Exporting from FCP HD to iDVD

I'm confused by this new QT/compressor set up in FCP. Can someone help me out?
I want to go from FCP HD to iDVD for a simple wedding dvd that I put together for some friends.
The edited wedding (one sequence) is about 50 mins long.
I go to Export < Quicktime movie < and use current settings + make it a self contained movie; using chapter markers and away we go!
The resulting file is over 10gigs! Do I drag this into iDVD and does it then compress the file? This may seem like a stupid question but I'm used to using DVDSP - well, my business partner usually does that part but I'm trying to do this on my own.
ack! Please help.
Thanks!
Carrie<br>
MacBook, black Mac OS X (10.4.3)

The resulting file is over 10gigs! Do I drag this into iDVD and does it then compress the file?<<</div>
That's the way to go. For iDVD, skip Compressor altogether. iDVD handles its own encoding/compression. 10gb for 50 minutes is about right for any DV25 format - you can figure on needing close to 13.3gb per hour of footage.
-DH

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Best way to export from FCP X to iDVD?

I believe this question must have been dealt with a number of times already but since I could not find a clear answer with a reasonable amount of searching I post my question here.
I have Apple ProRes 422 footage (HD 1920 x 1080) in FCP X out of which I would like to make a DVD in iDVD. What is the best way of transferring the content to iDVD so as to preserve the quality as good as possible?
As I understand it, two conversions need to take place until the material can end up on a DVD disk:
1) The format needs to be changed from ProRes to MPEG-2
2) The resolution needs to be reduced from 1920 x 1080 to 720 x 576
And I believe there are at least the following ways to achieve this:
a) Export the material as-is (ProRes 1920 x 1080) from FCP and let iDVD do the conversion to MPEG-2 720 x 576
b) Export the material with lowered resolution (720 x 576) from FCP but let iDVD do the conversion to MPEG-2
c) Export the material as-is to Compressor and let Compressor do the conversion to MPEG-2 720 x 576, which is then imported to iDVD
Now, what is the best method to perform these transformations from a quality perspective (don't care that much about processing time)?
I guess it would be good to not reencode the material more than once. Option a) would seem to achieve this but how good is the quality of the reencoding that iDVD does? Option c) could also achieve this and possibly with a better quality than a). However, I'm unsure whether iDVD really would use the material "as-is" without further conversion or whether iDVD anyway would do some sort of reencoding even if the material was imported in a DVD compliant format. And with option b) I'm unsure how much quality I lose if the rescaling and reencoding is done in separate processes.
Thanks for the advice!

Either a) or b) is fine.
However, c) will not work with iDVD, which wants a muxed file. The Compressor presets were designed ith DVD Studio Pro in mind.
I would let iDVD do the encoding and the resizing. In other words, give it a 1080 resolution Pro Res file with square pixel shape and it will do all the necessary math to preserve the wide screen aspect ratio (changing the pixel shape) and should produce very good looking image quality if you use the Professional quality setting.
Good luck.
Russ

HDV exported from FCP 7 into iDVD has red/green moire pattern?

Yesterday I was testing some native HDV (1440 x 1080) in FCP 7.
I exported it as a QT Movie as I used to in the good old days but when I imported it into iDVD the image was coverd with a greeny-red moire type pattern.
It wasn't a serious problem as I simply re-exported as ProRes and that cured it.
However, I am curious as to what may have caused it as it never occurred in the dim and distant past.

