Creating a Standard Def DVD from an HD project

I have an 2 hour HD project in Final Cut Pro and would like to make a standard definition DVD (letterboxed in 4x3).
What would people recommend me in terms of building the cleanest, best looking final result?
Downconverting via compressor to mpeg2 at the highest quality for a 2 hour length seems to be the best option? I'm not sure what will give me the best looking result. Does downconverting the HD sequence degrade image quality?
Thank you for your expertise.

Try kenstone.net

Similar Messages

HDV 1080i to Standard def DVD "Ken Stone" method- interlace problems, help!

Greetings,
I am on a tight deadline to produce a standard def DVD for an art exhibit, from HDV material that was imported and edited natively in FCP 7 as 1080i. I used the "Ken Stone" method of exporting the 10 minute sequence using QT conversion, as a pro res 422 HQ quicktime movie, then I took it into compressor 3.5 to make a Mpeg-2 file for a standard def DVD.
The problem is that the video that came out of compressor, when simulated in DVD SP 3.5 (and also when burned on DVD) has weird "interlaced" looking edges whenever there is movement in the video. It is a figure against a black background, and whenever the figure moves back and forth against the black background, the edges of the figure show interlaced-looking lines. The rest of the video where there is slow movement looks fine. BTW, motion was set to "Best" in compressor.
What am I doing wrong? was there something not mentioned in Stone's walk-thru, having to do with de-interlacing, or something I have missed? Is there a better way to produce a standard def DVD from HDV 1080i material?
Thank you so much for your help. I am down to the wire on this one...
AKJ

exporting the 10 minute sequence using QT conversion, as a pro res 422 HQ quicktime movie...
You are adding an unneeded compression cycle for a start. Export with QuickTime Conversion always recompresses your footage, even when you use the same settings as your Timeline.
Export to QuickTime with Current Settings, Self Contained will give you a Master file that is identical to what you edited.
weird "interlaced" looking edges whenever there is movement in the video...
If your source material is interlaced it will look odd on a computer monitor. It will display correctly on a TV set.
having to do with de-interlacing, or something I have missed?
Deinterlacing will throw away half of the vertical resolution. Bye bye HD. No good can come of that, right?
What is your intended delivery format? Does the method that you are currently using to view the material compare with how the end product will be seen?

I need to export 1080 p shot footage to a standard def dvd . ]

i need to export 1080 p shot footage to a standard def dvd . ]
In fxp x export settings i can see the "dvd" setting but i need to use toast because i need to add a few projects and that seems to only allow what project you are currently in.
Client does not have blu ray so I have to go to standard dvds.
I am using toast. I know how to use toast but I want ffedback on how I should export from FCPx for a standard dvd burnout.
Thanks
TIM

You're right I tried a few different exports with varying file sizes. My thinking was it was better to have a lower file size going into the DVD. Of course you are the expert so I value your input. It's just that I have two of these files I need to send out to DVD and for both seminars there going to be under 50 GB that seems like a lot of space to take up on my storage. My assumption was that was way too big of a file and I should have a smaller file size to be able to go into the DVD any further info or articles would be appreciated. Thanks Tim
Is there any readings on best export settings for certain type projects? It seems pretty cut and dry I just assumed I would get smaller file sizes during the export.. Just trying to understand it all.

Best application for Standard Def DVD creation?

I have a bunch of MiniDV tapes shot in standard def that I want to make into DVDs for my family. I want to preserve as much picture quality as possible during the process and will be using transitions, overlays, and credits.
I have used iMovie 08 and abandoned it because I needed dynamic chapter markers. I am now ready to edit the next DVD in the 'series', and with the advent of iMovie 09 and the availability of Final Cut Express at a reasonable price, I am trying to decide which way to go. I also have a copy of iMovie HD 6 which I used for my previous DVD.
From reading the reviews of iMovie 09 I am pretty confident that I would be happy with it functionally, but not if it costs me in picture quality. I noticed on my first effort using iMovie HD 6 and iDVD, that the DVD picture was not as sharp as the video viewed directly from the camera. Did I do something wrong, or is that a "feature" of iMovie? Would FCE be better?
My only concern with FCE apart from spending money that I may not need to spend, is the talk of a steep learning curve. With two little kids at home I don't have a lot of spare time. That said, I'd rather spend the time and get a sharp looking DVD than get a mediocre one quickly.
Thanks for any advice.
-John

