DVD Studio Pro keeps pixelating my footage

Despite clean source and no matter what I change out the "problem" clip with, there's a 10 second duration in the movie file that gets pixelated every time at the exact spot. Everything else on the DVD is fine.
I'm not sure how to describe this any better, so please feel free to ask questions to clarify any details.
Here are a few technical details about the project:
4.1GB being burnt to a 4.7GB, single layer DVD.
One Pass VBR.
Bit rates: 4.0 - 6.5
DVD Studio Pro 4 on a MacBook Pro
I've burnt several large DVDs with this same setup, without any problems. This one, I've burnt well over 6 times on various DVD-R brands.

DV/DVCPRO NTSC (Compressor Quality: Best)
Try uncompressed 8 bit (takes up room, but worthwhile) Also make sure your sequence settings are BEST for scaling. If you used any renders for filters etc, you may want to delete the renders via Render Manager and re-render
I've used several variations for that 10 second duration. Everything from animated stills to untouched video. Nothing different than what's already on the DVD.
So this section is basically the same as all the rest in the video?
The running time is 96 minutes.
Definately A.Pack the audio, rough calculation is that the average bitrate can be about 6 (http://dvd-hq.info/Calculator.html & http://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm) with audio a.Pack/Dolby at 192
I just now switched the settings to Two Pass VBR.
Won't work on existing project properly (trying to change encodes in preferences), you are better off encoding outside of DVD SP then bringing it the encoded assets in.
Try just exporting the problem section and see if you can get a good encode for that, will save some times as oppossed to trying to encode the whole thing, take 30 seconds, 10 seconds on either side

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Blurry Text from DVD Studio Pro

Hello, I've created 4 'slide show' type presentations in motion 2. Project settings are:
Width: 1360
Height: 768
Bit Depth: 8 Bit
Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD (960x720, 1440x1080) 1.33
Field Order: None
Frame Rate:59.94 fps
Render Settings:
Motion Blur: Samples: 8
Shutter Angle: 360
Output: Antialiasing Method: Best
I've tried many many compression settings:
MPEG-2 6.2Mbps 2-pass 16/9.m2v
Uncompressed 10-bit NTSC.mov
Importing raw motion files into DVD Studio Pro
All of the resulting dvds burned from DVD Studio pro look pixelated and blurry when played on a dvd player onto a Toshiba 32HL86. Unfortunately its an SD dvd player connectedt to the tv, so not sure if that has a major impace.
DVD Studio Pro Settings are:
Project: SD DVD
Video Standard: NTSC
General:
SD DVD Menus, Tracks and Slideshows:
Display Mode: 16:9 Letterbox
Encoding:
MPEG-2-SD
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Field Order: Auto
Mode: One PAss VBR
Bit Rate: 6.8
Max Bit Rate: 8.0
Motiion Estimation: Best
I am at my wits end, can somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong?

I'm not an expert, but have recently had similar problems with graphics that had text, black lines, lots of contrast, and movement. They looked great on HD but when I made a SD DVD, they were very blocky and pixellated - completely unusable. After lots of experimentation, I've finally got an acceptable dvd. Went back to my original shots - in Final Cut, (I'm not sure if you can do this in Motion) and carefully applied a little Gaussian Blur (.25 to1) to each according to how badly they pixellated. Also adjusted blacks and whites so they weren't so contrasty. Then made my mpeg with Compressor - two pass vbr, 6.8 mbps, best motion estimator. The Gaussian Blur seems to break up the areas that get blocked up and pixelated. SD dvd is such a lousy low resolution medium anyway, that it doesn't seem to result in any focus problems and helped most shots - I've even gone back and applied it to some of the regular footage that was pixellating. It was a lot of work, you may want to see if an expert weighs in on this.

