FCP - Compressor - DVDSP Question

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to figure out what settings to use to get better results when creating a DVD coming from FCP.
Here's the information :
In FCP, I edited a small test video made with a 3D software. Saved uncompressed in 720 x 480 NTSC, 30 fps, anamorphic for 16:9. Looks great in FCP.
Using Compressor, I use DVD Best Quality 90 min, 16:9.
I import the resulting file in DVDSP and the quality is horrible. I know that the movie is compressed in MPEG2 and it looses quality but I'm sure I can get better results (well, I hope).
Any idea, tips, tricks to enhance the final result would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Phanault

Hey Phanault,
did you use compressor presets or did you create settings from scratch?
also, you said your video codec was "uncompressed". did you mean FCP uncompressed 4:2:2 8-bit or like an uncompressed Blackmagic, Kona file (yes, they are different).
i don't think it has to do with your PAR, but more with settings.
what you can try is to use the 4:3 preset in compressor and manually set the 16x9 flag in DVDSP, like that, you dont have to recreate your video in 4x3 (just a suggestion and technically, both methods work!).
Mikey M.

Similar Messages

Tough, quirky, hard to figure sync problem with FCP / compressor / DVDSP

OK, where to begin?
I have a dvdsp project. Everything started in FCP. The video, because of poor results in compressor, has been compressed using bitvice. This results in an mpeg2 that is slightly longer than the original, because of the way bitvice handles 24p material (intersting aside, once the track is in dvdsp, its back to the original length)
So, in final cut pro, I took the audio tracks and put them at a speed of 99.9% to make them match. Then the audio went to compressor to make an ac3. The files that compressor output match up with the video, as far as length goes, just fine.
Here's where it gets a little wierd. Out of two tracks, one appears to be just fine on the very first pass through compressor... in sync, proper length etc...
In the other track, I got a delay, in the surround speaker tracks, that got longer as the track went on. I examined the fcp sequences that the individual sound files were exported from... same settings. I looked at the self contained quicktime files that were exported from FCP... all the exact same length. Yet, listening to the tracks separately, I could tell that indeed, a couple tracks drifted later (but still didnt add any length on to the end of the track). The only difference in the workflow for those tracks was that some were exported individually and some were batch exported. (dont ask me how/ why/ if that made the difference). There was also a wierd dropout of audio on some tracks, so I figured maybe just a fly in the ointment, try again.
So then I very methodically started over with the sound and repeated the process. I couldnt repeat the whole batch export making a difference thing. The resulting ac3 was in sync within itself, and matched up in length with the video, but the entire audio track drifted late, out of sync with the video.
My solution has been to encode the audio at 100% which is now in sync, but is actually shorter in length in dvdsp and now ends almost 2 seconds earlier on the timeline (but yet doesnt lose sync).
So, one track worked as expected and one threw me a bunch of curveballs resulting in a fix the doesnt make sense but kind of works. The material in both tracks as far as source, settings etc.. is identical.
Can anyone help me wrap my head around some of this so I can have confidence in a workflow moving forward?
thanks,
sorry for the lengthy post
powermac g4 933

Audio/video timing accuracy is never better than the tool you are measuring it with. Therefore, you can't always trust time measurements based on SMPTE time code with your life, especially when 2:3 pulldown is involved. If you end up with a MPEG-2 multiplex that stays in sync on a set-top DVD player, then you are safe, regardless of what FCP, DVD SP or any other software tool think of it.
Why is that? Because the timing accuracy in MPEG-2 is at least 3000 times as accurate as any SMPTE time code. It is true that MPEG-2 video may contain SMPTE time code information, but it is only optional and even when present it is never used for anything time critical, such as A/V sychronization. It just wouldn't work.
Assuming that I have correctly interpreted your post, that the length of the movie is about 33 minutes and that no further info is required to solve your puzzle, this is my 2 cents guess:
In your paragraph beginning with "My solution" I suspect that that the AC-3 file might have been slowed down by 0.01% even though it "ends almost 2 seconds earlier" according to the DVD SP timeline. Alternatively, the video time code might have been misinterpreted, DF versus NDF, suggesting it being longer or shorter than it really is. This cannot happen in a real DVD decoder, since it does not rely the SMPTE time code at all.
In the BitVice log you can read exactly how many frames there were in your 24p movie. Divide that by 23.976 to get a reliable duration, in seconds, for the encoded file. Note that if you get a reminder (meaning extra split seconds) it represents 1 to 23 extra frames. Roughly, every extra 41.7 ms means an extra frame.
You don't want to go by the 29.97 frame rate, because then (due to the 2:3 pulldown) odd frames will last for 33,37ms but even frames last for 50.05ms.;-)
As you have noticed yourself, different tools like DVD SP, FCP, QT player et.c, may report different lengths of a MPEG-2 video file. But, given the frame count, from the BitVice log, you can always calculate the exact duration, +/- 10 microseconds, because it is controlled by a 90 kHz clock derived from the 27MHz crystal in the DVD player. This clock makes
3003 ticks for every NTSC/29.97fps frame,
3600 ticks for every PAL/25fps frame or
3750 ticks during a 24fps frame.
In comparison, due to its error prone and ambiguous nature, the SMPTE time code system is not even reliable enough to be frame accurate, unfortunately.
Roger Andersson / Innobits AB, makers of BitVice MPEG-2 encoder for Mac.

