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FCPHD to DVD STUDIO PRO looks icky
We have never had a problem sending HD projects to DVD Studio Pro 4 before and in the past few months-the encodes look horrible.
We are editing in HD in FCP and then we make a quicktime by reference with the current HD settings. We take that quicktime and put it into DVD studio Pro to encode. We set DVD Studio Pro to SD and 16:9 letterbox.
Simulator looks greats. We have the bit rate right, and when the DVD is done it looks horrible. The graphics looks chunky, the quality is severally degraded. It looks like it is either an Pixel aspect ratio problem or a field order issue, but I can’t figure out what would make it do that.
We did do an application support upgrade a few months ago, we are on FCP 5.1.4.
Since we have never had an issue with the work flow before, I can’t figure out what is wrong.
Our work around now is to convert the HD timelines in FCP to SD letterbox before we make DVDs. That of course adds another 30 minutes to an hour of render time.
Has anyone else had this problem?
THANKS!
Michelle -
13 Replies
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I prefer using Compressor to make the mpeg files for DVDSP. Export to compressor straight from timeline, select Best or Fast encode for 60 minutes 16:9, should look really nice.
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Thanks for the fast reply Charlie. Yeah I have never used compressor for encoding for DVDs, I always used to let DVD Studio Pro do it.
I will have to play around and see if that will work since we are changing the size on the encode from HD 1280 x 720 to SD 720 x 486 letterbox.
Michelle
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It works great. I’ve used it several times to convert 1080/24 to mpeg2 – even feature films. Just use the presets and it will do a nice job.
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make sure you are using 16:9 aspect ratio and 24P frame rate (unless your 720P is 30P.
Going to compressor from a TCP will give you the best results, it ties up FCP but I think it is worth it.
Also try use CBR instead VBR.
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Compressor and DVDSP’s compression engine is the same thing.
I prefer to export a QT from FCP and use Compressor though. I do a “Make
Self Contained” QT so I have a full resolution file to work with. You can
do a reference file instead. Is it HDV and if so did you force render (conform)
the HDV FCP sequence when finished?Ed
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[Ed Dooley] “Compressor and DVDSP’s compression engine is the same thing. “
But you have more control using compressor.
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[Ed Dooley] “Compressor and DVDSP’s compression engine is the same thing. “
But you have more control using compressor.
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If you want the best quality encodes from compressor export the timeline from FCP and if fact you would want to have your timeline unrended before sending.
If you have a short amount of video encoding a high CBR 6.5-7 Mbps will be better than any VBR.
Export: Using Compressor.
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The projects have been shoot in 24p HD using the HVX200. We use the DVCPROHD 720/24p easy setup while in FCP. We have no issues in FCP and the stuff looks great on our HD monitor and on a downcovert through our Black Magic Card to a SD monitor.
The trouble lies in creating a SD DVD. We usually export by reference rather than self-contained because by reference is referring to the original files and I just have done it that way since NLE’s were born.
I will try a test running it through compressor first, it just sucks because it used to work a few months ago before we did a software upgrade to FCP 5.1.4 and whatever version DVD Studio Pro is that goes with that.
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Michelle,
Letting DVDSP do your encode is like getting your dinner at a drive up window, fast, but it sucks.
Use Compressor, or try Episode Pro, the latest v does a beautiful job.
BTW, Compressor will know if your frame rate is 24p, you don’t have to do anything to it. Compression is an art form, it may take you a few false starts to get it right for your workflow, but it’s worth it. There are a bunch of droplets around which can help with your settings, or you can just experiment.
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