-
Falling seriously out of love with Apple
-
[Neil Weaver] “As for DVDSP… What can I say that I haven’t already? The final nail in that coffin came the day I got a perfect result in iDVD from a ProResHQ video that DVDSP wouldn’t handle as it was an ‘incompatible format’.”
Why in the world would you allow DVDSP to do any sort of encoding? I know people drag QT movies straight into it and iDVD. That’s just crazy.
What you should do, and we have done, is you have all your custom presets ready to go in Compressor. We have about 20 different custom presets for all manner of web, DVD and BluRay delivery.
DVDSP has ZERO to do with your final quality. How you compress is what makes all the difference in your end product. If you and a large British production company get great results with MPEG Streamclip, then go for it, but I would never recommend that for DVDs. Compressor and BitVice are the two you really want to use with BitVice the most superior compression that I’ve seen.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” featuring Sigourney Weaver coming soon.
-
And we just made 1000 SD DVD’s of a music tour to Romania that was shot in HD as well. They turned out great. I make DVD’s all the time and have never had a problem with graphics in DVDSP but I always use Compressor to encode.
Apple Certified Master Pro FCS 2
Sony EX-3
MacBook Pro -
Have to agree with Walter on having different software packages in facility.
Our clients love us because everything they need to have done can be done here with what we have
from shooting all the way through to deliverables.As for DVDs I go through about 1,000 of them a month so yes DVD is very much alive.
I use DVD STudio pro and compressor in tandem almost daily.I go through about 50 Blu-Rays a month now as well.
-
Folks…. These programs are just tools. We all have very different needs and different workflows. What works for one doesn’t mean that works for another, but the suggestion may help.
I will agree with Neil and the rest of the guys. All software needs some sort of improvement. If it were perfect, software manufacturers would eventually be out of a job…
I make lots of DVDs, too. Along with tons of web video. Sure using Compressor and DVDSP in conjunction gives a get product, but no one has mentioned anything about the fact that you can make your DVDs inside of Compressor, too, if you’d like.
Personally, I don’t want to take the time involved in that process so we use Roxio’s Toast for all of our programs – simple DVD and BluRays. Its perfect for that client review or just a program viewing copy without menus. Its much better that iDVD besides… Toast is perfect for making those project backups to DVD or BluRay.
_______________________________
Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
https://web.mac.com/schazamproductions
schazamproductions@mac.com -
Fiddlesticks!
Mpeg Streamclip as good or better than Compressor?
Streamclip is a useful app, but Compressor looks much better.As far as FCP needing an overhaul, I would ask why? I hate change, for the sake of change. Especially the UI. “Looking tired” is not a reason to revamp the UI. It is not there to entertain, it is a tool. And I don’t want to open my tool box and find out that someone has put put new handles on all the screwdrivers, and then put them in the wrong drawer. I really want to spend my time editing, not relearning an app because some twenty-something software engineer thinks the UI isn’t trendy and hip enough.
Sure every piece of software, could be improved. That isn’t what I mean. I’m sure everyone here has a tweak or two they would like to see. But, the premise that the FCP suite is out of date, or useless is completely false.I use the entire FCP suite except Cinema Tools, and the only one I would make major changes to is Soundtrack Pro.
The 90% majority of my workflow is HDV material to SD DVD, and the other 10% is web delivery. Blu Ray? Haven’t had a call for it yet. In fact, the only people I know that own a player all work in the biz or its their PS3. I think demand for BR is still regional. If I need to do BR, I’ll just go with a 3rd party app. With the exception of STP, which seems buggy at times, I can’t complain.
If you find yourself spending hour after hour fussing with the app, perhaps it is either that it isn’t properly installed, or you need to read the manual, because in three years this hasn’t been my experience. I installed it, and ran it without incident until SL came out. Then I went to SL, did a clean install, updated my drivers, and it has worked fine since then. About two months ago, I rolled back an update, because it killed the mpeg2 audio on Streamclip, and that took a few hours. So I would say that in three years, I have spent around twenty hours total in downtime, with updates, installs.
In the end, these things are just tools, so if it isn’t working for you, vote with your dollar and go buy an Avid. But I think it’s unnecessary to flame the entire suite, especially with what sounds like user error and unrealistic expectations. And I’m not a classic Apple fanboy either. I have been a MS/PC user since the days of dos, and my editing system is the first Mac I’ve ever had. Nor am I new to editing. I have years of online experience on CMX, Paltex, and Sony linear systems. But IMHO, a Mac Pro running FCP delivers a pretty good bang for the buck.
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Neil
There’s not a stronger authoring package anywhere close to DVDSP (PC or Mac) unless you want to step up to the more high end spec tools. I think someone said that DVDSP has nothing to do with the quality of your streams – thats the job of the encoder. If you need better result you need to learn the finer points of down conversions, encoding and menu design.
As for Compressor, its a great all around swiss army knife but its a crappy MPEG 2 encoder.
If you gave me your streams done on iDVD against what can truly be done with the right knowledge, I’ll pick out your work in a heartbeat. 🙂 Not trying to sound mean, its just the truth.
-
[Neil Weaver] “DVDSP has a … lack of Blu-Ray authoring which really should’ve been addressed by now and just haven’t.”
Blu-ray? I don’t know if you have been noticing, Neil, but Blu-ray’s sales numbers are really just slightly above pathetic. Why? The new “Divergence” issue of Creative COW Magazine (that is at the printer now and will shortly be released), tells many parts of the story.
A large and growing part of the market has moved WAY BEYOND optical disc-based formats and broadcasters are finding that the future is not going to be Blu-ray or any other high-priced format that tries to sell the same old titles in a new edition for another $24.95 or more.
The Divergence Issue looks at many new means of both distribution and the devices that handle them, and Blu-ray is hardly a mention.
My bet is that in another couple of years, Blu-ray will enjoy even smaller sales numbers than it is today.
As some here have mentioned, their customers are not even asking for discs anymore.
You are right, Neil: it IS 2010 and things have changed and that change is accelerating — unfortunately, not in the direction of any optical disc-based format.
For more of the story and why, check out the new Divergence Issue when it is posted in the next week or two (we like to make sure our first class subscribers get their issues in the mail before anyone else).
Ronald Lindeboom
https://www.creativecow.net
https://www.creativecowmagazine.net -
Hi Neil,
If you are using DVDSTP to compress MPEG-2 and you are comparing MagicBullet (I love it ) with Color, something that tells me that you do not understand the applications you are using.
You want fast and good results, and to get that there are no presets.
Cheers,
rafael -
[Scott Sheriff] “As far as FCP needing an overhaul, I would ask why?”
FCP user interface is fine. It is under the hood that needs a major rewrite.
-
….and can we can the name of the post house in the UK that uses MPEG Stream Clip for all their compression needs so we can not send our work there? If true, that’s so sad beyond words! 🙂
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up