HELP! This is weird

[Jake Russell]

Well I started at dvdsp 1.0 so out of habit I encode then import into dvdsp. I'm hearing this is still the best way to go.

So if you want to use compressor. Goto your Applications folder in Macintosh HD and thats where compressor is. If you launch it as a standalone app you can import your video only FCpro ref movie. Click the + at the bottom left of the window and add locate your movie. Set your settings and hit submit. Make sure you are not online or contected to a network.

Jake

[Heath McKnight]

That's pretty easy; where are the settings? That's the problems I had. When I was in DVDSP 2, the encoding settings were there, but I don't think they were for the Compressor.

Jake, I appreciate you answering my dumb questions.

Everyone else, hope this simple guide Jake has been giving me gets you to your DVD projects faster than the lengthy guides do. I've always hated those things.

heath

[Heath McKnight]

Results:

3.5, 4.0 and 5.0 compression was under 140 mb for 5 minutes, but tons of "waves" were seen on it (artifacts?). 6.0 mbps was over 200 mb for five minutest (too large) and looked better, but still had artifacts.

Am I screwed? Jake, if I go with a 3.5 to 5.0 mbps, is that just gonna look like crap on DVD? Honestly? Or am I just seeing weird stuff in the simulator in DVDSP 2 Basic?

heath

[Jake Russell]

Basically it depends how your footage is to start with. I've had pretty good looking fooatge 3.5-5(avg) 2-pass VBR. Try a built in preset HQ 60min & 90min and see if you can get good looking footage. If yes then you have a starting point to reduce from.

The artifacts are a lot more noticable on computers compared to tv's.

Your 5 mins of test footage should be a mix of all sections of the footage. Remember that with VBR, 5 mins at one part or your movie will be a different file size from another 5 mins. It seems you have time to play with so maybe encode the whole thing to see what file size you get. Even try it with all encoders.

Encoding isn't an exact science I'm afraid. There is no magic number. You are going to have to except poor image quality also probably as it's just way too much to get onto a 4.37GB dvd-r.

I did edit footage once, scaled it down, did a few splitscreens etc so there was a lot of black footage which got the avg bitrate down and reduced filesize.

Jake

[Heath McKnight]

I remember compressing an hour and 45 minutes down through FCP 3 (some video I edited) and I used around 3.8 mbps. It looked fine when played back, even the stuff outside in the night. I'll burn a test dvd maybe and watch it on a TV....

heath

[Jake Russell]

Yeah I'd say check it on tv for sure.

I can get the filesize right down in Compressor so I'd say it's worth playing and getting to grips with it for your project. You can batch encode so if you have afew settings just set it off and leave it if you want.

Jake

[Heath McKnight]

Half the film is in black and white, so I'm gonna do something in color (both well-lit and dark). I'll burn a DVD at both 3.5 and 5.0 and take a look. Probably my best bet is 4.0...

Also, how do I make chapters in FCP 3? Do I do them seperate for audio and video?

Thanks,

heath

[Jake Russell]

Yep but dont forget that what you set your max and min to will play a part. Press 'M' when you're on the timeline and you can insert markers. It's a lot easier in dvdsp2 though than it was in 1.

Jake

[Heath McKnight]

If I set my minimum to 3.7, say, and my max to 4.2, will that be okay?

Should I encode the video and audio, import into DVDSP 2, then do markers? I've heard I should do it in FCP 3...

heath

[Jake Russell]

I guess it's each to their own. I always do it in the authoring app so I'd say do it in dvdsp but if doing it in FCPro works for you then thats what works for you.

You can probably set the max to higher than that. Trial and error baby woo hoo :-) and if there is fast motion etc I'd say atleast give it a go with a higher max but keep the avg down like you have.

Jake

[Heath McKnight]

<<<-- Originally posted by Jake Russell : I guess it's each to their own. I always do it in the authoring app so I'd say do it in dvdsp but if doing it in FCPro works for you then thats what works for you.

You can probably set the max to higher than that. Trial and error baby woo hoo :-) and if there is fast motion etc I'd say atleast give it a go with a higher max but keep the avg down like you have.

Jake -->>>

I don't have any fast pans or anything. Hmmm.

I'll do my chapters in DVDSP 2. Should I also do chapters on the commentary? I'm guessing yes.

By the way, can I go lower than 192 in A. Pack on the commentary?

heath

[Jake Russell]

Ok I dont want to make things too complex but as we are in 2003 and the world is moving on there are 101 ways to do everything.

You can add compression markers and chapter markers in FCPro & Compressor. I do a lot of authoring and don't always have to edit the footage but as you are I better explain so you can choose which is best for you.

If you need to have frame accurate chapters then add the chapters in FCpro or Compressor. If you do it in dvdsp the chapter will be attached to the nearest I-frame. I dont always need to be frame accurate so tend to do it in dvdsp.

Lots of this is covered in the manual though. Haven't read 2's cover to cover yet but will do soon.

The chapters will be the same for both audio tracks as it will be determined by the info in the m2v video track.

Sorry to state the obvious but if you drop the audio and you think it's fine then it's fine. I haven't had to drop it lower so I dont have a wealth of experience on the matter but my 192 streams sounded fine so I doubt a bit lower will hurt.... but if it is no good just use the 192 stream. People will watch bad footage with good audio but not the other way around....

Jake

[Heath McKnight]

Maybe I shouldn't have used a feature for my first real DVD authoring...Then again, the feature (shot in 1999) was my first project on Final cut Pro. Go figure...

Thanks,

heath