FCP, Compressor & DVD Studio Pro Settings: Archiving Old Video

Hi.
I'm working with FCS2, a Mac Pro, and a Blackmagic Intensity Pro capture card that allows me to import uncompressed SD video.
I bought that card because I have a lot of old SD video, mostly U-Matic and Beta SP, that I want edit someday. I also have some VHS footage (shot in SP mode on a full-size VHS camcorder) that I want to archive to DVD before the tapes turn to dust.
I can't justify buying a VCR/DVD Recorder combo for this job because I only need to dub 6 hours worth of VHS. And I'm guessing I'll get higher quality with the setup I have.
Since I'm essentially just dubbing here, what settings in FCP, Compressor and DVDSP do I need to adjust to give me the highest quality dub possible?
As far as dividing up the video, I was thinking of using 1 hour of VHS to fill each DVD. Is that a good size, or should I go shorter? Would there be a noticeable quality difference if I went down to 45 or even 30 minutes per DVD?
I'm sure I'll have more questions as you post replies. Thanks for your help!
Fred

I agree with David, rent a Beta SP, then the rental place is responsible for it's maintenance so you are ore likely to get a working unit. Better yet, you can rent a new model with fewer hours on it's heads. Make sure your VHS deck's heads are clean. If you own your own 3/4" deck, clean those heads too. If you are not happy with the playback quality rent one of those as well.
If you are truly looking for best quality, go uncompressed and save it all to a drive, but, to be realistic, how one digitizes the material depends entirely on what format you want to end up with after you do edit it.
I suggest digitizing using the DV50 codec as a good compromise in compression and file size. Here at NBC everything is digitized for air using DV25 codec and it is generally good enough. I also suggest that DVDs, even data DVDs are an unreliable format for long term storage bceauce of their high failure rate.
My advice is to save your money and buy a couple of nice Enterprise quality 1TB drives, mirror them and store all your media there. (of course, get smaller drives if there is less material).
Good Luck!

VHS Captured With DV Converter Judders In Compressor/DVDSP, OK In iDVD.

This is more a statement than a question.
Some people will be familiar with my inability to produce judder-free DVDs from HDV or AIC footage burned in iDVD ........ which I have previously described +ad nauseam.+
Well here's something entirely different!
Yesterday I copied an old, very poor quality VHS tape to DV via my DAC 100 converter.
Apart from the lousy colour and pictorial quality, the video played OK in the timeline so I exported it to Compressor and burned in DVDSP.
The DVD exhibited the same kind of judder I get when I try to encode HDV in QT Movie and iDVD.
I wasted another DVD getting the same result, so in desperation I exported my project to QT Movie and burned it in iDVD.
The results - PERFECT - at least as far as image steadiness was concerned!

iDVD 7.0.1 and Compressor 3.0.3
I was hoping this would crack the old problem, but no.
I used a 40 second sequence with the camera panning very slowly across a street of houses with strong contrasty vertical and horizontal lines formed by windows, doors, drainpipes and rooflines etc. in the first half and a person walking across the frame etc. slowly in the second half. The 6' walker was a fair distance away only filling about 45% of the height of the frame.
4 test QT Movies were exported and burned in iDVD on one DVD. These were the straight video and then 3 versions with the Shift Filter in the +1, None and -1 settings.
They all looked the same, with jitter not so much on the vertical lines as the horizontal ones, which was a little surprising. The person walking across the frame definitely exhibited jitter.
All these problems disappear when encoded in Compressor or down-converted to DV by the camera during capture and burned in iDVD.
Still, it was worth a try.
I'm wondering whether it is possible to hack into iDVD and maybe alter field etc. settings in there!
There has to be some simple reason why there is a dramatic difference between Compressor/DVDSP and iDVD and it's nothing to do with quality or power or cost.
Incidentally a friend of mine went on a world tour, using an identical HV20 and rough-editing on her MBP as she went. The resulting rough edits were burned in iDVD and the DVDs sent back to her family. These DVDs apparently were jittery but the family didn't mind!

