DVD Studio Pro: Optimal Settings for 16:9 SDV Streaming?

Hi folks!
Gotta question about video streaming rates and DVD authoring.
I understand, mainly from reading the forums, that jacking up the streaming bit rate for video makes a nicer quality image on the DVD, but it does so at the cost of compatibility with lower end or older DVD players. Understood.
However, I am a beginner so I have no idea what streaming rate to use (I think Apple suggests about 6). It's no good testing with my DVD player because I have a BlueRay player that seems to work with 7 (mbps?) just fine.
My project is being shot at 16:9 Standard DV format and edited in a 24p timeline. I'm looking to make a native 24p DVD at 16:9, SDV, non interlaced.
Does anyone have an "optimal" or "preferred" bit rate for streaming with this kind of format?
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

Mike,
Definitely planning on DVD5 for the compatibility reason you mentioned and also because they are a heck of a lot cheaper to work with.
So, I did a burn of a 45 minute video, but set the average bit rate to 3.2 (gave me 130 minutes on DVD5) and I'm plenty happy with the resolution, and output file for video was 1.2GB or so. (I only had audio on select shots) It's mainly the other number, the max bit rate, that I'm not sure what to set it to.
Should I go for 8 for the max bit rate, or go more conservative at 7 for compatibility? Lower?
Let's put it this way:
This is for my "demo reel" and it has to look good, but more importantly it absolutely has to work with an average DVD player. I'm mainly concerned about max number over quality (average) number because I don't want to send a disc to someone (for business purposes) and then have it not play. If it doesn't play, I'm not only going to look like an ***, but if I only have one shot to get some financial backing for a project... well you get the picture.
Thanks again, (both of you guys)!
PS: I won't hold anyone but myself accountable, so no worries, I just want to get a feel for what you would be "comfortable" with that type of situation.

Similar Messages

Will DVD studio pro convert PAL for an NTSC project

Greetings. I am trying to create NTSC showreels from material that was filmed and captured as PAL. Will importing the PAL asset into an NTSC DVD-SP project mean that it will then encode an NTSC MPEG. Or should I convert the original movie in FCP? I am looking for the solution that requires the least time, as these showreel are needed urgently in the states.
The reason I ask is that as a result of technical inexperience of my colleauges a whole hard drive of PAL assets has been sent to the states in order to make showreels for the production companies directors. This included master Showreel Projects which are in PAL. I am not sure of the best way to unf*£$k the situation but hoped it would be as simple as changing the Disc setting to NTSC. Thanks so much for your help. Also If you know of any sites which could help clear this up with information or software...
Sorry I realise this is a fundamental question
Thanks again
Peter Stenhouse

I'm afraid not. It may even be the case that if you have your project set to NTSC it won't import PAL assets (We do all our encoding outside of DVD-SP and if you try and import PAL m2v's into NTSC project it won't do it).
The PAL assets will need to be converted either professionally by a facilities house which time base correctors and all those doodads or you could try using something like Graeme Nattress's convertor for FCP
http://www.nattress.com/standardsConversion.htm
never used them but heard they bare good (and not too expensive) though time consuming
It may be that you can do it directly in FCP but I seem to remember somewhere that it wasn't very satisfactory. At least you have the advantage that you have PAL resolution going to NTSC res and not the other way (which we have to deal with all the time in the UK - not hugely satisfactory)
Hope this helps
Steve Kirkham

Does DVD Studio pro support 1080p for HD-DVD?

I can't find this option in the track and menu settings options.

Eric Pautsch1 wrote:
The spec does support 1080p but Compressor doesn't encode this.
Actually, Compressor does encode 1080p - so long as you limit the definition of 1080p to 23.98 fps.
The 'issue' that Marc is bumping into is the same one that so many of us were first stumped by when we began creating 24p SD DVDs: DVDSP uses the pulldown-rate as the frame rate (so 23.98 Compressor encodes are seen as 29.97 Non-drop Frame) and Tracks must be 29.97 fps to ensure playback because HD-DVD (and Blu-ray) is limited to 1080i over Component video connections.
Also, and I know this seems silly to some, but HD-DVD and Blu-ray players can still be connected to old-school non-HD TVs via Component, S-Video and Composite connections, so 29.97 playback must be assured.
Hope that helps.

