FCP Pro Res Super 16mm -- Compressor -- DVD Studio Pro (Nightmare Workflow Critique)

Hello,
I figured I post here rather than the DVD Studio Pro forum; I've posted on Creative Cow as well but haven't gotten any responses yet.
Before I mention my problem, I'd like to mention that I've tried several types of compression methods and bitrates and unfortunately, my disk still freezes in my player, generally around the same area.
(I have two, minute long clips with Smoothcam there).
I'll try to be as specific about my work-flow as I can and I've posted the photos of my FCP and Compressor settings below.
30 Minutes. Super 16mm.
2K DPX Scans -- > Graded In Color --> Pro Res 4444 23.976 --> Sent To Compressor --> Mpeg 2 + AC3 --> Build & Format With DVD Studio Pro
I set blue compression markers at the start of each Smoothcam clip.
I've recompressed my footage without Smoothcam as well - with the same end result.
I've sent my timeline to Compressor and used both the 5.5-7 VBR setting and the 6.5 CBR settings (with everything under Frame Controls set to the highest quality).
(I've also used the 6.2-7.7 built in settings with the ninety-minute high quality preset).
I am using Sony DVD-R disks. 16X/1X. When I play them in my PS3, the film freezes at different points in the first two-three minutes - then skips ahead exactly to the same point in my film - about halfway.
I've set Chapter markers and it skips to the halfway one; from there it plays fine.
1. I wanted to ask if I should maybe export my entire sequence first through FCP (an .mov file) and try Compressing that?
(I've done this and the result is still the same)
2. Should I set it to Pro Res 422 HQ first?
(I've done this and the result is still the same)
3. Perhaps I should just try to Compressor with the 90Min-HQ setting without changing anything?
(I've done this and the result is still the same)
4. Should I remove the Smoothcam?
I'm currently compressing the entire sequence void of all Smoothcam.
When I bring the files into DVD Studio Pro, I see under preferences that Studio Pro also has VBR settings. Do those have any effect on my DVD encode? There is no CBR there - only VBR set from 5.5-7.
5. Is there anything I'm doing wrong with regards to my workflow? There are several options that may be causing this; I'm not sure if its the progressive footage to interlaced standard definition disk, or modifying field dominance, gop structure, etc.
Any help would be greatly (that's greatly) appreciated.
Thanks!
-Boris

My first impression is you're trying to make this too hard...
You have a high quality timeline which is downconverted to 1080, no problem. Once rendered, SmoothCam
should not represent a problem. If anything, SmoothCam will reduce the sudden movement that can cause problems. Any scenes where you have a high rate of change per frame (like in an explosion or a background of leaves flapping in the wind) should be marked with compression markers.
Export as a QT movie using sequence settings (include markers for DVDSP) so you have a completed source file for compression. I'm not aware of anything that will improve the quality beyond what is in the timeline, so current sequence settings are fine. Test this for playback issues.
If you are having playback problems with the sequence after export and compression, the most probable cause is excessively high bandwidth requirements. Try using the DVD: Best Quality 90 minutes preset. It generally produces a very good quality product. Any attempt to increase the quality will likely increase the bandwidth requirements that are the probable cause of the skipping.
While Sony is a big name, their DVD substrate is only mediocre. If you think the substrate is a problem, switch to Verbatim or JVC/Taiyo-Yuden.
If you are dissatisfied with the quality of the Compressor output, look into the Cinema Craft encoding products.
Hope this helps.

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A Compressor/DVD studio pro question

Hi all.
I have a Compressor/DVD studio pro question.
I have a compressor setting that is just the standard DVD MPEG 2 best quality 120 minutes. I have only changed the video setting to Pal as I am in Australia.
When I go to import the rendered product into DVD Studio Pro I get an error message saying "incorrect format". I even tried importing the rendered file into Toast Titanium and I get the same message from that program.
Can anyone help with this problem?

In DVD SP you have to set the format, NTSC or PAL first. Then import the clip. If there is already footage from one format already in the project you cannot flip it to the other. You have to remove the footage first. Then try flipping to PAL. Sometimes it doesn't work. Generally only video footage is ID'ed as PAL or NTSC. Audio just has frequency.

