Apple Intermediate Codec (1080i60) to DVD

[Jon Downs]

i'm using FCP5 and importing and working with the Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60 (footage shot in HDV on my Sony Z1). now i have a complete timeline that i'd like to compress with Compressor to burn to a DVD. i do this all the time with SD footage, but this is the first time i'll be doing this with HDV (AIC-1080i60). so should i use the same presets in compressor that i use to compress the SD footage? should i make new presets in Compressor to compress HDV footage to DVD (MPEG-2 & AC3).

[Jon Downs]

i just ran some quick tests, and compressing my HDV timeline (AIC - 1080i60) with my normal Compressor preset (the one i use for my SD timeline), and the result was bad. the DVD looked very bad. so what settings do i need to change in Compressor to compress HDV footage? i'm having a hard time finding this info...

[Jon Downs]

i realize now that this thread was a bit naive. i've been doing tests and research for the past few hours, and i've learned that downsampling from HDV to SD DVD is an age-old problem. hours of googleing has given me a few options:

1. The Bonsai Method (i got some crazy motion stuttering with this method, perhaps i did something wrong. anyone else experience this?)
2. Exporting to 8-bit Uncompressed NTSC movie, and then compressing that with Compressor or DVDSP (looks ok, but takes a CRAZY amount of hard drive space. not really possible with long timelines)
3. Export straight from FCP using Compressor (convenient, but not great looking...text looks especially bad)

so i haven't found a good method yet. crap. any other suggestions or links are appreciated.

[Michael Liebergot]

How about exporting from FCP as a (Non-self contained) movie.
The running that through Compressor with the appropriate 16:9 Anamrphic Widescreen setting.

[Jon Downs]

after two days of testing, i've determined that i like the "nate weaver" method the best. take the HDV (AIC) timeline, and "Export With Compressor" to Uncompressed NTSC (adding a little Edge Sharpening). then drag the Uncompressed NTSC file into DVDSP, and let it encode it. it looks very good. the only thing i'm on the fence about is how much "edge enhancement" to add. and i'm not sure if i should use 8-bit uncompressed or 10-bit uncompressed...does anyone know the difference?

it takes a bunch of hard drive space (since the Uncompressed NTSC file is huge) but it looks very good.

[Jon Downs]

here's a semi-related question:

i've heard a lot of poeple talk about "losing half the verticle resolution" with 24p simulation methods like Sony's CineFrame30/CineFrame25...but wouldn't that become a moot point if i'm downsampling HDV to SD DVD anyway? i mean, i'm losing that verticle resolution anyway when i downsample, right?

[Andrew Kimery]

Originally Posted by Jon Downs

here's a semi-related question:

i've heard a lot of poeple talk about "losing half the verticle resolution" with 24p simulation methods like Sony's CineFrame30/CineFrame25...but wouldn't that become a moot point if i'm downsampling HDV to SD DVD anyway? i mean, i'm losing that verticle resolution anyway when i downsample, right?

If you throw away 50% of your res shooting then throw away 50% of that res down sampling you are left w/25% of your original res.
If you keep 100% of your res shooting then throw away 50% of it down sampling you are left w/50% of your original res.

-A