Basic setup to get FCP -> Compressor -> DVD SD???

[Zane Barker]

[George Mizzell] “i have been trying anyway i could think of to get an HD DVD captured from my new XH A1 to play on anything.”

Umm…. You can’t capture a HD DVD from a camera. You can capture Video into files on the computer and then make a HD DVD, but you CANT capture to or from a HD DVD.

[George Mizzell] “All HD DVDs work great on my MacBook Pro and MacPro but nothing else – no pc or standard home DVD player.”

That is because a PC’s and standard home DVD players cannot play HD DVD’s[George Mizzell] “I have now burned about 10 DVDs trying all kinds of setups that i thought would get me all the way back to basic SD setup and I have had no success.”

You didn’t say what settings you have changed, but if you are talking about changing a HD DVD project in DVD SP into a SD DVD project, you CANT. You must start over and create a new project.

It really sounds like you do not understand HD DVD’s and especially how DVD SP creates HD DVD’s.

First off ABSOLUTELY NO HD DVD will play in a standard home DVD player, you will need a HD DVD player for that.

Second and probably more important DVD SP cannot yet create a 100% compatible HD DVD. The HD DVD abilities in DVD SP were added before the HD DVD format was completely standardized. Yes some Toshiba HD DVD players will play them, but they are far from compatible with all HD DVD players, and completely incompatible with anything else.

The only reason they will play on a mac is because apple has made the DVD player software on the mac able to play the HD DVD’s made in DVD SP. You cant even play a real HD DVD on a mac because no macs have HD DVD drives.

Also keep in mind that your computer cannot burn onto a full HD DVD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD) you can only burn onto regular DVD’s (4.7 signal layer or 8.5 double layer). So while you can burn a HD DVD what you are really burning is HD video to a regular DVD.

You should really learn more about what you are trying to do, before you jump in like you have.

to get your video to a regular SD DVD, ether pull your movie file into compressor or send it to compressor from FCP and then choose the DVD preset that matches closest to your video length and use that to create your DVD SP ready files for a SD DVD. Then create a new SD DVD project in DVD SP and bring in your files.

Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[George Mizzell]

Zane

Thanks for some input. I don’t think i am any closer to a solution but i think it is more due to my inept attempt to state the situation accurately. Naturally i was not importing from an HD DVD, but from an HDV camcorder. That is still not the problem I was seeking help with. I was giving that as background as to why my previous SD DVDs worked but does not work now.

The problem at hand is that a previous made SD DVD project that started with SD 720×480 video captured from the GL1 last year has worked fine and play s in other DVD players and PCs without any problems – now it does not work because i have been exploring setting to try and convert the HDV project into a 720x 480 SD file. Forget that endeavor for the moment and let me recap the SD project settings.

In FCP the Summary settings show everything at DV NTSC. The source video shows as 720×480 – DV/DVCPRO – 29.97fps, NTSC-CCIR 601.

I went into Compressor and chose DVD:Best Quality 90 minutes (the source is about 55 minutes). I chose both the dolby and MPEG-2 6.2MBPS 2-pass. I let it process and then Go to DVD Studio and drop it in the timeline (I am not trying to do anymore than get it to play). Nothing on the menu except the asset as a button – click on it and it plays.

The DVD Studio Encoding settings are set to SD 4:3 – MEPG-2 SD – 2 pass.

This is the problem I need solved and this is the one that I want to get to work tonight.

Thanks
George

George Mizzell
The SupermagnetMan

[Zane Barker]

[George Mizzell] “In FCP the Summary settings show everything at DV NTSC. The source video shows as 720×480”

If the video is DV then why are you trying to make a HD DVD?

[George Mizzell] “I went into Compressor and chose DVD:Best Quality 90 minutes (the source is about 55 minutes). I chose both the dolby and MPEG-2 6.2MBPS 2-pass. I let it process and then Go to DVD Studio and drop it in the timeline (I am not trying to do anymore than get it to play). Nothing on the menu except the asset as a button – click on it and it plays.”

So what exactly is the problem then? You are not being clear at all. Is the problem that when you burn the disk you cannot play it in a DVD player?

If so your DVD SP project may still be set to HD DVD. In the HD DVD’s that DVD SP lets you make a disk containing both SD & HD content, but again it requires a HD DVD player for both.

Try creating a completely new project and set it to SD DVD before you add anything to it.

Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[George Mizzell]

Once again – forget the HD term completely. I am not trying to turn this project into HD. I do not have 2 completely separate computer systems with 2 different installations of FCP on it and so I use it to do both SD and HD projects. Until now SD has always worked great. When I got the HDV camera a few weeks ago i started exploring the HD editing and authoring. I am learning it and that is not the problem. However when I had a urgent need to burn an SD project that (once again) I shot about a year ago with the GL1 as SD. I simply did a File Open from the FCP menu and it opens up. FCP did not have the foresight to make it easy to switch from HD to SD and there are many little settings throughout the program that have to be changed to work in SD or HDV. I would strongly suggest the next version have a one step pull down that switches everything to SD 4:3 / SD 16:9 or HD 4:3 / HD 16:9.