Thanks for testing and confirming my findings Russ.
I didn't get this problem back in 2008 as native HDV, FCP and iDVD worked OK together . . . at least in that respect.
However, in those days I was using FCP 6 and I wasn't using OS X 10.6.8 or later. So maybe there has been a change in FCP 7 or the OS that has caused the problem.
OK, long answer to Michael as to why I was doing this "test".
Back in 2008 I bought a new iMac and a Canon HV20 HDV camera expecting to see a dramatic improvement in image quality . . . . which I did . . . . on the computer .
I hadn't mastered DVDSP and Compressor and preferred to use my familiar iDVD which did everything I needed.
So I plonked my edited footage in iDVD and burned a standard def DVD.
I was horrified to find that the DVD footage shimmered badly where any straight lines or fine detail appeared but even worse was the appalling judder that occurred with any subject or camera movement.
I spent several weeks investigating and testing, deinterlacing, swopping fields, converting to AIC and ProRes etc. etc. to no avail. (Incidentally if I set my camera to downconvert to DV during capture, the DVDs produced were fine, but I wanted to edit those beautifully detailed HDV images not DV ones).
Finally a suggestion from Tom Wolsky solved the problem . . . . . put the finished edited project in a DV-PAL sequence in FCP and render it.
The result was rock solid images and beatiful smooth motion.
However, the downside was the time it took to render the HDV project to DV which I found unacceptable.
So I gritted my teeth and taught myself to use DVDSP which got rid of the problem of instability but introduced other, admittedly lesser, but well documented problems. But that's another story.
Now we come to the present.
Last year I bought a Panasonic SD800 3 MOS AVCHD camera, edited in FCP X and exported either to AVCHD Discs or standard DVD.
A few weeks ago I was showing a friend how to use iDVD and the only footage available was my AVCHD stuff.
I used it, expecting the same (or even worse) instability as I had found with HDV.
To my pleasant surprise, the resulting DVD was acceptably stable with smooth motion.
So a couple of days ago I started wondering whether HDV in FCP X and iDVD would be OK.
It was, which meant I could go back to iDVD occasionally when I wanted one of its custom canned menus.
Then I wondered what HDV in FCP 7 sent to iDVD would produce.
Hence my recent test!
I bet you wished you had never asked, Michael.

What format to export from FCP for iDVD?

I am having trouble coming from FCP to iDVD. Material was shot HDV on a Sony Z5 and I downconverted to DV to edit on FCP. I make a Quick Time Movie of the edit (as DV PAL) but the pans are all juddery. How should I export from FCP to stop the juddering on pans?

http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/SVCDon_a_Macintosh.html#edit_convertMPEG
BTW, this is the mother of all FAQs here Sadly the FAQ section of the forum decribes just the problem, not any solutions. And searching the forums doesn't always work either.
ObSig: I don't benefit from the link.

Problem exporting from FCP using compressor

Out of the blue - I'm getting batch failures trying to export from FCP for use in a DVD. Immediately after selecting compressor for export, I get an error reading "That file already exists", and a new tab appears in the media browser with a lengthy character string. Compressor opens fine, and I select Best Quality 4:3 encoding for video and aiff48 for audio. When the batch is submitted - it promptly fails and blames FCP for generating an error.
Did all kinds of restarts and work arounds to no avail. The promising news is that this error seems to occur only when exporting from FCP through Compressor.
My work-around is to export a QT movie of the piece, quit FCP, launch Compressor, and then import the QT for batching.
Hope this helps anyone else in similar situations
Martin
G5 PPC Mac OS X (10.4.8) FCP 512 post production

Hi:
How long is your movie?
The best workflow is FCP > Compressor > DVDSP.
You can encode your timeline directly to get MPEG2 video and Dolby 2 (AC3) audio files. Then import those in DVDSP and author your DVD.
Using Compressor you control the full encoding process. You can test with small parts of your movie (those where you got problems with iDVD) and find the best encoding options fopr your footage.
Of course the DVDSP learning curve is longer than iDVD but once you learned ir you probably never go back. Like iMovie and FCP.
To give you detailed info about what encoding settings to use you must post some info about your FCP project.
Hope that helps !
Alberto