Exporting from Final Cut Pro for DVD Studio Pro

In the recent DVDs I've made, the quality seems lower than it has before. I don't think I've changed anything, but I was wondering what is the best format to export a clip from Final Cut Pro and the best way to encode those clips in DVD Studio Pro. Thanks for all your help!
Erin

The best and only format is mpeg2/m2v.
The encoding rate for video is based on the length of the sequence in h/m/s.
They should not be encoded in DVDSP, but exported as a self contained with current settings, no recompression and dropped into Compressor.
Based on length and the type of footage, elect a preset for video and elect Dolby 2 for audio

Provide Feedback for the DVD Studio Pro User Manual and Onscreen Help Here

The Apple documentation team for professional video applications would like to know what you think about the DVD Studio Pro 4 Help documentation (available in the Help menu):
• How often do you use the DVD Studio Pro Help documentation? Under what circumstances do you use it most?
• How do you find what you're looking for in DVD Studio Pro Help? For example: table of contents, index, skimming, PDF links, PDF search?
• What do you like most about DVD Studio Pro Help?
• What is missing?
• Are there any particular examples of other manuals or documentation that you consider to be good models for future editions of the DVD Studio Pro User Manual and onscreen help?
• By what method do you usually learn a new application? For example: provided tutorials and manuals, third-party tutorials or books, training classes?
• What do you think is the most difficult feature/concept to grasp in DVD Studio Pro?
• What's the most frustrating experience you've had with the DVD Studio Pro Help documentation?
• Do you prefer electronic or print documentation?
• Are there any other delivery methods or media you think we should explore?
• What size computer display do you typically use to view the onscreen help? For example: 15-inch, 17-inch, 20-inch, 23-inch, or 30-inch?
• What resolution is the computer display set to when you view onscreen help? For example: 1024 x 768, 1280 x 854, or 1920 x 1200 pixels?
• Do you use multiple computer displays?

• How often do you use the DVD Studio Pro Help
documentation? Under what circumstances do you use it
most?
I'm working with DVSP for 4 months, so everytime I don't know how to do something I use the documentation. As the times passes I almost don't need it so often.
• How do you find what you're looking for in DVD
Studio Pro Help? For example: table of contents,
index, skimming, PDF links, PDF search?
PDF Search, but I think is not the best way to search because it shows too much useless results.
• What do you like most about DVD Studio Pro Help?
It is powerful and easy to use.
• What is missing?
A way of editing the DVD Project Source Code. Let me explain: in some big projects I just need to change the Jump from "button_1" to "button_2", and to do that I need to find the button under my menus and choose it from a list. If I can just type "2" instead of "1" it will be faster and error-free.
Advancing in this idea, if I can open the entire link list as a Source Code in TextEdit, I can see all the buttons and link all of them without seeking for each on menus.
Today the Connections Tab helps a lot, but I still need to find the button un the menus. With 5 or 4 menus is easy, but sometimes I have 50...
• Are there any particular examples of other manuals
or documentation that you consider to be good models
for future editions of the DVD Studio Pro User Manual
and onscreen help?
The OSX help is great!
• By what method do you usually learn a new
application? For example: provided tutorials and
manuals, third-party tutorials or books, training
classes?
Manuals, third-party tutorials and discussions foruns.
• What do you think is the most difficult
feature/concept to grasp in DVD Studio Pro?
• What's the most frustrating experience you've had
with the DVD Studio Pro Help documentation?
Using scripts. It could be better with a lot of examples. "To do that, try this one".
• Do you prefer electronic or print documentation?
In electronic is easy to find things.
• Are there any other delivery methods or media you
think we should explore?
• What size computer display do you typically use to
view the onscreen help? For example: 15-inch,
17-inch, 20-inch, 23-inch, or 30-inch?
I use AppleCinema 20
• What resolution is the computer display set to when
you view onscreen help? For example: 1024 x 768, 1280
x 854, or 1920 x 1200 pixels?
1650x1050
• Do you use multiple computer displays?
No.

DVD Studio Pro download

Hi there,
is there any way to download or buy DVD Studio Pro alone, without Final Cut studio. I already have Final CUt express, But I'ld be very interested in DVD Studio pro. Thanks for your help.
w2006

You an probably find older copies of DVDSP on ebay. But the current version is available for purchase from apple only as part of the FC Suite.

