of getting my video out of my camera and onto a DVD in the best quality possible, and I'm still a little confused.
I'm not recording anything that is particularly high-action, but rather weddings, funerals, (yeah, I know), children's school programs, and my next big project is a seminar with keynote speaker.
I have three Sony HDR SR-11 cameras, which clearly record video as ACHDV and the video signal is 1080/60i (NTSC). I could also record in SD with an MPEG2 file.
I understand the a DVD is only SD at best, and am recording in HD since I have room for the files, and someday we might have better options for the video than we have now.
I started using iMovie, and have iMovie 11, and just love how easy and slick it is to make impressive looking stuff.
Once I import into iDVD to make the cool menus, I use "professional" encoding. I am about to produce a longer video than will fit on a single layer disk, and will be burning to a dual-layer DVD.
I own a copy of FCE, but was overwhelmed when I first started to use it, and on a time crunch for that project, reverted back to iMovie.
How I record events is to set up three cameras from different perspectives and then create a movie from the best angles, switching back and forth. This is a little cumbersome in iMovie, but I've had no trouble except for the date stamp disappearing and having to fix that on my most recent project. (once the date stamp is gone...it's hard to figure out where the clips are that you need for the next minute or two at a time).
I'm about to embark on an effort to market my work professionally, and am clearly working with amateur equipment, and without the time or resources to start all over with a $50K investment, would like to squeak by on what I have, and need to get the best quality possible out of it. Without any question, my market requires the movies to be on DVDs.
I'm most confused by interlacing/deinterlacing issue. I understand what the two are, but not what to do about it, if anything. I notice there is a button to check "deinterlace" in iMovie, and wonder why it's there and if it works and if I should be using it.
What would my specific advantages be, if any, to learning FCE? If a huge difference could be made, I would take the time to learn FCE, and I could lay out another couple hundred bucks for other software, if you had some to recommend that would greatly surpass what I'm doing, in place of iDVD or another intermediary I should be using.
I've been exporting with QT, using the following settings:
Video:
Compression: H.264
Quality: High
Key frame:24
Frame reordering: yes
Encoding: multi-pass
Dimensions: 960x540
Sound:
Format: Integer (Little Endian)
Sample: 44.1 kHz
Sample: 16-bit
Channels: Stereo
Then create menus in iDVD and burn to DVD.
Could you please give me feedback on my process, and try to answer my questions and clear up my confusion? I'd appreciate it so much!
Karen

Does FCE do this with multiple cameras? I'd want to make sure that FCS does it, before I buy it and am stuck with it, especially if FCE will do it and I already have it.
Yes and No
No - Multicamera is a function in FC Pro
Yes - but You do it in a very "Paper-clip" way. Put each Camera on one track ontop of each other
Camera 1 - v-tr 1
Camera 2 - v-tr 2
Camera 3 - v-tr 3
Then schrink the view of each track to 25% with Vireframe and put them into one corner
each (Not the same one)
Move them so that the sync. frame eg a photo flash is on the same time for all three video-tracks.
Now when playing one see the three views in paralell.
THIS demands that all Cameras has a common Sync-point (I use a photo-flash)
AND that no Camera was turned off during uptake.
IT is also important to know if any of the Cameras are sencitive to movements.
My small one is.
So I put mine on tripods !
This recording behaviour is the same if using FinalCut Pro ! Cont. recording and one sync. frame.
Then when playing in FinalCut Express - one use the transparicy tool to make the
Camera visibly that has the best picture.
When done the full movie (by adjusting transparicy - one re-size the Video tracks to 100% and let them fill view.
Now when playback - You see the edited result.
In FC Pro - You set Your Cameras as Multi Camera and set the sync frame. Now it will
in Viewer play (in 25% size) and You just point at the best view trough the movie
and it will assemble in TimeLine. You need not to be especially on target - easily adjusted
with roll-tool (I think) in after hand.
1 hour editing two Cameras takes for me (ME)
• FinalCut Express - about 10 hours
• FinalCut Pro - 2 hours to Capture - 1h15min to edit.
There is a program - CaptureMagic SD (HD) - that let's You copy directly to Your Mac
hard disk - NEED is one FW-port per Camera
(Port is something else than the connectors, My PowerBook G4 has one FW400 and one FW800 connector
BUT ONLY one FW-port - So I need to use a CMA-CIA-card with one FW-connector to get a second FW-port )
This set-up works and I get the material Captured in real-time. Resulting in editing time 1h 15min per hour movie.
Yours Bengt W

