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Encoding & Downscaling in Compressor for DVD
Hi Everybody,
I usually always use Compressor, to encode for DVDSP.
But when I do that with HD Material, I get quiet a bit of artifacting, dancing lines and pixelized edges.
It’s weird, it happens only with downscaled HD footage.
What I do: Export from FCP 7 in Apple ProRes or LT, then import in Compressor, set it to CBR, 7Mbs, put resize filter on, quality at best.
Why can it be?Is there an encoder that does a better job, when wanting to encode HD Material for SD Video?
What’s with Episode? It’s better’Greetings,
Sascha
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24 Replies
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You will get artifacting via software going from HD to SD. The best conversion is hardware down conversion, via Teranex.
I would assume that your footage is upper or progressive. Depending on what it is, you will need to set your fields to the appropriate lower or progressive if you want to put it on DVD because DVD takes that. If you are doing a conversion and switching the fields, try going to the Frame Controls tab and change the “Deinterlace” option from “Fast” to another setting. It will take a much longer time (depending on a number of factors, but it may help with trying to remove some of the interlacing you are seeing.
ALSO, I would just trying exporting your .m2v and .ac3 stream just as upper field (if your footage is set to that) and just burn the DVD that way and see if you have the same result. Ultimately, you should switch your fields if you are authoring a DVD, but I have experienced that if you are trying to downconvert from HD to SD onto a DVD, leaving the fields alone sometimes produces a better result than trying to fix the fields.
It’s better to just keep messing around with it, but unless you have access to a hardware encoder that can downconvert for you, you may continue to experience artifacting.
Jessica Muth
jmuth01@gmail.com -
Unfortunately, that cannot be the reason. I am sorry I forgot to mention: Footage was shot 25p, edited 25p, output in ProRes 25p and in Compressor encoded as 25p.
Sascha
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I find Compressor to be inconsistent in the HD to SD conversion for DVD.
Others have found success in changing all the frame controls to best.
This will increase your render time but usually always works. If your show is over 45 minutes I would try a 2 pass variable bit rate with a max of 8 and a average of 6.5mbps. I would do some short tests with known problem areas.Unless you are editing in PR LT I would export the same settings as your sequence via Quicktime(not Quicktime conversion). I always use a reference file for Compression unless you have to export a master anyway as it will save time. Reference files are like a band-aid. Most do not recommend using them more than once.
I have had consistent success with having FC doing the HD to SD conversion and it is usually faster than using Compressor for everything.
I export a ref QT to my project folder.
Create the appropriate SD sequence
Add the exported ref to the sequence and render.
Export the rendered SD sequence and then compress for DVD. -
That workflow I never tried, I will give it a shot.
Never did it, because I was always told that compressor does a far better job than FC.Sascha
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Dear Dave,
Believe me, I am fully aware, that an SD picture can’t look like HD, but there is still a difference between lower resolution and artifacting, dancing lines, extreme pixilated edges – specially around red.
When I shoot stuff in SD with my DVX100B it never loos like that.Ando for the field order: As I wrote above – it’s shot, edited and exported in 25p – also in compressor it’s handled as 25p footage. The quality issues are also clearly of total different nature that line issues. I know, how those look like.
I encoded in Compressor, then created in DVDSP an SD PAL project, build a menu, imported my m2v DVD video and ac3 Audio files – and build a DVD from that.
Sascha
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DVD doesn’t support 25p…only 25i. Compressor is making it interlaced. I would be conforming this to 23.98p and making a 23.98 NTSC disc.
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I will try that setting. Till now it was on ‘same as source material’. Why SD video cannot be progressive? When I shot with my DVX, it’s miniDV, it’s tape and its 25p.
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Why would I transcode a 25p Pal video into 23.98 NTSC when I’m living and delivering in a PAL area?
Sascha.
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Interesting. Thanx. So actually it means, that all tape based recorded cameras write the information Interlaced to the tape, even though it is shot progressive?
Sascha
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Because all European players play NTSC discs. Either that or down convert to 25i first then encode for PAL. There is no PAL 25p in DVD
…and you’re not transcoding, you’d be conforming….just changing those TC numbers to 23.98
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