Best practice for exporting from iMovie '08 to iDVD

I am looking to find out what is the best practice for exporting from iMovie '08 to iDVD. I have read the other postings that give the basic howto (export to Media Browser then select the video in iDVD). However, my question is a little more technical. I have 1080i HD projects. I am interested in burning them to DVD in the best possible quality. What setting should I be using when I publish to Media Browser?
I am wondering about quality loss due to more than one conversion/compression. I suspect that when I export to the Media Browser then this is occurring. If I am not mistaken iMovie is using something like H.264 for this. Then, when I run iDVD I suspect it will it do another conversion/compression, I think to get to MPEG2. Not only could this result in a loss of quality but also it will take extra time. I am interested to know what others think about this.
Finally, I am looking to create DVDs for a lot of video. I am wondering if there are any USB or firewire hardware devices out there that could speed up the compression. I use the Elgato Turbo.264 when I want to encode to H.264 but I wonder if there is something similar for DVD creation.
Thanks in advance.

the standards for videoDVD are 720x480, and usually mpeg2 encoded..
so, your HiDef project HAS to be 'downsampled' somehow..
I would Export with Qucktime/apple intermediate => which is the 'format' your project is allready, and you avoid any useless 'inbetween encoding'..
iDVD will 'swallow' this huge export file - don't mind: iDVD cares for length, not size.
iDVD will then convert into DVD-standards..
you can 'raise' quality, by using projects <60min - this sets iDVD automatically to highest technical possible bitrate
hint: judge pic quality on a DVDplayer + TV.. not on your computer (DVDs are meant for TVdelivery)

Everytime I export from FCP using comressor I am lose my audio, any ideas as to why this is happening. Or do I have somthing turned off and I am just missing it? Dual 2.7 Ghz PowerPC G5 1.5 GB DDR SDRAM, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Everytime I export from FCP using comressor I am lose my audio, any ideas as to why this is happening. Or do I have somthing turned off and I am just missing it? Dual 2.7 Ghz PowerPC G5 1.5 GB DDR SDRAM, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Exporting via Compressor may be recommended but it is slow and doesn't fully support all available filters, etc.
Try exporting the timeline as a QT Movie (the "normal" export) using Current Settings and them submit the resultant clip to Compression. Works for me...

Export from FCP directly into DVD studio pro?

Is it possible to export from FCP directly into DVD studio pro? If not, what is the preferred file format because my exported quicktime files come up as "incompatible format" when I try to add them into my DVD project. Any help is appreciated.

You need to encode audio as well from Compressor. You'll have 2 files - audio and video.
Here's a tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFgJpd7DEWw
Message was edited by: Eric Pautsch1

Exporting from FCP to DVD

Hey
Just wondering if I can get some advise. I need to export my project from final cut pro to DVD but just wondering what the best way to do this would be to get the best quality DVD. (This is for a company to take out to potential clients to sell what the company does - so it needs to look good!)
My project is no longer than 5 mins
1920 x 1080 - 1080i (16:9)
Field Dominance: None
frame rate 25
I have Final Cut Studio latest version.
I'm trying out a few options at the moment using compressor - best quality - so we'll see what these look like, but I'm not sure what all the settings should be set at.
Any advise on what you think will be best would be great.
Thanks

Wouldn't use Quicktime conversion - no need. Just export from FCP as Quicktime Movie at current settings.
In my experience, changing the field dominance from interlaced to progressive can cause stuttering particularly in motion graphics - this might not be an issue if you're laying to tape for broadcast but when you convert back to interlaced for SD DVD it can look very ugly.
In any case, at the very least, you need to be using a Kona card or IOHD to do this type of conversion properly - and really, if you want progressive you should shoot progressive.
Message was edited by: Dynamicworm
Message was edited by: Dynamicworm

PAL files exported from FCP don't display

This is a strange one... SD PAL uncompressed files exported from FCP 6.03 won't display, you just see black. HD files are fine, as are SD PAL files exported a while ago - prior to a recent pro apps or QT update possibly? As a workaround, if they exported via compressor instead of by 'export quicktime' in FCP, they work fine. Shake is 4.0 since 4.1 doesn't want to display via a decklink.
Any ideas? This seems to be a new one.

