SD > DVD Questions

[Elmer Lang]

I was going to go directly from my FCP 5.1.2 timeline into Compressor. I want to make separate m2v, etc files of a number of short films (all under 10 minutes) which I will then put together as I choose for 30-40 minute dvds.

Before I choose DVD Best Quality 90 Minutes>All, and tweak the settings to avg/max bitrate 7.6/8.9 and selecting IP as the GOP structure ... I was wondering:

Are my tweaks above faulty?

Will the Dolby 2.0 provide .ac3 files or will I need A.pack?

If so, what do I need the AIFF 48/16 file for? So maybe 'All' is the wrong option.

Interestingly, under the New Default Setting dropdown I see 2 options: Dolby Digital Professional and H.264 for DVD Studio Pro.

Would either of those be preferable to the Best Quality 90 Minutes option(s)?

Finally, are there preferable settings to get my dvd than those outlined?

whew and thanks,
elmer

[Michael Westphal]

Elmer,

No need to do the aiff generation. I do just the mpeg and dolby. Saves time.
I haven't used anything other than the approriate "Best" options. The two you mention are alternate audio processing.
Only other thing I do is to edit the destination file names so that they are are the same (with extensions of .m2v and .ac3, of course). Saves more time in DVDSP.

(BTW, you may get quicker answers in the DVD forum.)

[Nate Weaver]

Originally Posted by Elmer Lang

Before I choose DVD Best Quality 90 Minutes>All, and tweak the settings to avg/max bitrate 7.6/8.9 and selecting IP as the GOP structure ... I was wondering:

Are my tweaks above faulty?

8.9 is technically legal for DVD, but is pushing the envelope by quite a bit. With AIFF audio, that would put total bitrate into an area that is unwise. With 192kbit AC3 audio it would be better, but still unwise. I keep my total video rate to peaks of 8.1, and generally stay out of trouble. BTW, I have authored 15+ titles for retail this way.

Originally Posted by Elmer Lang

Will the Dolby 2.0 provide .ac3 files or will I need A.pack?

The dolby presets in Compressor are the replacement for the A.Pack application.

Originally Posted by Elmer Lang

If so, what do I need the AIFF 48/16 file for? So maybe 'All' is the wrong option.

AIFF audio is for simplicity, but you have to keep the video rate down to compensate for the elevated uncompressed audio rate

Originally Posted by Elmer Lang

Interestingly, under the New Default Setting dropdown I see 2 options: Dolby Digital Professional and H.264 for DVD Studio Pro.

Would either of those be preferable to the Best Quality 90 Minutes option(s)?

H264 for DVD is for 720p HD-DVDs. H264 will not work for standard def DVDs...DVDSP won't even accept it.