Export settings for quicktime movie to use in DVD Studio Pro

The workflow:
I created a movie and did extensive sound adjustments in iMovie and a few video edits, and exported it to a quicktime format:
compression H.264
Quality: High
Frame reordering: yes
Encoding mode: multi-pass
Dimensions: 1280x720
Since then I upgraded to FCS, and tried to create a DVD with DVD SP and import the movie, and I get this error:
Import error:
One or more files failed to import. Common reasons for this are that they do not match the current project's video standard or their file format is not supported.
I'm fairly sure I have matching video standard...and the file format has always been supported before.
I imported the quicktime (.mov) file to FCP and added some edits, recreated the chapter markers, and early on there was a pop-up that said my movie format did not match the project settings, so I checked the "okay" to adjust the video file to match.
When I finished, I exported the file from FCP to a quicktime movie with the "current settings" that have always worked with DVD Studio Pro before, and I'm getting the same error.
I don't know where the problem is. Both the original movie I created in iMovie and the movie I recreated in FCS will import to iDVD. I wanted the better quality production from DVDSP....
I no longer have the iMovie project file. (I thot I was done.) I do have the original footage, but I'm already three days in and hoping to avoid starting over.
I would sure appreciate any help!
Thanks!

2cute2b2smart wrote:
I don't know where the problem is.
compression H.264
Quality: High
Frame reordering: yes
Encoding mode: multi-pass
Dimensions: 1280x720
The specifications you listed are the problem.
I can't comment on iMovie -don't use it personally.
From FCP, you would export a self contained movie using the current Timeline settings (not H.264 ever)
Bring that file into Compressor and apply one of the time based DVD presets that the running time of your movie fits into. This will produce a MPEG 2 video file and an AC3 audio file. Bring both into DVDSP and author.
A DVD video is always standard def 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL).
Converting the output from FCP to H.264 is adding an unneeded compression stage that will compromize quality -because DVD assets are always MPEG 2 / AC3. Even if DVDSP accepts that H.264 file, it gets transcoded again using DVDSP's own compression system.
All of this is covered in the DVDSP user manual. Take the time to read it. DVD authoring is complicated if you just jump in and start poking around, simple if you take the time to understand the basics.

What compressor settings settings are best for 1080i to output to DVD using DVD Studio pro?

What compressor settings settings are best for 1080i to output to DVD using DVD Studio pro? I used FCP 6, exported using Quick Time.

DVDs are only SD. There was at one time HD-DVDs, which DVD SP and Compressor can make, but HD-DVDs will only play in Macs and, now obsolete HD-DVD players. HD-DVDs will not play back in standard DVD players or Blu-Ray players. If you want to make a "DVD will be played on DVD player for TV" disc, your only choice is SD.
If you want HD video on a disc, then you want Blu-Ray. You will need a Blu-Ray burner (Apple does not make a Blu-Ray burner so you will have to buy a third-party Blu-Ray burner), Blu-Ray discs and software that will make a Blu-Ray disc. That could be the latest version of Compressor, or FCPX, or Toast, or Encore.

Conversion settings from fcp to dvd studio pro?

i have a seven minute short subject that i need to burn to dvd using dvd studio pro. before i export from fcp, wanted to double check my fcp export settings with anyone who's been there before.
here's my choices: export with quicktime conversion, under standard video compression settings choose none for compression, select best quality and choose millions of colors. also no compression for audio.
i've got to burn six of these suckers for festival screeners and require the best possible quality so i'd appreciate someone letting me know if i'm heading the wrong direction. btw... the dvd burn on a file this size without a menu seems pretty straightforward, but if there's a pitfall i'm not seeing please let me know that as well.
muchas gracias.

Dear Wolfman51
From my personal experience, I find it's much more efficient to export using QUICKTIME MOVIE, a dropdown menu will ask you these questions: SETTING, current settings; INCLUDE, audio and video; MARKERS (up to you)
uncheck MAKE MOVIE SELF-CONTAINED.
save it where you can find it. It will do a quick export. Open COMPRESSION, drag this file into the COMPRESSION FOLDER, check your settings (MPEG2) and let compressor compress.
Then drag this MPEG2 into your DVDSP.
You can skip using compressor, and drag the uncompressed QTIME straight to DVDSP, it will automatically compress. I found DVDSP doesn't compress it cleanly, therefore chose compressor to compress my movies before importing them into DVDSP.
I hope this helps, I look forward to reading more postings, perhaps I'm going thru too many steps.
Kchen