Does the computer your using to view this video have Final Cut Pro installed?

Can't open quicktime movie that I exported from FCP 5. Help!

Can't open quicktime movie that I exported from FCP 5. Help!

What arrow?
Have you tried opening the file in FCP?
If there is no error message and it will not play in QT7, it is quite possible the file is corrupted. You will need to go back to the original project and re-export the file.
x

Best way to export from FCP for website

I've been reading around about this and am not getting a clear idea of what to do...
I have some short sequences in FCP (longest is 2 minutes) that I want to post individually on my new website (that I'm just learning about).
I want to export them in a way that is a small file but that looks and sounds good, and also that can be played by most or all computers.
So I guess that is two questions: settings for export from FCP, and how to control how it will be viewed.
Thanks so much, anyone with ideas or experience!

We don't know what format you are dealing with, ratio etc.
However, some short answers for you.
For best quality at a considerable small file size the choice is, yet again, H.264 (Require QT7 or higher. For universal compatibility you may need flash conversion).
FCP main menu>File>Export>QT Conversion>Options> the higher the bit rate the better the quality but the bigger becomes the file size. Size : i.e 320x240 if 4:3; 480x270 if 16x9). Choose AAC (Not PCM) as sound format (192 target bit rate).

Exporting from FCP and using Compressor at the same time?

Is it ok to export from FCP and use compressor at the same time? I am exporting a Self-Contained, Current Setting Quicktime Movie, and using Compressor to compress a similar HDV file to Mpeg2?

Only in FCP 7.

What should I use to export from FCP to DVDSP?

I'm sorry if this question is too basic, but I've searched past discussions and read the manual, and can't seem to find the answer. I am trying to put a nearly hour-long movie I made onto a DVD, in order to have hundreds of duplicates made. I'm using DVD SP, and I had been exporting my movie from FCP to a Quicktime movie file, then importing the Quicktime file into DVD SP. Then recently I came across something online that said you should actually be exporting from FCP to Compressor, then to DVD SP. I've never used Compressor before, so I have no idea what to do, or if I even should be doing it. The video was fine when I exported to Quicktime, but I of course want to have the best video quality possible.. so if there's a way to keep the video at the highest quality possible (higher than when using Quicktime), please let me know (and if it could be explained as simple as possible, I would appreciate that).

Hi Ryan,
I'm relatively new to this too but you're on the right track. I would export to Compressor.
There are various settings i.e. mpeg2 fast encode, high quality 60min, 120min, widescreen, 4:3 etc and all dependant upon what you want your end result to be.
You'll need to choose your format - I suggest mpeg2 - 60min High Quality Encode > your destination for both the video and audio > 'submit'.
You should end up with a file that resembles *My Movie.m2v*
Then import that file into DVDSP into the assets pane and you're away.
Good luck!
-Chuck

Exporting from FCP to .mov - backwards compatibility

Am working from NJ with a client in CA. She is struggling to export her FCP movies into a .mov format that will play on quicktime (specifically on OLDER versions of quicktime). I've been able to assist her in exporting to the .mov format, but it only plays in the quicktime 7 player. Most of her customers do not have that installed and thus cannot view the movie (and, they do not want to take the time to install).
I would like to be able to walk her through the steps/settings/parameters necessary for her to export into a .mov format which will play in older quicktime players (without forcing the user to update their player).
example of .mov: http://advertisingusa.tv/0_home/index.shtml
many thanks in advance,
windandkitesurfer

Trying to export from FCP to backwards compatible .mov or .mo4 format.
We're trying to use Sorenson 3 compression, and are able to create this but the file is created without any extension.
We are using FCP, export using quicktime conversions, then under options->settings->compressor type = "Sorrenson Video 3"
Still are not able to create a movie file backwards compatible. Any further assistance greatly appreciated.
Note the time lapse between emails due to the problem of communicating coast to coast - the web developer is not the first in line for return emails
regards
Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Exporting from FCP HD to iDVD

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