skalicki` wrote:
What do you mean by "dynamic chapter markers"?
I meant the ability to define the precise location of the chapter within the movie, such that when exported to iDVD the menu allows you to jump to any point you have defined in the movie. By "dynamic" I mean they may be placed at random locations, rather than fixed intervals. iMovie 08 deleted the ability to add chapter markers, iDVD allows only fixed interval chapters (which seems useless to me), as does Toast. I tried the work-around of using Garage Band, but it fails on larger projects. I've read that iMovie 09 has restored the ability to add chapter markers where you want, but if I'm going to shell out more cash I might as well get the package that will get me the best picture too (within reason).
In any video application, for Chapter markers you simply place them in the application, then edit them in iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, etc.
Not in iMovie 08/iDVD, but now that you mention it, how does DVD Studio Pro compare to iDVD? I'm mostly focused on picture quality.
Do you mean better animated titles that you could use within the program? For this FCE is much better, because you don't need to work with the premade things, you can create and animate your own from the ground up.
That will be fun. Not what I was talking about, but a nice feature. I know that FCE will have lots of capability that iMovie doesn't (by design), that's just gravy.
I have used iMovie HD 6 to place chapters where I wanted them in my last DVD project, I didn't have much trouble working with it although it is a bit more "professional grade" than iMovie (I know, not saying much). How do the two compare for learning curve/user friendliness? I would like to say that I'd get a book to read on FCE but the truth is that on an average day I don't have time to watch the news let alone read a book.
In my opinion, FCE is definitely worth the investment and once you learn it you will never want to go back to iMovie!
Thanks, just the fact that the output is higher quality is a big pull for me. I think I'm going to take the plunge.
Now for the next question: FCE 4 or 3.5?
-John

Trying to Create DVD from Blu-Ray Project

I'm a fairly new user to Encore CS4.   I was able to successfully create a Blu-Ray project using HD video - the actual video is a little over 3 hours.   It took about 30 hours for the project to transcode and burn.   I'm now trying to take that same project and created a single layer DVD.   I'm really struggling with this even though the software says I should be able to do this.    So I set all my settings up to create the DVD and started the process.   It was trancoding the video for 6 straight days!!!!!    When it finally got finished with the transcoding process I got an error that said this aspect ration was not supported by DVD!!!   So I'm confused at what I'm doing wrong.   First, I don't think the transcoding process should be taking that long.   Second, if the aspect ration is not correct, could it tell me that before it spends 6 days transcoding the video?    Third, I'm trying to burn the DVD using the same 16:6 widescreen aspect ratio, so I'm not sure why it's telling me the aspect ratio is not correct.    But what frustrates me the most is that it took wasted days before the software told me it didn't like the aspect ratio.
I know there's products on the market that will basically copy a Blu Ray to a DVD and are supposed to do that in something like 4 -5 hours. Why on earth would Encore be taking 6 days to transcode my video.
Anyway, if anyone has any ideas please let me know.
Thanks!

Thanks, I'll try these suggestions next. I had found a post from "janaiott" suggesting to select "interpret footage" then choose "conform to SD NTSC Widescreen".   They said that worked for them.   This post was titled "Use the same project to export to both BR and DVD?"
I tried that and restarted the build. The video transcoding went much quicker - instead of running for 6 days it finished in 2 days.   However, at the end of the transcode process I once again recieved the aspect ratio error.   My exact error is:
PGD "Sequence 01/Band.prproj" has an error at 88.8888s. The aspect ratio of this file is not supported by DVD. - PGC info: Sequence 01/Band.prproj =Bpgc, time=88.8888s.
I'm still just baffled why Encore can't be smart enough to tell me it doesn't like what I'm doing before it spends all that time - what a waste of time! I really don't mind waiting 2 days as long it works
If anyone else has any suggestions, please post - but I will move on to the next suggestion and see what happens. Just too bad it will take at least 2 days to know whether it works or not

Best Compression for HDV1080i60 to Standard Def DVD with bars ?

I am wondering if there is a better technique directly through compressor that will take HDV1080i60 to a standard def MPEG?
Only thing is... I do not want any cropping. I'm hoping to have black bars on the top and bottom of the screen scaled for the full HD aspect ratio.