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Every time I hit the burn button, DVD Studio Pro, starts to build and then gives me an error and quits. I tried erasing the plist files and the cache files and starting over but I keep getting the same error. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Brian

Sorry it took me awhile to get back to you. I'm traveling and trying to finish a DVD for a fundraiser that is tomorrow night and DVD Studio Pro keeps quitting. I'm stressing right now.
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I am making multiple DVD's of roughly 50 hours of footage on DVD Studio pro with 4 separate menus for 4 different 'parts' or series if you will. 50 hours - 20 episodes - 4 parts of 5 episodes each. What are my options in terms of burning these parts on to

I am making multiple DVD's of roughly 50 hours of footage on DVD Studio pro with 4 separate menus for 4 different 'parts' or series if you will. 50 hours - 20 episodes - 4 parts of 5 episodes each. What are my options in terms of burning these parts on to separate DVD's, what is the process, what size DVD RW should I buy, what bitrate should I use, and what quality I should expect for the burn. Any advice or insight is welcome.

>>What are my options in terms of burning these parts on to separate DVD's<<
20 episodes totaling 50 hours equals about 2.5 hours per episode assuming all episodes have the same duration. Fitting 2.5 hours onto one single layer DVD would require a low bit rate which means quality wouldn't be anywhere near best, but that's a judgement call you'll have to make based on several factors. For example; if there is not much motion in the video (talking heads, etc), you can get by with a lower bit rate and may not notice any quality difference.
>>what is the process>>
The process is essentially the same as it is when authoring a regular DVD with 2 hours or less of content. However, with as many discs as you'd need to complete this "set," you'll need to create a separate DVD Studio Project for each disc. Basically, you'd use one of Compressor's DVD Presets (or customize a preset) to create an MPEG--2 video file (.m2v) and a Dolby Digital audio file (.AC3). Import both of those assets into your DVD Studio Pro project for authoring and burning.
If you want to keep one episode per disc, DVD Studio Pro does have a 150 minute preset or you could use dual-layer discs with a higher bit rate for better quality. Again; your call.
>>what size DVD RW should I buy<<
Size? 12cm. Capacity? Single layer, single sided DVD discs (DVD-5) have a rated capacity of 4.7Gb (4.37Gb actual), including menus. If you use single layer discs and want to keep the quality reasonably good, you'd need at least 50 discs to complete this "set" with each disc holding roughly 2 hours of footage if you keep the menu on each disc simple. Or, you could use dual-layer discs (DVD-9) which have a capacity of about 7.95Gb - almost doubling the recordable capacity. There are also dual-sided, dual-layer discs available (DVD-18) but they are relatively expensive and have to be manually turned over to continue playback ... but they do have roughly 15.9Gb capacity.
>>what bitrate should I use, and what quality I should expect for the burn<<
Exactly; the quality is dependent on the bit rate chosen, as well as the quality of the compression. Using compression markers where needed can greatly increase the quality of playback but will most likely increase the file size of the compressed video. For the best quality, keeping the bit rate as high as possible allowed under the DVD specification will yield the best quality but some DVD players may choke if the bit rate is too high. For best quality I typically aim for a bit rate around 7.6 to 8.0Mbps but that will only allow about one hour of footage.
Naturally, if you decrease the bit rate, you can fit more footage onto the disc but quality will be sacraficed.   Here's a chart approximating DVD bit rates and durations for single layer discs (does not include space for menus):
3.5Mbps - 120 minutes
5.0Mbps -   95 minutes
6.0Mbps -   82 minutes
7.6Mbps -   65 minutes
8.0Mbps -   60 minutes
-DH

I can't burn a dvd using any method, Idvd tells me that my super drive is missing, dvd studio pro quits when i click burn and disk utility keeps spitting the disk out when i click burn and enter the disk??? how do i repair my superdrive for imac

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Unless your iMac is still covered by AppleCare, get an external DVD burner.
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I'm a bit confused. Since my original camera format was 720/60p, and I converted the footage to Pro Res422 in order to edit in Final Cut Pro 7, should I convert back to a higher quality format before sending the file to DVD Studio Pro?

I'm a bit confused. Since my original camera format was 720/60p, and I converted the footage to Pro Res422 in order to edit in Final Cut Pro 7, should I convert back to a higher quality format before sending the file to DVD Studio Pro? If so, which Compressor codec is best to use in order to preserve the original 720/60p? How do I maintain the highest quality?