Steps to exporting from FCP to Compressor/DVD studio pro

Hello,
I have just completed editing my video and would like to know the steps to exporting my video so that I can burn it on a DVD. I need help with the steps involved in exporting my project to compressor then to DVD studio pro.
Thank you for your help in advance!
p.s. on a separate note: I shot in 1080i and converted my raw footage to .mov format (640 x 480) to edit. Now that I'm done with editing, is there a way to bring the quality back up to 1080i?
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http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12830379&#12830379

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.

Compressor/DVD Studio Pro v6 and FCP7?

Can I use Compressor and DVD Studio Pro from version 6 with FCP7? I use a Macbook Pro 10.6.8 with FCP7
I'm trying to make a DVD and I keep getting a message in DVD Studio Pro : "Illegal angle situation. Only the main video angle will be simulated".
My sequence is in 1920x1080, Compressor: XDcam EX1080p25, Frame Rate 25.
I brought a self contained Quicktime into Compressor.
Selected Settings: DVD Best quality 90min. The Inspector said: 720x576, PAL, 25,
Allow job segmenting was selected. Should it be?
Frame Controls was ON. Should it be?
It produced an MP-2 6.2Mbps 2-pass.m2v file and a DolbyDigital Professional 2.0.ac3 file
I dragged them on the Track1 screen in DVD Studio Pro 4 and the Simulator gave me the "illegal angle situation" message.
Do you have any idea for a solution please? I have to fly out tomorrow and yo have the DVD done,,,

In a word, yes. As long as you are outputting your timeline as a master for compression, there is not linkage between FCP and Compressor/DVDSP. Compressor and DVDSP don't care about anything except that the incoming footage is in a valid format.
I'm betting that your error message is the result of a corrupt DVDSP project file. They do some wacky stuff when they break. Built a new one.
Good luck!

Compressor & Dvd Studio Pro not loving me! pls help.

Hi, so ive got a bunch of QT's that i want to put on a dvd. so i use compressor to make them mpeg2 (m2v) using the "DVD fastest encode 90 mins" (or the others) option. it does the work, but as soon as i drop them into DVD Studio Pro, it tells me that they are NTSC assets and thus wont read. How do i stop compressor from making them NTSC, and why the **** would it do so?
I never made them NTSC, but would like them to be PAL.
Any help would be seriously appreciated.
shot.

yeah thanks Luca.
i imagine that will work, it seems its a bit of a weird one. it only seems to go bad when im passing the converted files onto another mac with dvd studio pro. thanks for the help tho, ill let you know if i get sorted
cheers

Is it possible to export Final Cut Pro X or .MOV to DVD Studio Pro (Final Cut Studio)?

Is it possible to export Final Cut Pro X projects or .MOV to DVD Studio Pro (from Final Cut Studio v.3)? I'm using the free trial of Final Cut Pro X and later acquired a copy of Final Cut Studio (FCP 7, Compressor 3.5, DVD Studio Pro 4, Color 1.5, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 2).
I don't like the default DVD export in FCPX, so I would like to do it on DVD Studio Pro. Is it possible to export the project or the final .MOV file to DVD Studio Pro?
Additionally, can I use unfinished FCPX projects on FCP7?
Is it possible to export from FCPX to Compressor 3.5 (Final Cut Studio)?
Feedback would be greatly appreciated. As of this post, I have about 13 days left on my FCPX trial. Or would it just make sense to just use Final Cut Pro 7, since I have a permanent copy of it?
Thank you.
P.S. Where would be the best place to store projects or any other file related to Final Cut Studio or Final Cut Pro X? My MacBook Pro has 320GB built in storage (only 60GB available), and I have a 1TB external hard drive.
What is best to store on the Macintosh internal hard drive?
What is best to store on the external hard drive?

Yes you can make DVDs in DVDSP using video exported from FCPX.
There are some apps that will translate between X and 7- that said I would highly recommend not going back and forth as the translations are not 1:1 perfect.
I would recommend storing all Events and Projects on the External drive.
Compressor 3.5 will not accept exports directly from FCPX- you'll need Compressor 4 which is $49.
Totally up to you whether you want to make the jump to X. 7 is an EOL'ed program, meaning there will not be another version of that application. Final Cut Pro X is the version being actively developed now.