There's no such thing as HD on a DVD. DVDs are by definition SD.
What you're likely referring to is a 16:9 aspect ratio.
You don't want black bars (or any color bars) on the top or bottom of anything, that is unless you want to crop it. If your image is 16:9 you leave it alone. Same goes for 4:3. The set top DVD player is what actually controls how the image is displayed on a TV. You go to the set top player's menus and tell it what kind of TV/Monitor it's attached to: 16:9 or 4:3. It then sees the flags placed on the tracks on the DVD and does the correct display. So for a 4:3 TV when you show a 16:9 video, it's the player that "letterboxes" the resultant image, puts "bars" on the top and bottom. No squeeze, no muss, no fuss. And when it's played on a 16:9 TV it's shown full screen, edge to edge. No problem. The converse is true of a 4:3 video. On a "square tv" it will fill the frame, and on a 16:9 is will be "pillared, " with "bars" on left and right.
So you run your video through compressor as 16:9.
You author in DVD SP as 16:9.
Done
Carry on!

Easiest way to produce NTSC DVD from PAL encore project?

I have a PAL Encore project with 25fps assets and subtitles. What's the easiest way to make an NTSC DVD from this project? Encore won't let me edit the quality settings to change from NTSC to PAL. These settings are greyed out. I take it they are dictated by the assets. Can anyone suggest how to make an NTSC project easily from this Encore project? I don't want to go back to the original footage. I want to just convert it from these Mpeg-2 files in the Encore project.
Any help would be much appreciated.

What Richard said. I'll add three things.
Encore won't let me edit the quality settings to change from NTSC to PAL. These settings are greyed out. I take it they are dictated by the assets.
They are dictated by your selections when you created the project. And NTSC vs PAL are not settings that can be changed in the project settings once created.
Regarding reusing menus. The files accessed by the Encore library for DVD projects are different for NTSC vs PAL. They have NTSC or PAL in the filename, but you don't see this from inside Encore. (They do not vary for Bluray menus.) You can take your NTSC project menus, "save as file," and then "import as menu" into a new PAL project. They will be the "wrong" pixel size and aspect ratio, but Encore may correct the par. I have never tried this. But if you get oddities doing it this way, in the new PAL project, add a PAL menu, edit in photoshop, and copy the button groups and such from the NTSC version of the menu to the PAL menu. That might work.
What I see in most of these "convert PAL from NTSC" threads is that virtually all NTSC disks play on current PAL equipment. Many users asking your question decide not to convert. that is especially true, because Richard's "export as NTSC" is not as simple as it seems.

Making a DVD from FCP X project

A few projects ago, I could render a movie for DVD from FCP X onto a DVD to burn. Then, it would be working for hours and hours and never finish.. a day later, it wasn't finished. Can't make one since.
What could be the problem? I s some part of the process too big for my hardware or software? Can I change something to allow it to work again?
Any ideas? Perhaps something is set wrong?
Thank you for any suggestions.

What version are you running?
Do you get a Publishing Error -29?
Russ

Recording standard dvd from completed FCP project thru DVD STUDIO PRO...

OH, kind geniuses...
it boils down to this...I'm very FCP friendly...production is done...I'm aware of "compressor" issue...one question tho
...is it easier to compress thru Quicktime movie or the
standard compressor functions when project is completed...
BOTTOM LINE...is it possible to crank out a standard DVD copy of a completed FCP project QUICKLY/ EASILY...thru
DVD STUDIO PRO? i've went thru the manuals for ALL, and am
affraid I'm reading T.M.I. into it... THE question..."is there a simple Wham-Bam-Thank You-Maam way to get a simple
DVD copy from a completed FCP project THRU, (the dreaded)
DVD STUDIO PRO??? I don't need to re-learn digital electronic theory...just crank out a gawl-dern DVD I can
present to a perspective employer that needs a FCP editor...
"much gnashing of teeth & lament",
thanks folks!
G. Tirebiter
mac G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) final cut studio