No...ProRes is a high quality format. Finishing format. Many TV networks take that as a final deliverable.
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#42 - Quick and dirty way to author a DVD
Shane's Stock Answer #42 - David Roth Weiss' Secret Quick and Dirty Way to Author a DVD:
The absolute simplest way to make a DVD using FCP and DVDSP is as follows:
1. Export a QT movie, either a reference file or self contained using current settings.
2. Open DVDSP, select the "graphical" tab and you will see two little monitors, one blue, one green.
3. Select the left blue one and hit delete.
4. Now, select the green one, right click on it and select the top option "first play".
5. Now drag your QT from the browser and drop it on top of the green monitor.
6. Now, for a DVD from an HD source, look to the right side and select the "general tab" in the track editor, and see the Display Mode, and select "16:9 pan-scan."
7. Hit the little black and yellow burn icon at the top of the page and put a a DVD in when prompted. DVDSP will encode and burn your new DVD.
THATS ALL!!!
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I'm using DVD Studio pro to burn a dvd but it won't let me cause I keep getting a "Formatting Failed" error message. It says "Formatting was not successful. Layer 0 exceeds max layer size allowed. Choose a suitable marker location." What does this mean?

I'm using DVD Studio pro to burn a dvd but it won't let me cause I keep getting a "Formatting Failed" error message. It says "Formatting was not successful. Layer 0 exceeds max layer size allowed. Choose a suitable marker location that will support this condition." What does this mean?
Kris

It means your file is too large to fit on a single layer disk.
Recompress to keep the overall size (audio,video and menus) below 4.5GB
x

Slight pixellation on faces at end of DVD after burning in DVD Studio Pro. Can you help?

I am appealing to those much more expert than myself. I have burned a DVD of my short film in DVD Studio Pro.
Original file: Apple Pro Res 422 HQ (PAL 25fps)
I put this into Compressor: Best quality DVD 90 mins.
Then I imported this in DVD Studio Pro and burned a DVD
The DVD looks great until the end where the faces start to go pixellated in an outdoor scene every second or so for a second.
The thing is that this only suddenly started to happen. I had originally done the compression and burned dvds and it all looked fine, but then suddenly when I burned some extra DVDs I noticed this had happened. I recompressed the files, and it had the same problem in exactly the same place. (The original file doesn't have this problem.)
The thing is that in between I had made a new separate DVD Studio Pro project in NTSC and imported my compressed 29.97fps Apple pro res file of the film. I'm not sure how this would have affected the original PAL project or if this has anything to do with it!
When I originally burned the PAL DVDs I also did a second version where I exported from FCP a PAL QT of the film 720x576 and then imported this into DVD Studio Pro and let DVD Studio Pro do the rest of the compression. I am trying this again to see if this makes any difference.
Any advice?

Hi Christina, thanks for this. I am a bit confused exactly how many and where to put.
You see the shot in question is a static two shot. It is used several times in the scene, but the only place I have a problem is the final time we see the shot. It is at the end of the shot and over the final 13 seconds, the faces pixellate slightly every now and then for like a frame. How many compression markers should I put in do you think?
Thanks again for your help.

Compressor footage crashes dvd studio pro 1.5

hi posted this a while back in dvd studio pro forum but there was no answers. I am still getting same problem so thought I would seek advice again.
I am after some advice after I encountered a problem using footage converted with compressor in dvd studio pro 1.5.
If I compresss footage using high quality encode through fcp with compressor option it causes dvd studio pro 1.5 to crash with unexpected error occured, about half way into building either disc or img file .
If I convert the footage using quicktime conversion and guessing bitrate then it works fine .
one thing I have noticed is that the m2v file has a timecode beginning 1 rather then 0 which it has if I convert using the other method, so maybe I have something wrong in compressor settings?
what would be an ideal setting for a 80 minute film?
I am using fcp 4.5, compressor 1.2.1 quicktime 7.0.3 and os 10.3.9
thanks

Hi Adrian
I'm wondering if your build is crashing due to a bitrate spike caused by Compressor - it's reknowned for this. In DVDSP2 and above you get a warning in the log when this happens, maybe 1.5 is somehow missing this. Quicktime's mpeg exporter is a much more stable encoder and doesn't suffer from bitrate spikes. Another thing to have a look at is your audio. If you're using the .aif file that Compressor or DVDSP creates it's a pretty high bitrate od 1.5Mbps. If you re-encode your audio using A.pack to Dolby 2.0 with a bitrate of 192kbps you'll give yourself alot more headroom even with bitrate spikes.
Hope some of this helps
Good luck
B

