• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  Final Cut Pro Output of 2.5 hour film to make a dvd

  Posted by Cynthia Madansky on December 1, 2011 at 8:17 am

  We are on a crazy deadline and have to ouput an HD fcp project which is 2.5 hours long and make a dvd.

  Can someone please outline the steps we need to take to
  make this dvd – From FCP to DVD Studio Pro

  How long will it take to compress/ prepare this piece?
  I need to know this because we have a deadline.

  What size and brand dvd should we buy for such a long piece?

  Please email me directly.
  cmad@pipeline.com

  Thank you very much.

  Cynthia

  Gary Milligan replied 14 years, 9 months ago 5 Members · 5 Replies
• 5 Replies

• 

  Andrew Rendell

  December 1, 2011 at 10:37 am

  First, export from FCP in current settings. Then use Compressor to make separate DVD compatible video and audio files – it has presets for 150min best quality and fastest encode in the settings, under Apple – DVD (there is a big trade off between quality and time), I’d suggest making a 1 minute clip and seeing how long that takes for each setting on your kit, in order to work out roughly how long it takes on each setting as it can vary a lot between computers. Those files are then your assets in DVD Pro.
• 

  Cynthia Madansky

  December 1, 2011 at 11:24 am

  Should I export as a QT with current settings?
  Or with compressor?

  Do you think the quality is better to first export as QT and then import into Compressor?

  What is the best quality in compressor?
  I need the best quality possible.

  Thank you.

  Cynthia
• 

  Steve Eisen

  December 1, 2011 at 1:25 pm

  Your first step should be look in the FCP, Compressor and DVDSP Manuals. It is located in the Help tab. It gives you step by step instructions.

  Since your film is 2.5 hours long, you will need to adjust your bit rate down to 3.0 to 4.0 in Compressor.

  [cynthia madansky] “What size and brand dvd should we buy for such a long piece?”
  Stick with a name brand DVD-R (Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden). Stick with single layer DVD-R. You will have trouble with a Dual Layer disc.

  [cynthia madansky] “How long will it take to compress/ prepare this piece?”
  It all depends on your computer. The slower the processor, the longer it will take.

  Everyone is on a deadline.

  Steve Eisen
  Eisen Video Productions
  Vice President
  Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group
• 

  Brad Wright

  December 1, 2011 at 3:23 pm

  I wrote an article on this very topic. It outlines the steps for going from Final Cut Pro with HD footage into DVD Studio Pro.

  Brad Wright is software engineer, so it may be difficult to understand what he is saying. He is always happy to explain his greater detail.
• 

  Gary Milligan

  December 1, 2011 at 8:34 pm

  Regardless of whose suggested workflow you use (Andrew’s, Steve’s or Brad’s) for making your DVD assets, just remember that DVD is SD not HD and you need to author your project as such. I’d hate to see a post from you down the road that says – “my DVD only plays on my Mac”. There is no such thing as an HD-DVD, even though DVD SP offers it.

  Good luck.

  Gary

  This is me – this is what I do – https://web.mac.com/garymmw

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