Can someone from the UK who knows FCP...

[Chris Leong]

...please walk me through the basic creation of a PAL DVD from Final Cut 6?

I'm a pro editor, I know how to do this in NTSC, but since I have a show that's viewing in Istanbul next week and I don't have anything besides a laptop that will actually play back PAL DVDs, I'm just double-checking my steps prior to doing what amounts to a blind burn..

Okay, from the FCP timeline, export using Compressor.

In compressor, select destination folders for tracks, audio goes to AC3 as usual, but video goes to MP2 PAL?

Or do I go out from FCP export to PAL quicktime and then come into Compressor to go to M2V, already in PAL?

And if the piece is an HD downrez (which it is, and it's in 16:9), does this mean I select PAL DV anamorphic as my output format?


Then I assume take it into DVD Studio Pro as usual (import assets), set up the menus, buttons, tracks as normal and burn away.

Am I mssing something?

Thanks for your comments!

Cheers
Chris
(originally a Brit but way too long in Los Angeles now!!! LOL!!!)

[Aaron Fowler]

Hey Chris, I'm not from the UK but I do live in PAL land...

I don't see anything wrong with the workflow you've got. I personally would do do the conversion in Compressor, but either way would work fine.

I did a similar conversion a just over a year ago shooting NTSC 23.98fps and used the Retiming Controls set at play source at 25fps. The audio was out of sync by the end of the hour video. I don't suggest touching those particular controls but your mileage may differ to mine. If your footage is 30fps then you can ignore what I just said. :P

And just a tip. If you export your timeline from FCP export>quicktime movie and keep the current settings then open that saved file in compressor, it is normally quicker than an export>export using compressor and it has the added bonus of freeing up FCP at the same time.

Hope it all goes well.