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Express Pro exporting to quicktime on Mac
I can’t get the black levels correct when exporting from Express Pro to quicktime. I’m on a Mac & ultimately trying to burn a DVD. The black levels are very blue after exporting to a quicktime movie. The blacks then are too high when exporting as a quicktime reference; RGB each have 7 points of color. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to set the compression settings out of Avid so the blacks are normal? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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5 Replies
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Make sure you have your settings to use source compression, but UNcheck the Avid DV codec.
This will force the output to use the Apple DV codec, which has 0-255 luminance values rather than Avid’s Studio RGB space of 16-235.
I take these QT Refs and either use QT pro or Sorenson Squeeze to output my mpeg-2s.
And they look fine. -
Thanks Dave for your reply but I still can’t get proper video even with the Avid codec off. When I set the export to a quicktime reference I can’t get into a compression setting window. I have the option of flattening the tracks and not using the Avid codec
but nothing about compression. Now if I export a QT movie then there are lots of options, but I haven’t found one that works yet. Are you suggesting that QT Pro or Sorenson squeeze would correct the video problem before I get it to DVD Studio Pro? -
Sorry, I mixed up self-contained and reference QTs when writing to your post. The “source compression” references what Avid labeled the “same as source” check box a few years ago in the quicktime movie output module. What this means is you’re exporting at DV, and not transcoding to another format, which is what you want.
As far as outputting Quicktimes for encoding to MPEG, I am assuming the bluish shade in your blacks is merely caused by using the Avid codec. The Avid codec assumes output will be going to a television (via a dv deck or transcoder) so it sets black at 7.5 for NTSC, but when building your DVD, DVDSP processes the already properly setup video yet again, resulting in ultrablack sitting at 7.5 and black at 15.So what I do is output QT or QTRefs, same as source, Avid Codec off (0-255). Then I use QT Pro to encode to MPEG2 and import the m2v and aif files into DVDSP, where the final build brings the blacks back up to 7.5. I’ve been very happy with the results.
If you want to read a December 2003 thread on washed out DVD’s: https://www.creativecow.net/forum/read_post.php?postid=107004336211710&forumid=155&archive=_2003|1|0
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Dave, thanks again it all sounds perfectly logical. The problem with the Avid Express Pro output module is that the QT reference box doesn’t give me the ‘Same as Source’ option. I can take off the Avid Codec, which I’ve been doing for several tests now.
The ‘same as source’ option will appear if I want to export a QT movie. So what you’re suggesting is that QT Pro should encode the blacks properly from a QT Ref. before sending the video to DVDSP? I downloaded QT Pro yesterday but I’m not sure I’ve set it up properly. Ideally I should be saving the QT refs as MPEG2 then importing them into DVDSP. Problem is I don’t see an MPEG2 option in QT Pro. I see MPEG-4 Video & several MPEG IMX options but not the 2. I guess now I have a QT Pro issue???
Man this has been extremely frustrating. Thanks for your help & patience.Jamie
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When you installed DVDSP it should’ve enabled the mpeg-2 output option in QT Pro. If for some reason that didn’t happen, you should be able to take your non-Avid codec QT ref and import it right into DVDSP, letting DVDSP encode either on the build or in the background while you author (check your preferences).
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