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What file type to provide for 2hr long DVD?
Hello,
Was wondering if anyone had some advice for me… I am editing some XDCAM footage in HD for 5 x 2hr-long DVDs in FCP 7.0.3 on a Mac 2 x 2.66 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon processor machine.
I need to provide files for DVD authoring (they are not going to be Blu-Ray discs, so doesn’t have to be in HD I guess) and I’m not exactly sure what to do… FCP crashes when I export a Quicktime Movie in the native codec – XDCAM HD422 1080i (50Mb/s). I was thinking of trying to send it to Compressor and output a quicktime there… but do I go HD or SD? I don’t want to be responsible for the quality of the DVD… just the quality of the file that’s going to be compressed for the DVD. Would it be better for them to have an HD file then? And 10bit would probably be insane GB-wise… is Pro Res (HQ) good enough?
This is due Monday night… any tips would be MUCH appreciated!!
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6 Replies
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The real question is what do the people doing the DVD authoring want you to deliver? If you were sending a project to my facility, I would ask you for an HD Quicktime ProRes HQ. We know how best to encode that to a good quality DVD. Or we could work from an HD tape master or an XDCAM disc of the finished master.
Unless you are familiar with the fine points of DVD encoding and downconversion, avoid doing the encoding yourself. A two hour program needs to be encoded correctly using a high quality encoder for best results, especially if you are going to a single-layer DVD-5.
Bill Stephan
Senior Editor/DVD Author
USA Studios
New York City -
I’d give them ProRes HD and let then deal with that.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.
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Thanks Bill – the people making the DVD keep asking my advice on what to deliver… I’ve tried committing them to something so that I’m not responsible, but nothing has been agreed upon.
I think going for the ProRes (HQ) in HD seems like a good idea – problem now is my render keeps failing and Compressor keeps giving me errors.
Was thinking alternatively if I can ever get these things to render, would it be okay quality-wise to playout to an HDCAM Tape and then re-capture in FCP so I can use the capture scratch file as my master? I don’t think the people making the DVD have access to tape decks, otherwise I would give them the HDCAM tape directly.
Cheers!
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If the people doing the authoring are asking your advise on what they need delivered, I’d find a new authoring company….they should know this question.
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Well it’s a charity organization… so I’m pretty sure they just wanna go with whoever is willing to do it for low/no 🙂
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Yeah give them ProRes- anything less and you risk a really iffy looking video because they’ll probably try to re-encode it anyway.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.
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