Fcp to dvdsp confused

finally bought dvdsp so I can do my own authoring..; I've spent a long time searching in this forum to see what would be the easiest and best (qualitywise) way to convert my 46 min long fcp edit... reading all the posts it got me more confused but I''ve tried export using quicktime conversion (mpeg) in fcp but the quality wasn't good at all...
So I guess my question is: what is the easiest way (with the highest quality) to export my fcp to dvdsp until i get to know dvdsp better?
thanks
jazz

I'm trying what boogiesan said in one of the posts and i've exported it as a reference movie and imported that in dvd studio pro and let that do the conversion... is hte quality going to be ok? (just asking before it takes hours to convert and than have bad quality...)

3'rd party codecs in QT, FCP, Compressor, Shake

Greetings-
I am having an issue getting 3'rd party codecs to show up in my export dialogs in QT, FCP, Compressor and Shake. The 2 codecs in question are Kona uncompressed and Avid.
When attemtping to export files through FCP, QT, Compressor or Shake these codecs do not show up anywhere in the export dialogs- however they DO show up in the export dialog for Cleaner.
I'd appreciate and all thoughts/ideas
Thanks!

ok... still working on this and believe I have found the answer: the Kona and Avid codecs are PPC, not universal code and therefore don't show up on the MBP (but am now seeing them on the G5)

Is Quicktime 10 messing with my FCP/Compressor exports?

Just upgraded to Snow Leopard which included QT10, which is utterly useless.
Anyway, besides my general dislike of the new QT10, I have a feeling the newly installed ProRes codecs associated with the upgrade are messing with my exports from both FCP & Compressor. We shoot HD, and often export cropped 4x3 versions of that HD. I just exported a batch of sequences at Apple Pro Res 422 960x720 from a 4x3 sequence.
When I open that in Quicktime, it has been stretched to be anamorphic. If I import into FCP, it tells me that while the frame size is 960x720, the pixel aspect ratio is HD (960x720). Only when I set this to square do I get the proper 4x3 aspect ratio I desire. Likewise, a batch I sent out from Compressor the other day had the same problem.
The solution I've found is that, in Compressor, I have to force the export to be set to square pixels. Easy enough I suppose. But my question is, why does Pro Res (with the new QT10 and ProRes codecs installed) now default to this HD (960 x 720) pixel aspect ratio and default to giving me stretched footage? If the HD footage I'm shooting is square pixels, why is ProRes trying to do anything else with it other than keep it at square pixels?
Also, will Apple create a Pro version of QT10, because as it is, its useless for video work. QT7 Pro is a pretty helpful utility for those of us in video post-production, I'd hate to see that go away and be replaced with QT10.
Message was edited by: rw-media12

Bumping to see if anyone has any thoughts on the matter or if anyone had similar problems...