What format to export fcdp project recorded on sony z1 for dvd studio pro

what format do I export a Final Cut Studio project recorded on sony z1 HDV for dvd studio pro. I am getting lines on the edges if I export current settings.

finalcut.ie wrote:
he says sd is this right when i want a hd dvd?
HD-DVD is a dead format. It may play on your mac - or an HD-DVD set top player, if you happen to have one - but nowhere else. If you just want playback on your mac, compress to h.264 with your current frame size. If you want a DVD it will have to be SD and Mpeg-2 as Shawn already explained.
mish

DVD Studio Pro overriding Energy Saving Settings - Screen always on

Hello
I am a bit upset about DVD Studio Pro overriding the energy saving settings. It means if you do a serious render you will find yourself with the monitor on for hours and days. On the Imacs you can't even fully dim down the screen to switch it of manually.
I know about the possibility to do a background render. But it doesn't make sense to me that DVD Studio keeps the screen on. I don't see why I have to go crooked ways to have something very normal.
There is no need for DVD studio behaving like this, it only raises energy consumption unnecessarily.
I hope Apple will fix this or explain in reasonable ways why it does like this.
And is there maybe a way to hack DVD Studio in a way it doesn't behave like this, apart from doing the background render?
Thanks
Message was edited by: padre999

A common way to solve it is to download and install the proapplications support file:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/proapplicationsupport31macosx104.html
It's not a guaranteed winner, but it has worked for countless folks.

Emergency questions exporting for dvd studio pro (ntsc and pal)

Hi,
I'm under a tight timeline and would appreciate any help possible. I'm experimenting with outputs/burning today so the real thing can happen tomorrow.
I have an hour long project that was shot on two different kinds of cams -- a sony hdv V1U and pan dvx100b. The first shot mostly in 16:9, the second squeeze 24p. We imported all footage as non-hd though, because the V1u has had problems syncing properly with hd settings with final cut. The issue/question now is this-
I don't know what file format (I'm assuming mpeg-4 for DVD studio pro, but using compressor or no?) or settings to use -- I'm used to mpeg-4, but for some reason it is coming out all grainy/pixelated and I'm not sure if I need to adjust the settings. Also, once exported into a usable/high quality format, I need to burn a ntsc dvd but also a pal dvd -- I've burned pal dvds on dvd studio pro before and know adjusting the settings is just in preferences, but I'm assuming the video will need to be converted into a different kind of file. Or no?
My sequence settings are 1440x1080 (16:9), quicktime video settings compressor hdv 1080i60. When I export as a quicktime file the conversion is great and no problems, but that isn't workable in dvd studio pro.
I would appreciate any advice you could offer,
Thank you,
Tenzin

Thank you, I'm trying that -- someone else just mentioned it needing to be an mpeg 2 file as well. The trouble I'm having now in compressor is it isn't converting when I press submit -- nothing is showing up in the batch monitor. I've tried this directly exporting from fcp using compressor, as well exporting quicktime from fcp and then using the quicktime file in compressor.
I'm not used to using compressor so I'm thinking I am not doing something properly in this process? Thank you for the suggestions, they are reassuring. Do you know if the same file produced by compressor can be used for the pal dvd?

The size of my exported FCP movie is too big for DVD studio pro

Hey,
I have been editing for 4-5 years now and have never had a problem with size of a project to put into DVD Studio Pro to burn. However, I just finished a 2 hour project in which exported as a FCP movie it is 23.97 gb in size. When i put this into DVD Studio Pro it makes it 4.8gb in size which just makes it too big for it to burn. I have tried changing the compression to no avail and just now decided to clean up the timeline so everything is on one track with nothing overlapping. (The problem was it was a 2 camera shoot so the first camera i had on the bottom track constant with the second camera on the top track when i needed it but still with the first camera underneath.) Do you think this could be the solution to my problem? If you guys could help me out it would be most appreciated!