24p footage shown as 29.97 in DVD Studio Pro

Hello,
I shot footage in DVCPRO HD codec with the HVX200 camera using the 24pN (native) recording format.
I edit everything in FCP 5 and when exporting to Compressor using the output DVD 90min best quality 16:9 everything is still OK. The video file (when opened in QT) shows that it's a 23.97 fps file as it should be.
BUT after importing it as asset in DVD Studio Pro 4, it shows as 29.97!! WHY? The video is smooth though, but why does it not show as 24p footage?
PS: everything is in NTSC (camera, FCP, DVD Studio Pro)
Thanks for any quick help,
JERRY.

Do not know if you have DVD Demystified, but page 9-34 says what you are saying. (Wanted to double check to make sure I said it right and I was starting to get a bit lost here also. Too late at night LOL )
DVD-Video supports 525/60 (NTSC 29.97 interlaced fps) and 625/50 (PAL/SECAM 25 interlaced fps) In the case of 24 fps the MPEG Encoder adds repeat first field flags to perform 2-3 pulldown fo 60 displays, for PAL a 4% increase in speed.
Also this thread from awhile back
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3944958

Pixelated, low quality text in DVD Studio Pro

Is it normal for the text in DVD studio pro to be pixelated and low-quality once you burn a project and enter full screen mode (is this because it is not vector-based)? Is there a *better definition/resolution setting* without going into HD which is not compatible with all machines? how can you get better quality line definition?
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thank you for your help

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..I spoke to someone today who said ts pretty impossible to get defined edges unless you have a super-expensive post production suite...right?..and something to do with anti-aliasing
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DVD Studio Pro 4 - Keep Pictures on Templates in Color

Some DVD Studio pro 4 templates do not allow inserted pictures to keep their original color. Is there a way to change this?

Yep, I was just impatient it seems.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302168
It stops at 98% for an hour, but if you watch your hard disk you can see it beeing filled with data. So I just turned off my montior and took a walk for a while and it was done.

My slideshows and menus look pixelated after I burn a DVD in DVD Studio Pro

Hello to all! I'm new to DVD Studio Pro and this posting. I have finally finished setting up my DVD, and it looks great in DVD Studio Pro. However, whenever I burn a final copy, the menus and every picture in my slideshow looks pixelated and crunchy. I'm pretty sure I have all my settings right, I had help setting up my project by a guy who creates films and promotional shorts in DVDSP all the time. The pictures/menus are jpgs (original size is something like 1800 pixels, 180 dpi). I have tried saving them smaller (720x543) then importing them. I have tried saving them as tiffs and importing them. I have tried saving them smaller AND saving as tiffs and importing them. I have tried different media types. I have gone into "menu" under DVDSP Prefs, and changed the Final Rendering from "hardware based" to "software based". Nothing works. I don't know what else to do. I just feel like DVDSP is "compressing" the crap out of these things for no reason at some point, and I can't figure this out. They do look lovely in the simulator though, it's only when I play back the burned DVD that it looks terrible. Am I overlooking something very simple? Please help! I really appreciate any thoughts people have on this.

Hi JenRem, another idea you may consider is to export your content prior to DVDSP3 workflow as follows:
• set destination resolutions for your DVD as 576x720 (PAL) or the non pal version (480 x 720) and
• export ain APPLE ANIMATION CODEC (this is the thing that may fix you issue maybe).
I base this suggestion on some experiences in 2005-2006 when making a DVD title from micr$oft's powerpoint .app. I just wanted animation (transitions) slides in a DVD for mat with an audio track and "stop on chapter".
I feel the same these days with a workflow using KEYNOTE.app - just export the QT in APPLE ANIMATION CODEC at the correct res for the DVD SP3 input.
I can't account for the look of your menus though.. perhaps another unrelated issue.
I noticed that exporting as a QT movie looked ok until I noticed dreadful compression artifacts in the final M2V after the DVD was encoded.
Additionally, I noticed somilatr issues when using content created by MOTION.APP into a DVD SP3 workflow when letting DVD SP3 do BACKGRAOUND or BIULD encoding.
SO.. simpe rule for me is to always use APPLe's ANIMATION CODEC as the input source for any CGA type stuff.
Naturally the objects are rather large when using the ANIMATION CODEC so just delete these transient objects when your work in comlete. You can always create them again as you know.
varies to taste I image but always works for me.
worth a try!
w
Hong Kong

HD from FCP to DVD Studio Pro...Help!