Now the problem – Once I reopened the original SD project and rendered through Compressor to the basic SD 720×480 4:3 option and went on to DVD Pro, it will not work on standard DVD players anymore. Obviously one of the many settings that I changed while playing with the HD project has not yet been rediscovered by me so i can return to normal SD mode. I sure wish you could comprehend this problem. I would like to have had this rendering while I slept. Now I guess I will move all the 12GB of content over to the macbook pro and try to render from there – maybe it still works.

George Mizzell
The SupermagnetMan

[Walter Biscardi]

[George Mizzell] “I simply did a File Open from the FCP menu and it opens up. FCP did not have the foresight to make it easy to switch from HD to SD and there are many little settings throughout the program that have to be changed to work in SD or HDV. I would strongly suggest the next version have a one step pull down that switches everything to SD 4:3 / SD 16:9 or HD 4:3 / HD 16:9.”

It’s already there and has been for quite a while. Final Cut Pro > Easy Setup. Simply select the Format / Frame rate you’re working with and FCP sets up your entire system for the edit. It’s extremely easy.

[George Mizzell] “Now the problem – Once I reopened the original SD project and rendered through Compressor to the basic SD 720×480 4:3 option and went on to DVD Pro, it will not work on standard DVD players anymore. Obviously one of the many settings that I changed while playing with the HD project has not yet been rediscovered by me so i can return to normal SD mode”

How your machine is set up has absolutely no bearing on your original project. If you’re set up for HDV editing, but the open up your original DV/SD project your file will still export correctly so long as you export from the SD timeline. File > Export > Quicktime Movie > Current Settings. That will export the file using the Sequence Settings.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[George Mizzell]

Walter

Thanks but unfortunately that is not working correctly for some reason. I am on the same timeline but I am not exporting as QT -I am going directly to compressor and choosing the DVD 90 minute basic settings. Then to DVD pro and dropping it back in to the same timeline i had in previously in DVD pro and burning. Naturally it works great on my macs but the guy who needs it has a pc notebook and he leaves a little later today and needs to take a working copy with him.

Thanks
George

George Mizzell
The SupermagnetMan

[Zane Barker]

[George Mizzell] “Once again – forget the HD term completely. I am not trying to turn this project into HD.”

Well from what you were talking about it SURE sounded like you were.

If you are not working in HD for this project then why do you go into details about your HD project?

It MUST be a setting in DVD SP, what are your settings there?

Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[George Mizzell]

Zane

Well, still not success. I carried the original captured file to my macbook and created a new FCP project and imported it and rendered it to the basic settings below –

In FCP the Summary settings show everything at DV NTSC. The source video shows as 720×480 – DV/DVCPRO – 29.97fps, NTSC-CCIR 601.

I went into Compressor and chose DVD:Best Quality 90 minutes (the source is about 55 minutes). I chose both the dolby and MPEG-2 6.2MBPS 2-pass. I let it process and then Go to DVD Studio and drop it in the timeline (I am not trying to do anymore than get it to play). Nothing on the menu except the asset as a button – click on it and it plays.

Then created a DVD Studio project and set it up like this:

The DVD Studio Encoding settings are set to SD 4:3 – MEPG-2 SD – 2 pass.

Still works great on macs but not a single pc in sight can even detect there is anything on the disc. i now have 9 dvds burned – each with different settings and still no success.

I have about an hour left or I will just give him the Ipod version which works great.

George Mizzell
The SupermagnetMan

[Zane Barker]

[George Mizzell] “In FCP the Summary settings show everything at DV NTSC. The source video shows as 720×480 – DV/DVCPRO – 29.97fps, NTSC-CCIR 601. “

Because the DVD will not play in another computer or on a standard DVD player, it is NOT a FCP settings issue.

It is ether a compression settings issue, a DVD SP settings issue or a DVD player issue.

What exactly are you trying to play it on, you mentioned a PC. Does that PC have the ability to play DVDs at all?

Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[George Mizzell]

Certainly it plays DVDs. I use an old Dell Inspiron 5100 with DVD player and a home built dual p4 Xeon workstation with a Plextor 16X DVD reader writer as my pc test computers and 2 different home DVD players. I have probably produced over 300 different DVDs on these macs that all tested on these players and worked fine until now. I have not been able to resolve it even yet and I am in the middle of a final burn direct to ipod format and then copy that mp4 file to a dvd as my final option. Something is still definitely wrong with the setup and there does not appear to be a way to communicate adequately to have anyone help me get any closer to solving it.

George Mizzell
The SupermagnetMan