some things don't make sense here. please clarify.
Standard DV is roughly 5 minutes per gig, so that means that you have just about 2 hours of video, ok, got that. Now it's the two track thing that gets me.
Are you saying you have 4 hours of footage, the same thing from two cameras, and you're trying to set up a multi-angle DVD?
If it's just that you used two video tracks to edit, then NO, it is not your problem. It's still only 2 hours, the video will be mixed down to one track upon export from FCP to quicktime.
My suggestion is, instead of bringing a quicktime file directly into DVDSP, use compressor. I believe they have a preset in compressor 2 for a standard 120 minute DVD. IF you're project is truly less than 120 minutes, than that should be fine. If not, then you may have to manually make your own setting and lower the bitrate.
So the workflow is:
-open sequence in fcp
-file>export>quicktime movie... (you can uncheck "make movie self-contained" if you want it to export faster and you plan on keeping your original capture footage around)
-export your movie to a directory of your choice with a name of your choice.
-open compressor (in applications)
-drag the quicktime file you created into compressors main window, this will set it up. Now specify the export setting (120 minute HQ all files either 16x9 or 4x3 dep. on project) and specify a location for the files to be created. I strongly suggest that you use the HQ (High quality) settings in compressor. It's much slower to process, but much better quality.
-with a 2 hour movie it should take a really REALLY long time to compress, so I'de say do it over night.
-when compressor is done, you should have 2 or three files. a .m2v file a .aif file, and a .ac3 file. The .aif is your PCM audio, much better quality than the .ac3, which is dolby 2 channel. However, the .ac3 is a much smaller file with a lower bit rate, so if the .aif makes the DVD file size too big, you can switch it out for the .ac3
-Finally, open up your DVDSP project, drag the .m2v, .aif, and .ac3 into DVDSP and use the .m2v for the video track and either the .aif or .ac3 as the audio (as mentioned above)
-the good news is, your DVD media is already rendered, so when you go to build your DVD it will go much, much faster!
By the way, I recommend you go to file>advanced>build do not do a burn and build.
I find it best to build the VIDEO_TS folder on a hard drive and then use a program like toast to create a DVD (using toasts from VIDEO_TS option). This method also allows you to go back into DVDSP, make tweaks, and reuse your VIDEO_TS folder, not having to rebuild the whole thing each time.
Remember, 120 minutes on a single layer DVD is going to render fairly low quality no matter what.
If you have a newer mac and a dual layer drive, you may want to cough up a few bucks and get a dual layer DVD-R, then you have over 8 gigs of space to work with, perfect for HQ 2 hour footage.

BEST HD QUALITY SETTINGS IN COMPRESSOR TO EXPORT TO DVD STUDIO PRO

I shot in HD, and edited with FCP. I am now trying to use compressor to make a DVD, but first I am trying to figure out what settings I should use in compressor to get the best quality for my DVD?? I wil be completing the DVD process in DVD studio pro.... Thank you!

Unless you have HD-DVD media and an HD-DVD burner, you are doing an SD DVD. As in, what most DVDs are these days (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD still being quite cost prohibitive on the user end). If you have standard 4.7GB DVD-R or DVD+R this is SD DVD.
As far as settings, depending on how many audio tracks you have and what format they are, I would take one of the two-pass MPEG-2 settings (e.g. MPEG-2 Best Quality 90 Minutes) in compressor, go to the Encoder pane -> Quality tab and raise the Average/Max bitrates. Set Motion Estimation to Best.
Keep in mind you want all your bandwidth usage (audio, video, subtitles, etc) to go no higher than ~9.5Mbps lest you run the risk of players choking.
If your HD source is real clean, even at the default 6.2 Mbps you should get great quality, but some extra bits in there will give more room to avoid artifacts...
Hope that helps.

Optimal Settings for FCP6 on MacBook Pro?

Up until a week ago, I've worked mostly on a Mac Pro with Final Cut Studio 2. I've been fortunate enough to get a MacBook Pro (2.6Ghz) also outfitted with FCS2 and I'm wondering if there is such a thing as "optimal settings" for running FCS2 on the portable notebook.
I'm referring to such things as memory and cache settings and Playback control, etc. I would like the MBP to run FCS as efficiently as possible. I know I won't get the same power-crunching ability as the Mac Pro but does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks for any help.

We have a 2.4Ghz MBP with the 256 MB video card.
We have 4 GBs of RAM, which you should consider.
However, without indicating what codec and cam you will be using, there isn't much more to say.
If you are working with a DV or HDV camcorder, for example, use an ExpressCard 34 FW or eSATA card and an external HDD for media.
That creates independent FW buses if you go that route or a FW bus and a eSATA HDD connection.

DVD Studio Pro: Optimal Settings for 16:9 SDV Streaming?

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