Maximizing Output for DVD

[Brendan Coots]

Rendering out to the Animation codec from AE is fine, however you said your comp is widescreen square pixel aspect ratio, and HD size. I don’t personally use Encore, but most video apps are expecting standard 0.9 pixel aspect ratio. Also, the DVD spec (which is mandatory) absolutely requires 720×480 video UNLESS you have an HD-DVD burner. so maybe Encore is freaking out on the square pixel file (shouldn’t be a problem as I use them in DVD Studio Pro), or the fact that the file is a huge HD file it doesn’t know how to handle, so it just squeezes and compresses it to death.

You should try nesting your comp in a standard NTSC DV Widescreen 0.9 aspect ratio comp (again, DVD spec calls for 720×480 files) and output that, then feed the resulting file into Encore.

Also, all the various settings for DVD output via Encore (or any other decent DVD authoring app) don’t need to be tweaked really. They are mostly there for control when your source material is longer than will fit on a standard DVD.

That said, I would get your settings back to some default (I don’t use Encore so I’m not sure how you would do this) and then only adjust one setting – the bitrate. This should almost always be around 6Mbps average, with a max bitrate of around 7Mbps. If it is an option (again I don’t use Encore) use 2 pass Variable Bit Rate. This will give good quality and will ensure the file isn’t too bitrate heavy, which will cause some DVD players to skip and freak out.

Brendan Coots
Splitvision Digital
http://www.splitvisiondigital.com

[Erik Pontius]

I re-read his original post. I think he created a sq pixel widescreen comp, and not an HD comp, he’s just using screenshots created in PS that are 1920×1080.
Keep in mind that the lower resolution and interlacing of DVD is not friendly to graphics and other material with fine detail (like text on a webpage). Keep this in mind when you build your comps in AE, since you are working with large graphics, you can pan/zoom into areas to make them larger. Another trick for stills that have a lot of fine detail is to add a small amount of vertical blur, 1 pixel should do it. You might also consider generating fields in your render settings in AE (i.e. lower field first).
Last but not least, I’m sure that the built in mpeg encoder in encore is adequate for some quick jobs, but most of your pro’s are going to be using stand-alone encoders (like Canopus Pro-coder, Sorenson Squeeze, etc…) where they can control the encode to get the best quality, calculating out bitrates to squeeze the highest bitrate keeping within the space limitations of the disc. I wouldn’t go higher than around 7mb/s unless you plan on getting this disc replicated at a facility and your delivery to them is DLT tape.

Erik

[Whitlock Dunbar]

Thanks guys! Between your two posts I see a lot that I have either overthought or done incorrectly.

Yes this is a wide-screen, not HD presentation so I’ll nest the master into a new comp. Also I’ll do the vertical blur trick and set the output to lower field.

I have Squeeze 4, and I’m suprised to learn that it is the better choice over Encore for creating a DVD (in terms of quality). I’ll be returning to this project mid-week so I’ll post the outcome.