Aperture and other Pro Applications ( Final Cut, Motion, DVD Studio Pro )

Hi folks,
I have bought Final Cut Studio a while back, and have been working with all the tools for a while now ( FCP, Motion and DVD Studio Pro ). Recently I also switched to Aperture to manage / capture / organise my digital photographs ( previously I used iPhoto ).
Now I was wondering how I could use the pictures from my Aperture library in Motion or DVD Studio Pro. When I look at the file Browser, I can easily use some iPhoto pictures, but apparently I can't seem to find anything for Aperture.
What I would like to do is use some pictures from Aperture in a Motion project and also include an Aperture album in DVD Studio as a SlideShow.
What would be the best way to do this ? Do I have to export the pictures I want to use ? Or am I missing something ?
Regards,
Stefaan

Stefaan,
Unfortunately, that type of integration between the Pro Apps is not there (yet). It would definitely be a nice feature to have. We should all send feedback to Apple asking for this feature. For now, you will need to export photos for use in these other apps.
Along the same lines, I would also like to see integration with Aperture and the "iLife" programs. Since Aperture will likely replace iPhoto for at least some of us, it would be nice to be able to use Aperture photos in these apps as well.
--Joe

Using compressor DVD Studio Pro 4 will only accept ac3 format in the burn process. ac3 makes a nnsense of the good sound delivered, 30% reduction in volume, auto volume levelling giving unwanted volume variations. Used to be able to burn using AIFF/WAVE,

AS Above. Edited in FCPX. Excellent sound file. Using Compressor 4 to DVD Studio 4. Wanting AIFF or WAVE sound for acurate sound.
Previously DVD Studio 4 has accepted AIFF etc and delivered sound as reuired. Now, during the burn process everything other than ac3 is declined as 'video bit rate too high', but will burn if the AIFF format is replaced with ac3 (which I presume meanss the 'video bit rate too high' is referring to the sound file)
The issue with ac3 format is the huge reduction in original volume and worse, the 'auto volume levelling' that makes a nonsense of the original soundtrack - with simply aweful unwanted variations in volume Throughout the the dvd.
I have tried everything I can think of to get around this. The 'volume gain' in compressor doesn't make any difference. Exporting just AIFF and the Video to DVD 4 doesn't make any difference, it always declines anything but the aweful sound ac3 delivers.
I have customers awaiting a musci DVD, not with thei quality I can't.
Cheers
Phil

The total video bit rate is determined by audio & video. Depending on what rate your video file was encoded at will determine how much room is left for audio. PCM(aiff/wav) audio requires a bigger piece of the pie. Video bit rate too high means your overall(video+audio) rate is going above 9Mbps which the format won't allow. The only way to use aiff would be to lower your video file's data rate. The length of your program is also a factor in all of this.
I had some problems in the past with using aiff instead ac3. Although there shouldn't be any issue I experienced playback issues on some players that couldn't be explained but were cleared up by ac3. I have been using the same specs as Dave's suggestion for almost nine years and have not had any issues with mix, quality, or levels.

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!

Unable to open FCP, Motion, Compressor, DVD Studio Pro

Hey,
Since this morning I've been unable to open any of the FCP studio apps. It immediately goes to The application quit unexpectedly. Any ideas what's going on?

I'd suggest you need to perform an erase and install of your OS, update it all the way, then reinstall all software over that new OS... sounds to me like you have a bad installation.
Tiger or leopard should run just fine...
Backup everything you want to keep first as this would erase your startup disk... docs etc...
Jerry

Using Compressor DVD Studio Pro 4...will not burn files

I was working with an extreamly large video file that was exported as a Quicktime movie and was 69.2 GB and about 2 1/2 hours long. I imported it into the Compressor and chose the DVD file folder>Best Quality DVD 150 minutes and dragged both the video and audio sources onto the project then hit submit. Once it was finished, I had 2 files video and audio...video (MPEG-2 3.99 GB ) audio (Professional 2.0 aC3) I then imported it into DVDSP 4 I went through dragging both files into track 1, setting chapter markers but I also in the dis/volume tab selected the dual layer option since this movie is very long...I also have the DVD+R double layer DVD for buring on to. Once I click burn, it goes through the muxing and then formatting process which are both successful but then it pops the DVD out. I also noticed during the process that in the Log, it notes that the video and audio files are not DVD-video files and will not be applied to the final DVD...I am assuming that it is not recognizing these files, is there a way to fix this perhaps in Compressor first?
Thanks

Hello, see if Burn.app works...
http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html
Converting.
Forget worrying about conversion. Burn will take your video and audio files and turns them in the right format.
In the preferences you can set the options for quality and size.

