Compressor issues…ughh

[Ken Jones]

Leave the interlacing as it is. It’s the scaling that causes HD footage to look bad on an SD DVD. Set the Resize filter to “Best”.

Frame Controls: “On”
Resize Filter: “Best” (this is the most important setting IMO)
Output fields: Same As Source
Deinterlace: “Fast” (this actually won’t be doing anything but no reason to slow it down by selecting “Best”)
Rate Conversion: “Fast”

Adjust your bit rate to as high as you can go and still fit it all on a dual-layer DVD. Your total media size should be no more than around 8GB. Save yourself some time and use a One Pass CBR.

[Anthony Cook]

Thanks for the help guys! I’m thinking the Motion Graphics that I created for the 9th quad watermark are just too intricate for SD. I tried both suggestions and for the life of me can’t see any change….even at 7.3 vbr 8.5 max.
My last question is if my exported QT files (which are 1080i) will burn and play on a normal dvd player, Blue ray just allows you to fit more on a disc, right? Or does DVDSP or iDVD automatically down grade it to SD? I’ve put a few of the HD QT files and they looked great on a LCD, but I couldn’t fit all 20 vids.

[Walter Soyka]

[Anthony Cook] “My last question is if my exported QT files (which are 1080i) will burn and play on a normal dvd player”

No. Normal set-top DVD players only play properly authored standard definition DVDs.

[Anthony Cook] “Blue ray just allows you to fit more on a disc, right?”

In terms of raw data storage, Blu-ray discs hold 25 GB (50 for dual layer); DVDs hold 4.7 GB (8.5 DL).

Blu-ray video discs allow HD video, unlike DVD, which is SD only.

[Anthony Cook] “Or does DVDSP or iDVD automatically down grade it to SD? “

DVDSP and iDVD can only author standard definition DVDs. (Technically, DVDSP can also author HD DVD, but this is the now-defunct format that lost to Blu-ray.)

You can author very basic, template-driven Blu-ray discs from FCP/Compressor with the most recent release of Final Cut Studio. Toast also offers simple Blu-ray authoring. Adobe Encore offers more extensive Blu-ray authoring, and truly serious Blu-ray work must be done on PC-based systems.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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