best compression for dvd studio pro 3

[Alex Beaupre]

Hi everyone, Im sorry if this has already been anwsered, but here goes. Im having alot of trouble with what file type to render things out from final cut pro to put onto dvd studio pro. All i want to know is the best way to render to get higher quality and still fit onto a single DVD disk. I have worked with mpeg 4 and the quality wasent great, and with mpeg 2 the files seemed like they could have been smaller, so I would be able to fit more content on one disk. So if anyone can help me in terms of what they think is they best way to format things and fit more on one disk. And I was wondering, how much video (time wise) would you say you get on one DVD? Well thank you for taking the time to read this and help me out.

Alex B.

[Rob Lohman]

DVD will ONLY ALLOW for MPEG2! So either you use a lossless/
uncompressed format to get it into DVDSP or you give DVDSP
an MPEG2 file. Do not use any other lossy format like MPEG4
because that will futher reduce quality and DVDSP will have to
re-encode it to MPEG2.

Now I'm not on a Mac myself so I cannot direct you what would
be a good format to use inbetween FCP and DVDSP.

[Mark Sloan]

You shouldn't use any compression from FCP. Just save your project as a FCP movie and use DVDSP to encode your work. If you export from FCP using compression DVDSP will be recompressing it again when it turns it into MPEG2 for the DVD and it is within DVDSP that you can adjust the quality vs length issue. (I'm assuming you're working in DV).

[Alex Beaupre]

well thank you for your help guys, and i was just wondering how many minutes of video do you guys actually fit on one dvd?

[Jake Russell]

If you import mpeg-2 into dvdsp then it wont re-encode it. I'd say work that way and many people do as they dont use QT to encode. Compressor is a standalone app too.

On a 4.7GB(4.37GB) dvd±r I wouldn't push it past 2 hrs if you can help it.

Jake

[Jonathan Pacheco]

according to:

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage..._warmouth.html

you can supposedly use a.pack to encode in ac3 (even if you're just mixing stereo), and have the ability to put over 4 hours of video on a DVD-R, if I'm reading it correctly.

[Rob Lohman]

You might be able to, but I can garantuee you that it won't look
so great. AC3 audio can even be mono. It doesn't have to be
5.1 channels. And if you compress your audio in AC3 you will
leave more room for video, that is true. However 4 hours is too
much in my opinion. Most people will have a very hard time to
make 2 hours fit and look good on a recordable DVD.

[Jake Russell]

Not sure if the article mentions this but you'll need to use half D1 352x480 at say 3 Mbps (or under) for the video. It should look ok.

Jake

[Rob Lohman]

Ehm... why would you use half D1 resolution for *DVD*? That's
not even legal in the specs. In theory you should be able to
put VCD on a DVD, but not a lot of authoring packages support
it and it really does look a lot worse than MPEG2!

[Jake Russell]

Sorry Rob but I'm not sure who told you that. It is in the spec and is supported by many apps and encoders. The easiest way for me to show you this is to send you to p.582 of dvd dem 2nd ed. if you have it. You see in Table A.12 that it's supported for mpeg-2 and various other resolutions for mpeg-1 and 2.

If not maybe check the manual of your app or I can give you links to pdf's for encoders or apps that will show you.

I think the thing to keep in mind is that this wouldn't be used to make the Matrix. So if you've got 3-4 hrs of say VHS stuff a client wants on one disc and they are happy with the outcome then what's the problem! And if you've never done it I guess you dont know how good or bad it looks :)

Jake

[Rob Lohman]

Indeed, I spoke too soon/fast:

Allowable picture resolutions are:
MPEG-2, 525/60 (NTSC): 720x480, 704x480, 352x480, 352x240
MPEG-2, 625/50 (PAL): 720x576, 704x576, 352x576, 352x288
MPEG-1, 525/60 (NTSC): 352x240
MPEG-1, 625/50 (PAL): 352x288

Source: The DVD FAQ: chapter 3.4 What are the video details?

I stand corrected. I haven't seen it listed in a lot of DVD authoring
packages spec lists. That's mainly what I was getting at. I'm
wondering which programs actually support it.

Since it is MPEG2 the quality should be inbetween VCD (which I
know can be okay but usually is pretty bad) and full resolution
DVD. Whether that is acceptible, I don't know. Depends. But
that would suggest you can get 4 hours on a disc indeed.

Always test new possabilities before actually using it in a
production, though!

Jake: thanks for helping me remember this! :)

[Jake Russell]

Yeah it's all about getting there in the end :-)

I wouldn't particularly advise it or recommend it but I am aware that not everyone is making LofTR or authoring LofTR. And who am I to stop Jonathan being excited about making VCDVD_HS discs!

Jake

[Jeff Donald]

Rob, on a Mac, Toast supports all those formats, to the best of my knowledge.

[Jake Russell]

Yeah and so does dvdsp. Compressor fixed the support with one of the updates too. BitVice is another mac option for half D1 encoding,

Jake