BluRay Burning with Compressor/Toast 9 (skipping!)

[Walter Biscardi]

Don’t know much about Toast 9 as I was not impressed by it’s “capabilities” in the online information.

We have successfully burned about 10 to 20 BluRay titles using Compressor to create the MPEG-2’s and Encore to create the BluRay discs. We’ve never had any issues with skipping or playback issues. Ensure that your video is 1080i and it’s 29.97 for the maximum compatibility.

HOWEVER, Encore is limited to “Play Only” buttons at this time when creating a BluRay disc, despite all the marketing hype on the ease of creation on the Adobe website. We have been trying to use Encore for over a year now and Adobe has done nothing to solve basic button routing, disc burning and menu issues in that time.

I have just purchased a new HP Workstation and we’ll be switching to NetBlender’s DoStudio as soon as the computer arrives.

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

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[Cody Westheimer]

I’m with ya on the Toast/Bluray thang. Not impressed. Actually had Toast encode it overnight and it plays back but looks AWFUL. Totally flickering video, looks about as bad as their encoded DVDs…

Looking into Encore, but can’t find a demo version anywhere. Tried downloading Premiere Pro Demos (both Mac and PC) and they don’t include it. Bummed about toast!

Thanks for your help. 🙂

Cody
http://www.runningformyfather.com

[Walter Biscardi]

[Cody Westheimer] “Actually had Toast encode it overnight and it plays back but looks AWFUL. Totally flickering video, looks about as bad as their encoded DVDs… “

Don’t have Toast encode your video, do it in Compressor.

[Cody Westheimer] “Looking into Encore, but can’t find a demo version anywhere. Tried downloading Premiere Pro Demos (both Mac and PC) and they don’t include it. Bummed about toast! “

I don’t think they have one. They don’t even feature it on their Products page. Trust me, stay away from Encore and you’ll be glad you did.

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

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[Cody Westheimer]

I’d like to share the love and save others the trouble I’ve experienced burning a bluray disc!

Here we go:

HDV Sequence in Final Cut Pro
Export Sequence as Video Only DVCPROHD 1080i60
Audio File: 16 bit, 48khz WAV file (should work with a 5.1 AC3 as well)

Open DVCPROHD File in Compressor
Use Following Settings:
(I started by selecting HD DVD: MPEG-2 30 Minutes, then made the following changes)
File Format: MPEG-2
Extension: m2v (had allow job segmenting checked)
Stream Usage: Blu-ray
Format: HD 1920×1080
Frame Rate: 29.97
Aspect: 16:9
Field Dom: Top First

Mode: 2 pass VBR Best
Av BR: 21
Max BR: 26
Motion: Best

Frame Controls: On
Resize: Better
Output: Same
Deint: Best (Motion Comp, Adaptive Details checked)

It took my Dual 2.3ghz G5 about 26 hours to encode my 26 minute film. Yikes.

From there…I tried using Toast to “multiplex” the disc, and experienced countless problems. I must have gone through 20 “recipes.” I gave up on Toast for the multiplexing. I have not yet tried Encore, but hear that it’s promising. (the demos on the web don’t work…and most are actually for the old music program Encore!) Anyway, I decided to to try NetBlender’s DoStudio – a pro solution with a 30 day trial. (https://dostudio.netblender.com) I installed it on my MacBook under Parallels and successfully imported my m2v and wav files (it also requires an image for the disc – a png, I used a black frame so it’s essentially transparent.) After jumping through some very minor hoops I was able to compile (multiplex) the disc.

From here I brought the two folders, BMDV and CERTIFICATE into Toast after selecting “BDMV Folder” as my burn option. I then used the “save to disc image” command in Toast to make an image of the disc before actually burning onto my BD-RE. (I’ve had some write errors before when I excluded this step.) Burn the image to a BD-RE and play it in your PS3. Beautiful! Too bad I’ve only got 30 days. 🙂

BTW, I’m using an LG BluRay Burner (bare drive – https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137) with a granite digital SATA->USB adapter.

After days of trouble shooting….works like a charm! 🙂

[Rich Rubasch]

Completely opposite experience with toast 9 here. Had a 12 minute 1080i DVCProHD clip and simply exported a Ref clip. Dragged it into Toast and turned off menus so it was a pop and play. Encoded it and burned it to a DVD-R disc and it looked spectacular. One stop shopping. Surely did not look like the original footage, but at a trade show from 15 feet away it looks way better than an anamorphic DVD and I can use DVD-R discs and a $99 piece of software.

Perfect? No. But certainly works and again, delivers way better quality than anamorphic DVDs.

I had no skipping issues etc. No blocks. No worries.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media

[Walter Biscardi]

[Rich Rubasch] “Surely did not look like the original footage, but at a trade show from 15 feet away it looks way better than an anamorphic DVD and I can use DVD-R discs and a $99 piece of software. “

With Compressor we’re able to get final results that look identical to the original HD footage. Both 1080i HD and 720p HD usually starting out in DVCPro HD, but sometimes ProRes. That’s why I would recommend you use Compressor for the files and then let Toast burn the disc.

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

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[Matt Jones]

I’ve been following this thread with great interest. We also bought Encore thinking it was the best thing out for BluRay on a Mac. Since reading all the problems everybody seems to be having with it, We’ve decided to not waste any time on it and look for other solutions.

Yesterday I took a Media100HD reference file and dropped it into Toast and burned a BluRay on DVD. I tested on a PS3 with a HDMI to a HD CRT and discovered the wrong field order. I switched the field order in Toast and the resulting “BluRay DVD” looks REALLY good. Some of the transitions got a little pixelated so I’m now looking to make a good workflow better.

I’m trying the MPEG-2 settings posted by Cody with an AC3 audio file. Toast asked me for the audio file and seemed to multiplex it without problems. If the multiplexing happens before the burn, I expect the same results for a BDR as the DVDR. We have a Lacie d2, just not willing to burn a bunch of $ up testing codecs.

I’m testing at lunch and will report back asap. This forum is a vital resource for all of us independents trying to produce good quality BluRay on a Mac. Thanks!!!!

[Walter Biscardi]

[Matt Jones] “If the multiplexing happens before the burn, I expect the same results for a BDR as the DVDR. We have a Lacie d2, just not willing to burn a bunch of $ up testing codecs. “

Invest in one or two BD-RW’s for testing. That’s what we use here for all our testing before committing to the BD-R’s.

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

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[Matt Jones]

Thanks Walter, I’ll pick a couple of BD-REs up tomorrow.

The encode I tested at lunch was 21 Mbps on a DVD and it skipped and froze and skipped…

Is there a Mbps limit on for BluRay on DVD reading/playback?
If so, is it different for each player model?
How does the PS3 stack up as a player?

Thanks,

Matt

[Walter Biscardi]

[Matt Jones] “Is there a Mbps limit on for BluRay on DVD reading/playback? “

We never use DVDs for BluRay material.

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

STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!