Best way/settings to export from FCP to DVDSP

Hey - I have a program I need to export from FCP to DVDSP.
It is approx. 1hr 15min long.
What would be the best settings to use to maximize quality?
I also want to include chapter markers for importing into DVDSP - is it better to create these in FCP or Compressor???
This is a very important showreel and quality is a major factor...
I am using: FCP 5.1.4 DVDSP 4.1.2 Compressor 2.3
Thanks for all your help in advance!
PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi:
<< What would be the best settings to use to maximize quality?>>
You didn't mention your movie codec. Assuming you are using DV, if your FCP projects has graphic elements and heavy filters like Color Corrections, etc. you must get the best quality exporting directly from FCP through Compressor.
If your movie is basiclally DV video with no graphics, you probably will get same quality and shorter encoding times exporting as QuickTime movie, self settings (self contained is my favorite flavor!) and using this file in Compressor.
In Compressor use the DVD: Best Quality 90 min preset as starting point taking the MPEG2 and the Dolby 2 (AC3) presets. You most probably will get the best audio level changing the followings parameters in the standard AC3 preset:
- Dialog Normalization: -31
- Compression preset: None
Using uncompressed (AIFF/PCM) audio in DVD-Rs is a major cause of playback problems and/or building errors because the high bitrate, and takes a lot of your disc space.
If you encode inside DVDSP (using the Quicktime movie file directly in DVDSP) you'll get AIFF audio. DVDSP doesn't encode your audio to AC3.
<<This is a very important showreel and quality is a major factor...>>
To save encoding testing times, take a short part/s of your movie and make some encoding test. Select some parts of your footage with fast movements in the image and/or heavy transitions to check the final result.
<<I also want to include chapter markers for importing into DVDSP - is it better to create these in FCP or Compressor??? >>
Allways create your chapter markers in FCP or Compressor. That way you can set the exact frame where to locate it and DVDSP will preserve that position. If you add a Chapter Marker in DVDSP it will be moved to the nearest GOP boundary, not in the exact frame you decided. Check this tutorial about Chapters and Compression Markers .
Don't forget to post your FCP movie codec/settings.
<<StirFry..>>
I think that a bitrate of 7.9 Mbps with uncompressed audio (DVDSP doesn't encode audio to Dolby 2) is too high and can cause some encoding/playback errors in some DVD players. Someone else can post his mind about this ! ;D
Hope that helps !
Alberto

Blue Ray with FCP and DVDSP

Any ideas when the new FCP version will be out and if there are any plans for Blue Ray support for current versions of FCP and DVDSP.
Thanks

Apple is always mum on these issues.
No who knows can tell.
It's blu-ray™, BTW, not blue ray.

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

Help... Best image quality from FCP to DVDSP... (FCP project at 1440 x 960

Hi all,
Yes, I just finished an edit in FCP with frame dimensions of 1440 x 960 (Not HD). (Don't ask . I am on the hunt for input for the best way to get the highest quality when I take the 1440 x 960 video down to Standard definition DVDSP. For example, should I just drag-n-drop a reference movie into DVDSP and let DVDSP do the resizing?.... or maybe I should use Compressor to resize first? etc.. etc.. etc... (If I should use Compressor to do the resizing... a little help on what settings to use would be great)
This is a graphically heavy video with a lot of client logos, animations, etc.
Thanks a bunch,
Matt

What format are the assets? As PDTV said, don't even think about recompressing an MPEG2 file if you wish to retain quality.
There are tools such as DVD2One which you could look at, but if this is 8GB of MPEG2 then use a DL disc.

Massive Update Download Prob for FCP Studio / DVDSP

since a few week I will download the latest FCP 5.1.4. Update and since today the DVDSP Update. But everytime when I insert my Apple FCP Studio Serialnumber the ApplePage tells me, that I've donwloaded the latest Version ? but I do not . . . .:-?
What I must tell: I will download it from a another Mac because my Work Mac is not on LAN and only on 56k Modem.
Al previous Updates work fine with this Method, but now - not !
Any workaround ?
Thanx for help

hhhhhaaaaa, so, I called the Number . . .nad what tells the guy on the line ? Oh, that's a Problem, so the only way you can download it is via the Mac and the SoftwareUpdates Function in OSX . . . Question: So, when I move the FCP to another Mac I can't download any Update via the Apple Web Site ? mmh, yes, I think so . . . .
uuuuuhhhhh . . . I can't understand this . . .
But thanks for the tip
Karlheinz

Can you Up-Convert SD footage to HD in Compressor? Question in 2 parts

Hi guys, this may sound silly but I have to ask if this is possible.
My question is in 2 parts!
1. I have SD Footage, shot with XL2 at 60i and I am trying to achieve best picture quality to burn in DVDSP.
Can I up-convert it to HD in Compressor 3? If so, which preset would I use?
2. If it is possible to up-convert SD footage to HD,
Can you still burn the up-converted HD video on a regular SD DVD in DVDSP if it fits on a single or dual layer disc?
Thank you,
Z

For starters, you can't make SD turn into HD. It's just not possible. Something was shot at a resolution of 720x480 which means it will never become 1280x720 or 1920x1280. That being said, there are hardware solutions called line doublers which can upscale for you, but those are expensive and not really what you even asked about so nevermind. Upscaling DVD players add pixels by interpolating info in between real pixels and adding what it think might go there. After this, filters are added to blend and soften and then some sharpening is added. I have seen DVD players that do a really nice job of this and others that don't.
Anyway, you can blow up your footage in compressor but not upscale as far as I know. The best quality footage however is going to be 720x480 since that is your source. This is especially true if you are playing back on an SD TV which only has a resolution of 720x480.
Did that help? I think I rambled a little.