FCP to DVD Studio Pro exporting help needed - desperatey......

Hi.
Please help me if you can.
I am exporting a Quicktime movie from FCP for DVD Studio Pro 4. I chose the MPEG 4 option in the compression, make it best quality and bounce it. But when I look at the self-contained mov file, every time a person walks across the screen I am getting little lines on the light parts of the screen or a beating or sizzling effect in the dark parts. Basically it looks like everything is "alive" somewhat - objects like curtains seem to sizzle.
Can someone guide me in the proper choices to make when exporting from FCP to import into DVD Studio Pro? There is not an MPEG-2 or M2V option, and the MPEG compression breaks it down to MPEG-2 or M2v upon import into DVD Studio Pro anyway.
I guess I don't know how to get the best quality bounce from FCP, in order to have a file that is less that 4G in size. Can someone please advise?
There are no directions on exporting FOR DVD Studio Pro in the Final Cut books, nor was there a FCP prep covered in the DVD SP books.

Quick workflow from FCP -> DVDSP:
In FCP, File Export QuickTime Movie
Select DVD Studio Pro Markers in the Markers drop-down (leave other settings as is)
Save QT Movie to your preferred location
In DVDSP, import your newly-created QT Movie
(You may want to confirm your encoding settings - both in terms of bit rate and whether
you're encoding on build or have background coding enabled - prior to this step though)
Best Quality workflow:
In FCP, trash the render files for your sequence
From the Menu, File Export Using Compressor
Now, in Compressor, select the appropriate preset(s): DVD: Best Quality 90 Minutes - 4:3
Optional: Delete the AIFF setting completely
Select the appropriate destination(s)
Optional: For the Dolby preset, alter Dialog Normalization (under the Audio tab of the Inspector) to -31. In the Preprocessing tab, alter the Compression Preset to None
Click Submit
Once the encode is done, import the .m2v and .ac3 (and/or .aiff) files into DVDSP
It's only fair to tell you that since this produces (pretty much) the best possible quality from Compressor, it may take as much as 5x-10x as long as the 'quick workflow' detailed earlier. (Especially if you've set DVDSP to do a one-pass encode)

Marking DVD Studio Pro Markers In FCP 5

im using final cut pro 5& dvd studio pro 3 and i am trying to add markers that DVD studio pro will recognize and will make chapters from the markers in my sequence. what kind of marker do i use, a standard chapter marker? i tried exporting it by going to
file>export>quicktime movie...
and from there i chose all markers from the marker area and when i opened it in dvd studio pro 3 no chapter markers were there. what am i doing wrong?

when i opened it in dvd studio pro 3 no chapter markers were there.
Please clarify exactly what you're doing when you say the above ('open it in DVDSP 3').
This might be a "Duh!" question, but are you placing your FCP movie into a Track (in DVD Studio Pro)?
In case it's not obvious, you will not be able to access or view markers in a QT movie (or M2V file) unless your movie is place in a Track.
(Forgive the simplification of the DVD spec, but Markers, though embedded in movie files, are navigational tools for Tracks.)

DVD Studio Pro upgrade

Is it possible to upgrade from DVD Studio Pro 2.0.5 to DVD Studio Pro 4 without having to purchase the full version of Final Cut Pro Studio?

There is just no way of upgrading from were you are, to the new FCP suite, without purchasing the full FCP 2 Suite.
Your only chance at an upgrade would be on Ebay, that is selling and older FCP suite. http://cgi.ebay.com/Final-Cut-Studio-Pro-5_W0QQitemZ220130748924QQihZ012QQcatego ryZ80245QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Be ware, this is the academic version, and therefore can not be used for commercial purposes, (making money) strickly for use in and academic environment.
The seller mention the Apple crossgrade, but that is no longer available from Apple, what you see is what you get.

FCP Pro Res Super 16mm -- Compressor -- DVD Studio Pro (Nightmare Workflow Critique)

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