whoaohohohohohohoh nnnnnnneleeeee(a keith jacksonism)
silal..............
way too much info, amigo....I have one track (2min total...
including "live-type" graphics)....we don' have no marks....
we don' need no marks....we don' got to cho you any steenking marks!!!!! (Alfonso Bedoya from "treasure of Sierra Madre"..adaptation)...I love that guy/scene...back to the problem at hand...waaaay too involved it seems, my
friend....tho, I high 5 you for the extensive work & effort.
I'm lookin' for quick & dirty...did get a response that basically gives me that...still left out some "see spot run"
info that my "little grey cells" aren't absorbing...I'm
sure it's MY ignorance & comprehension skills that are in question here...I guess I wanna' get outa' th' gate & grab th' hole shot before I dial in my ride...like I said..."see spot run"....another try would be appreciated but not necessary...thanks for you're valuable time...
they're in.......everybody's eggs...
DOH!....
G. Tirebiter
mac G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) final cut studio

Creating a Blu-Ray DVD from Final Cut Express

Hi,
I work in avchd ingested video in FCE. I'd have thought that to make a full HD hard copy of my final movie that I would need to purchase a Blu-Ray DVD burner and hook it into my MacBook Pro and just burn. I read recently somewhere that FCE doesn't allow HD DVDs to be created. I find this strange. Why am I bothering to shoot in HD if I can't see the final production in HD? I may as well have just bought a standard DV camera, and saved myself a whole lot of hard drive space and edit processing time. Am I missing something?
Thanks,
Vic

http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/toast/default.html?gclid=CIyG7Zqclp4CFdpb2godL HXnkw

How to create a DVD from several FCP projects?

I'm strugeling to create a DVD. I feel like a fool because it used to go so easy with my old computer but with my new Mac it doesn't seem to work.....
What I'm doing:
- Footage MTS 1920x1080, 24Mbps .MOD files
- I upload them from my camera into FCP
- I make projects (let say 20 different ones)
- I want to put all the projects on 1 DVD as seperate 'chapters/ icons'
- With FCP I can only put one project at the time on a DVD, so that doesn't work
- I bought DVD creater to put the exports of FCP on a DVD, problem I can not create a export out of FCP that will be recognised by dvd creater.
I know that I will be able to convert my FCP export into something else by some programme. But this is a work around, I don't really want to do such a extra step because the quality will be lower.
Ik hope someone has a solution for me!
Kim

Hello T,
I have just exported the slideshow from iPhoto to the iPhoto Slideshow Folder, opening iDVD.
I selected create a new project as EJ3 in MoMs folder hit CREATE and iDVD quit, disappears,
THE iDVD icon is still active on the doc but how ever it is simply GONE,
this is the second time i tried this. I will restart the computer and come back and try it again.
OK. I restarted the Mac, opened iDVD, selected MAGIC iDVD and in the movie section EJ3 was no where to be found.
I will now close iDVD and try create a new project, saved MY GREAT DVD to the desktop.
Cannot find EJ3 or the other exported iPHOTO slide shows under Elizabeth.....
they are here
but I can't select, or import, or open in iDVD.
I am totally lost and thinking that this can't be done for some unknown reason.
I am thinking if iMOVIE is the way to go OR if I should delete iDVD and reinstall it from the iLIFE disk.
I am sorry for all this failure.
at a loss right now.

Creating a full screen DVD from a low res avi file

Hi
I've obtained an avi file of rare band footage from a friend and am trying to create a DVD for him. All the editing I usually do in PP is with material I video myself and then capture, so I'm not sure where to start with this.
The original was a semi-pro VHS recorded in the 80s. I have no idea how it was captured and what has been done to it since. It plays full screen in WMP and although the image is pixelated, it's not too bad. The original VHS is very rare and almost impossible to obtain.
I imported the file into PP fine and guessed straight away there might be a prob, as 'Fit to Screen' gave me a small display in the Programme Sequence monitor. I tried authoring it as a DVD and got the same result on the TV when I played it. I wonder if anyone can tell me what I need to do to get the authored DVD to play full screen on a TV? Or even if it can be done at all?
The file properties are as follows.
288 MB
22 min 37 secs
320 x 240 pixels
25 fps
Data Rate 1741 kbps
Video sample size 24 bit
Video Compression MS-MPEG-4V2
I'm working in DV- PAL
If anyone can help, or has any tips/advice it would be much appreciated?
Thanks for taking the time to look at it
Graham

