DVD TV Problems

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Johny,
There are dozens of thread related with the HD to SD workflow.
I tell you how I go from EX-1 to DVD.
You can edit in an EX-1 sequence or directly in an SD sequence.
If you edit in a EX-1 sequence, when you finish your sequence, drop it in a SD sequence.
Before rendering, set the sequence codec of the two sequences to ProRess. Set “Render all YUV Material in High Precission YUV” and “Render Motion Effects: BEST”. You will get a high quality downscaling.
Basically is that.
You only have to be aware, if you are in NTSC-land, of the Shift-fields if you are ending in a Lower-first sequence.
And remember that if you go to NTSC DVD, the size must be 720 x 480. NO 486.
Post back if you have any question.
Cheers,
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Paul Campbell]

Rafa, what would happen if the DVD for NTSC were done at 720×486? Would the sides just get clipped on the TV? It wouldn’t actually degrade the quality, would it?

Paul

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Paul,
The standard sizes for the MPEG-2 of the DVDs are those:
720 × 480, 704 × 480, 352 × 480, 352 × 240 pixel (NTSC)
You can make an MPEG-2 with other sizes as long as you respect the 16 pixels macroblocks structure.
But with the off-standard sizes I guess you can have problems with the authoring applications.
I don’t think DVDSTP accept other size than 720 x 480 for NTSC.
El Rafa

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Jose Minay]

If you use Compressor and DVD Studio Pro then it should work fine. What I do is I edit it an XDCAM timeline native to the EX1 footage. Then I export the final cut as a self-contained clip using FILE-EXPORT-QUICKTIME MOVIE. Then I drop that HD clip in Compressor using the 90 minute DVD preset and then author the DVD with DVD Studio Pro.

The quality is surprising for standard definition as you can tell the depth and color that the EX1 delivers.

Good Luck!

Jose

[Rafael Amador]

Yes. Compressor makes a very good job as long as you set “Frame Control: ON”. Then all the process is done in 32b Floating Point.
What I really don’t like is to import a HD movie and get an SD MPEG-2 or a small H264 for the web.
I prefer downscaling in FC or Compressor, export a SD.mov high quality master and then send it to Compressor or any other application to be transcoded to MPEG-2. Like that you also save time when you are making Double Pass MPG-2 (you don’t need to downscale the movie twice).
The same when doing videos for the web. I export a .mv (normally 10b Unc) de-interlaced and with the exact size I want in the web. If its looks perfect, then I just need to transcode to H264, Flash or WMV.
I like to control like that every step and in the end I save a lot of time.
Cheers,
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Rafael Amador]

[Jose Minay] ” What I do is I edit it an XDCAM timeline native to the EX1 footage. Then I export the final cut as a self-containe”
Hi Jose,
If you set your sequence to ProRess, which ever effect you apply to your sequence will look better. The CC will work much better in ProRess. And if you set to render the sequence in High Precision, will look even better. Avoid render to EX-1 except if you are going back to SxS card or XDCAM disk.
Cheers,
Rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Johnny Mizell]

Thanks, Rafael!
I have the right equipment to do the job, I’m
just a little slow on the learning curve. I
appreciate your help!

Sincerely,

Johnny

Lots of tools-Little knowledge.