Exporting in best Quality

Hi,
I record with 1920*1080 50i (AVCHD). When I finish a project and export it, how can I make sure its at the best Quality? Can I export it as a Quicktime Movie in Full Quality?
What I want to do, is to export the finished cut movie in Full HD Quality and store it on an external HD. But what compression should I use? There are so many possibilities (AIC, H.264 and so on).
Can anyone explain?
P
Message was edited by: Pätschi

That will give you the highest possible quality because it will show no degradation in quality at all. It is fine for storage but the files might be large because they are not compressed.

How to give client best quality of raw footage

So normally I shoot, edit, and burn sporting events for a certain client. However, this thime the just want to pay for the raw footage. Since I've noveer done this before, I'm a little confused. Usually I would export using Quicktime and then drop th quicktime into iDVD or Roxio and then burn a copy. But since they might want someone else to edit the footage, how do I give them the best quality format. I am sticking with burning something to DVD. But last night I was looking at export using quicktime conversion. There were all kinds of options. What would you recommend for exporting? I would assume if I burn it onto a DVD using iDVD, they would have to rip it to edit it. But doesn't puting something on DVD compress the footage? It is shot in SD, but I want to ensure maximium quality. Any suggestions?

It's a Sony miniDV camera. The footage specs are as follows:
Sony:
Frame Size: 720x480
Vid Rate: 29.97 fps
Compressor: DV/DVCPRO-NT
Data Rate : 3.6MB/sec
Aud Rate 48.0 KHz
Aud Format: 16 Bit
Pixel Aspect: NTSC-CCIR601
Field Dominance: Lower(even)
Or at least that's the information I got from FCE. The footage is 3 seperate camera angels with about 75 minutes for each camera. I'm assuming they mean to have someone else edit it, but what program they would be using, I really don't know. When you state "1) an actual copy of the raw footage", do you mean a tape copy? I do not want to give them the original tapes it was recorded onto.
"QuickTime/DV or QuickTime/AIC" I do not know the difference. I refer to myself as the Cole Trickle (Days of Thunder reference) of video editing. I don't know how or why the car works, I just know how to drive it. With video editing, I do not know all the internal knowledge of aspect ratios or what a codec is, but I know how to tell a story and get that feeling onto a TV screen. Yes, I am limited by my own ignorance, but I am a visual learner. I can read it 100 times, but if someone shows me once I have it down.
Aside from the rant, I want to deliver the footage on DVD. Our original agreement was for myself to edit the footage, but I respect the free market. I want to be as profesional as possible when it comes to business. I fell into this client backasswards, and wasn't meaning to create a full time career, but they liked my work and I liked doing it.

NEED THE BEST QUALITY QUICKTIME MOVIE FOR DVD! THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE.

I just finished a three minute piece that will be shown on DVD and projected to a sixteen foot screen. I usually just output a self-contained quicktime movie with current settings and then compress with bitvice. While I'm happy with those results, because of the size of this screening, I'm curious whether there might be better options for output to quicktime, such as uncompressed, etc?
I've also heard that I could output as a Jpeg, or a PNG file, but I'd love some advice on what works best and the workflow, as I need to get this done fast and can't really afford the time to experiment.
Any advice would be HUGELY appreciated. THANKS1

I usually just output a self-contained quicktime movie with current settings and then compress with bitvice.
That will provide the best quality ... the quality won't improve over what you had in FCP. Depending on your source media type(s), you may have had a better quality export IF you had edited and rendered with another setting.
-DH

What is the best workflow procedure for importing DV SP 16x9 footage into FCP7 and then exporting the best quality 16x9 to standard DVD so that it looks great (or at least good) on a 50" Samsung LCD TV ?????? Please help! anybody?? Thanks!

