I have tried authoring a 75 min project using compressor and dvdsp and I get this strange pulsing pixelation in certain shots. I author the same project in idvd, I don't get any pulsing, but in the last 10 minutes of the project, I get pixelation on playback.

I have a deadline tomorrow and I'm ready to throw my new macbookpro out the window. I have made numerous tests, using default settings and custom settings, used various disk brands, and still I can't seem to manage the simple task of authoring a 75 min dvd.

Any suggestions? Has anyone else experienced this pulsing?

Found out that this could be a problem with GOP settings when using compressor. Lowering the GOP setting can reduce the pulsing effect in shots that have a lot of noise or not much happening (eg a shot tracking a walker in a forest)

for a 75 min project

It takes about 7 hrs to do a dvd via fcp, compressor, jes deinterlacer and dvdsp

and about 4 hr with idvd

and idvd had no pulsing pixelation (but the whole vid turned to mush at about the 45 min mark!!

Will play ok on my laptop, but put it in a dvd player, and it becomes a pixelated mess after 45 mins.

Can't work that one out?

FWIW, I never use iDVD, and I never use DVD SP to compress assets. I've always had excellent success with BitVice for video compression, and Compressor for audio (AC3). Not only do the results speak for themselves, but renders go faster, too, harnessing all processors to their fullest. It seems like a steep price to pay for a one-trick pony, but considering how many DVDs I make a year, BitVice more than pays for itself in time and results.