Looking for opinions in getting the BEST possible Standard Def DVD from a Final Cut Pro sequence containing heavilly effected HD DVCPro P2 footage.
My sequences settings are:
Frame Size: 960 x 720
Aspect Ratio: HD (960x720)(16x9)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD (960x720)
Editing Timebase: 23.97
Compressor: DVCPRO HD 720p60
Video Processing: Rendering in 8 bit YUV
I of course have Compressor and DVD Studio Pro 4, but have not gone from my HD sequence to SD DVD yet with quality results. I'm not concerned with time just highest possible quality so that it holds up well on HD televisions.

I just finished a 15-minute HD 1080i project in FCP that used AJA's DVC PRO HD 1080i 29.97 codec. I tried to make a self-contained QT movie and send it to compressor using the settings you suggested. Unfortunately, it came out with a lot of moraying and the detail around subjects eyes were pixelated.
Is there another setting you would recommend for going from 1080i to a Standard Def DVD?
thanks.

DVD Studio Pro not playing back audio of asset converted from FCP via compressor.

I exported project via compressor:
File Extension: m2v
Estimated file size: 4.34 GB
Video Encoder
    Format: M2V
    Width: 720
    Height: 480
    Pixel aspect ratio: NTSC CCIR 601/DV
    Crop: None
    Frame rate: 29.97
    Frame Controls: Off
    Aspect ratio: 4:3
    Field dominance: Bottom first
    Average data rate: 3.6 (Mbps)
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        Maximum data rate: 7.5 (Mbps)
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    Closed GOP Size: 15, Structure: IBBP
    DVD Studio Pro meta-data enabled
This took about 7.5 hours. I exported the audio separately as AC3. Finder plays it sound & pictures. Quicktime plays the video. DVD Studio Pro, when I drag the assets (video, audio) to the timeline editor, so I can play it in the viewer, it plays the audio the video is black. No setting in view or any other setting will get it to play the video. This project is due to ship today and I don't want to re import it if I don't have to.
I exported this project before the MPEG2 export as a Qicktime with .mov suffix. This plays alright, but there is artifacting around motion. I think this is due to low VBR, but don't know. Can ayone help?
Dix Moser
[email protected]
FCP Studio
PowerMac 1.8G 3G mem 250G HD
750 G ext. Firewire drive (where media is stored)

If I may chime in...
I'm a little confused on the "what plays what" part, but all that really matters is what DVDSP sees/plays.
I've worked on a system like yours and what I'd recommend is:
1. NEVER export via Compressor. It's just ungodly slow on anything less than a Quad. Export a self contained QuickTime Movie using the first export option and use that to feed Compressor.
2. Segment your output into manageable clips (I like 15-20 minutes) both to perfect the encoding and so you aren't re-encoding the whole show if something goes sour. It will all play fine as long as it's all in the same DVDSP timeline.
From what you describe, I'm thinking you're on an early version of Compressor that had A-Pack as the AC-3 encoder. This is no biggie, I mention it mostly to verify. Early Compressor was good too.
Make maybe a 5 minute piece to tune up. Just export as normal, then into Compressor. Your encoding values seem about right. Get the AV pair into DVDSP and it should play. I'm guessing that part of your problem is that the processor is fighting to handle the project size. Build the test clip project and look at it in DVD Player to view what would have been burned. If all looks OK, go for it. If not, bring back the results for discussion. This should be a snap, it's just a really big project. Keep your head up, I had a friend do a 225-minute disk on his G5...

DVD Studio Pro keeps pixelating my footage

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