We are using a Sony HDV-Z7U camera for acquisition. We recently recorded an event using the camera's non HD capabilities. We set the camera to record "DV SP" 16x9 settings on both Mini-DV tape and CF card.
To import the DV SP footage into FCP7 we chose the "DV NTSC anamorphic" setting in the log and transfer settings window. After a successful transfer from the CF card (the CF card held approximately 83 minutes) we checked the size of the file and found it to be 16 Gigs! Why so big? An 83 miniDV tape shot in SD should easily fit on a standard 4.7 gig MPEG2 DVD.
We need to burn DVDs of this show - we sent it to compressor and got horrible quality.
What is the best setting to use in FCP7's log and transfer settings window to import DV SP 16x9 standard def. footage and what is the best method for exporting for outputting this footage to DVD that preserves the original quality of the DV SP footage?? Anyone? Many thanks

> Why so big? An 83 miniDV tape shot in SD should easily fit on a standard 4.7 gig MPEG2 DVD.
No it doesn't. DV is 13GB per hour.
In any case, a Video DVD uses the MPEG 2 codec, not DV.
>What is the best setting to use in FCP7's log and transfer settings window to import DV SP 16x9 standard def.
DV NTSC anamorphic.
>what is the best method for exporting for outputting this footage to DVD...
Use the Compressor DVD preset "Best Quality 90 mins".
>...that preserves the original quality of the DV SP footage?
Not going to happen, you are compressing by a factor of 1:4. Shooting as HDV would have given you better quality material to start with. DV is at the bottom end of the scale.

Best mp4 compression possible for 50" TV

Hi,
I need to compressed my project (24fps, 1080p from FCP) to mp4 which will be run on a 50' TV via a computer (not sure what software but I was told it needs to be in mp4 format). If size isn't a factor, what's the best possible compression to get a very good quality on mp4 format? Should I take the mpeg-4 setting and modify the bit rate to HIGH VBR?
Any help appreciated.

The High VBR should do a decent job. Whether it's the best you can do will require some testing on your end.
There was a recent thread on working from the H.264 presets and simply changing the extension to MP4 after encoding the file. I'm not sure whether that would work or not, but you could try. It certainly would give you comprehensive control over your quality.
Alternatively, you could use MPEG Streamclip, which offers pretty good control but will definitely put your file in an MP4 wrapper.
Russ

Best Quality Export Settings in MPEG Streamclip to Edit HD Video in iMovie

Hi,
I import video from data DVDs and regular DVDs and edit the videos in iMovie. In the past, I've always used MPEG Streamclip because it can read the native DVD VOB format. I then use the "Export to DV" option in MPEG Streamclip which exports a .DV file readable by QuickTime or iMovie. These are large files, but it is my understanding that this is best quality for editing.
Now I have started to receive HD Videos. When I use MPEG Streamclip the same way, it reduces the HD video into a windowbox 720x480 video loosing all HD resolution.
I've done some research online and apparently MPEG Streamclip's DV export options are pretty limited and other people have said to use the "Export to MPEG-4" or the "Export to QuickTime" which are more configurable. Each of these requires a Compression Codec Selection. Some have said to use H.264, but I've also read that you should not compress with H.264 if you're going to be doing editing.
I do not care about file size, I want maximum quality. The incoming DVD video is 1280 x 720 (HDTV 720p), what Compression selection do I select in MPEG Streamclip for "Export to MPEG-4" or "Export to QuickTime" to maintain the best quality for editing in iMovie? I appreciate your help!
Jerry

Use Apple Intermediate Codec for best quality and best editing performance.
If you have Final Cut Pro installed, you may have additional good options like ProRes 422.

Best Quality compression wiht FC5.1

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