Basic FCP Sequence Settings question for 1080 footage w/ 7D

OK. So maybe it's the fact I've been working for 18 hours straight and my mind is partially play-dough, but I'm thoroughly confused right now by what I think may be the dumbest question ever.
Anyway... here's my problem and my workflow.
PROBLEM:
Stupid black box above and below my 1080 footage after I export to QT out of FCP (this box never existed in my 720 footage)
WORKFLOW:
- I have 1080/30p footage from a Canon 7D and Rebel T2i
- Converted to Prores 422 in MPEG Streamclip (I can never keep the file system intact to use the FCP EOS plugin. I need to work on that)
- Imported into FCP7
1080 SEQUENCE SETTINGS:
Frame size: 1920x1080 HDTV 1080 (16:9)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square
Field Dominance: None
Editing Timebase: 29.97
Compressor: HDV1080p30 (Also tried ProRes)
Quality: 100 percent
After I export to Quicktime with current settings, the video plays back with a small black bar above and below the footage. Weird. This seems kind of normal to me, except these bars never existed when I edited in 720. Not that it looks bad, I'm just confused why the bars are there when they weren't there in 720.
720 SEQUENCE SETTINGS:
Frame size: 1280x720 HDTV 720p (16:9)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square
Field Dominance: None
Editing Timebase: 29.97
Compressor: HDV 720p30
Quality: 100 percent
When I export this, no black bars above and below.
So why -- If my settings are basically the same except for the 1080/720 substitution -- do I get the above/below black boxes for 1080 and I don't get them for 720?
I don't think I want the box. Don't like the box. The box is bad. I think.
Thanks.

I'll send my thanks over here, too, Shane. Posting on multiple sites because project is due today.
Hopefully this will be a lesson learned and my sequence settings are point-on from here on out.
If anyone else is reading this and has a similar problem, though, Shane came up with the solution:
"Highlight all the footage you pasted...then right-click and choose REMOVE ATTRIBUTES. Then check BASIC MOTION." After checking basic motion, you also have to check distort.
And if the quicktime inspector doesn't read out 1920x1080, don't worry about it and just trust FCP.
Thanks for the input, all.

Compressor 3 questions - specifically streaming for web

I am new to the world of video compression and every thing else that comes along with it. Recently i have been getting some experiance w/ FCP and now need to get some experience with compression. I have access to a computer w/ Compressor 3 but i dont know enough to use it and get the results iam looking for.
The main problem iam facing now is how to get a fair quality (not necessarily crystal clear) video compressed for the web that can stream and hopefully average out at about 1.5 mb per minute at 400 x 300 dimesnions. I was shown some settings before that did this but it seems that i have either accidently changed them or they just dont work like they used too. I know it ssems wierd to suggest that they would suddenly stop working like they used to but it actually seems like this must be the case and oddly my friend started experianceing the same thing w/ the same settings.
These are the settings i used to use when exporting through Final cut using Quick Time conversion:
Format: Quick Time Movie
Compression type: H.264
Frame Rate: 24
Key frames: 100
Data rate: 180
size: 400 x 300
This used to make ok quality video with the size at approx. 1.5 mb per min. but it doesnt seem to do that anymore(????). Anyway if any one has any experiance or advice that can help please let me know.
These are some other questions I have:
• In Compressor there are preset Apple settings and within those there is a folder for web and then for streaming. Do only these settings stream or are they just optimized for streaming? What constitutes a streamable file and can any of the other Apple presets also stream (if so which ones) ?
• Are there adavantages to using Adobe Media Encoder over Compressor, or are there other good programs that can be recommended ?
• Where can i read in a simplified or summarized way what all the comppressions terms mean, what the settings do, and which formats are ideal for what purposes etc.?
Thanking everyone in advance
ncd

Here's a great little book:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pro-Training-Compressor-Quick-Reference/dp/032147408 2
While you're waiting for it to arrive, check this out:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/compressor_h-264_moviesfcp.html

FCP - Compressor - DVDSP Question

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for