The best workflow would be to get the original VHS and re-Capture it to DV-AVI Type II.
If that is not possible, then two thoughts come to mind to get the most out of what you've got:
1.) after the Motion>Scale, run Neat Video Effect on it (they have, or had, a trial). You'll need to play around with the settings a bit, as you probably do not have a grey card, or color bars in the file that you have. This can take some time, but the effort is often rewarded. If you get something that you can live with, run Unsharp Mask at a low setting to sharpen the final image.
2.) creative, and not technical: add an image of a TV to the Timeline, and then do a PiP of that footage in it. It will be smaller, and the viewer will see that it is supposed to be the image on a TV, so they might be more forgiving of the quality.
Good luck, and the original VHS will still be your best option.
Hunt

Creating a PAL Widescreen DVD from NTSC footage.

First off, my iDVD is version 7.0.4
If someone could help me out with a very precise workflow it would be great, because I have a project with a one day turn around and the DVDs have to play properly the next day.
This is the (sparse) information I got from the company that needs the DVDs : "As long as the DVD is UK pal widescreen it will play on the monitors."
In the past, if shooting in NTSC and transferring to PAL, I've had the DVDs professionally transferred. With this project, I won't have time to do that.
I'm planning on shooting on a DVX100 and editing in FCP. If shooting in NTSC is going to cause problems, I can definitely rent a PAL camera instead. (And would prefer to do that than have to do too much in post to get to a PAL Widescreen DVD)
Can you let me know what sequence settings I should use (for both the NTSC possibility and the PAL possibility) in FCP, and then exactly how to set up the DVD in iDVD? I know this is a super basic question- thanks in advance for your help.
Please note: I need the most reliable, quick workflow- would rather spend some money on renting a PAL camera if that's a more reliable method than transferring footage.

Thanks for the response! I just learned about an additional problem, unfortunately...
The client has OTHER footage that was already shot in NTSC that they need edited into the project. So I pretty much have to shoot in NTSC. However, there is the additional option of uploading the final clip to a server instead of burnind DVDs... any advice? Can I use MPEG Streamclip to create Pal files (let's say quality doesn't have to matter as much...)

Create DVD from finished FCE Project ?

Once I finish a project in FCE, can I exported as QT movie and use Toast 7 instead of iDVD to create the actual dvd???
any help will be appreciated.
Thanks.
G5 1.8 Gz single, 512MB ram Mac OS X (10.4.8) La Cie d2 ext FW drive 160GB

Hi(Bonjour)!
iDVD will convert HDV content to SD format, with
letterbox at top and bottom, for a 720 X 480 display
(SD). There is an option for wide screen project in
iDVD, but there are some problems ( squashed image on
DVD). Search this forum and iDVD one to see.
Toast 7 tends to be more reliable with wide screen
movie. You get more option to select and the results
are constant.
ffmpegX, DVDedit and visualhub are applications that
allows to tweak more parameters for your DVD
content.
A wide screen DVD needs a wide screen monitor... that
why many persons do prefer to convert to SD with
black bars.
ichel Boissonneault
Thanks Michel,
That is why I prefer Toast 7 to iDVD. For HVD context I rather downsample to SD during capture, edit in SD and burn with Toast.
I guess we will be stuck with that worflow until Apple comes out with a BluRay
burner on the Tower Macs Dual Core for any HVD context.
Do you know of any other way?
Luis
G5 1.8 Gz single, 512MB ram Mac OS X (10.4.8) La Cie d2 ext FW drive 160GB

What is the maximum bit rate for a short NTSC standard def DVD?

I have about 30 minutes of content from FCP that I want to put on a DVD.
At first I tried iDVD and had problems with burning (although I did somehow make one DVD). So I built the project on DVD SP and made a DVD. However, the iDVD version looked much better. I checked out the file sizes and saw that there was 2 gigs on iDVD and only 1.6 DVD SP. Then I discovered the encoding options on DVD SP and I was curious what is the recommended average and maximum bit rate should be for the highest quality, yet still works in most DVD players?
Thanks.

DVD Bandwidth
The rate is not based on running time.
Some thoughts on rates
7.2 - 8.0 seems to be the general consensus for discs from computers. I play more conservative for the reasson listed in that link

Creating a Standard Def DVD from an HD project

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