proffessional dvd authoring and duplication

[Eric Pautsch]

I’m confused…you have DVDSP and Compressor and you plan to send it out to an authoring house which uses DVDSP and Compressor?

[Lucas Fazzary]

Just did this on Monday. Our client supplied the authored DVDSP project with everything complete except for the movies were not compressed to mpeg2 yet (supplied as uncompressed QuickTime v210). We then used our SD-2000 and Cinema Craft encoders to create the mpeg2 files and placed them in the project and output. Saved me time and saved the client money and got way better results then Compressor (by itself) could do.

Another option if you are going to be doing a lot of these projects and are running FCP6 on an Intel box then you may want to invest in the Cinema Craft MP plugin.

-Luke

[Peter Crawford]

Yes I do have these, but ive tried lots of different scenarios for compression and burning and am not satisfied with the overall quality.

So far Ive created a graphical menu in motion and used this as my menu in dvsp and then created tracks.

Ive compressed everything AS MPEG 2 before importing and used 6.5/7.9 bitrate settings in compressor and dvdsp. The quality is not good enough, especially with the menu graphics.

The tracks/footage is O.K maybe passable but the menu graphics which will be the first thing the client sees is too low res.

Currently im experimenting with exporting the menu as uncomp 10 bit uncomp and animation codecs(my footage is SD pal )and importing straight into dvdsp, but im not sure that even this will be good enough.

So I was thinking it may be best to get a pro authoring house who no dought have superior equipment to do the compression and burn for me to end up with a pro looking dvd. ????? Am i wrong? it seems that dvdsp is good enough to output ‘prosumer’ quality???

[Peter Crawford]

Thanks Luke,

So I am right in assuming that compressor is pretty much a prosumer application, and that to master a proffesional great looking DVD it is common practice to outsource the final compression and authoring
unless I can afford to upgrade to more professional application or hardware???

So in terms of the delivery format, I would firstly create a dvd menu in DVDSP containing graphics and layout etc and deliver this with all the seperate (uncompressed)tracks and let the authoring company do the rest???

1/ What is V210, is it similiar to uncomp 10 bit?

2/ what kind of file/format would i have to deliver the dvd menu project as so it could be edited and the tracks laid on, ie would I have to make sure that the company uses fcp and DVDSP?

3/ what is v210, is it similiar to uncompressed 10 bit?

Really appreciate yor help, cheers

[Lucas Fazzary]

So in terms of the delivery format, I would firstly create a dvd menu in DVDSP containing graphics and layout etc and deliver this with all the seperate (uncompressed)tracks and let the authoring company do the rest???swa

-Yep you can have the whole project ready to go (navigation, linking, button highlights, etc)and even have the uncompressed quicktimes in the tracks. These are easy to switch out with mpeg2 files. Just make sure where ever you are sending this they are willing to do this type of service.

1/ What is V210, is it similiar to uncomp 10 bit?

-Yes, V210 is an Aja codec, uncompressed 10 bit 4:2:2. Cinema Craft seems to enjoy that codec for compression.

2/ what kind of file/format would i have to deliver the dvd menu project as so it could be edited and the tracks laid on, ie would I have to make sure that the company uses fcp and DVDSP?

-Yes if you are using DVDSP to author make sure thats what they are using as well. That way they can just open the project and swap out the quicktime files.

[Peter Crawford]

Thanks mate thats awesome!

Just one question,

you say that I could even have the uncomp 10 bit tracks in place in the menu ready to go..
Isnt media automatically compressed by dvdsp when imported or does this only happen in the burning/encoding process?

[Scott Roberts]

To quote DVD Studio Pro:

“You can create a disc image in one of two industry-standard formats — Cutting Master Format (CMF) version 1.0 or version 2.0; or Disc Description Protocol (DDP) version 2.1 or version 3.0. Write images to a hard drive, DVD, or digital linear tape (DLT) for transfer to the replication facility.”

I recently created a disc image on a DVD-R and everything worked out.

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[Lucas Fazzary]

Yes you can have the 10 bit video in place of the menu as well. Just make sure your instruction say to encode that video as well. As long as you dont build the project it will not encode the videos. just save the project and place the project folder on a firewire/usb harddrive and send off.

-Luke

[Randy Lee]

I agree completely that Compressor / DVD SP isn’t completely on par with professional grade products. A decent hardware encoder or a better software encoder (I believe several were mentioned, otherwise a quick search of the cow will yield great results) will beat them out every time. Personally, where I’m at, we’ve only touched Compressor/ DVD SP in an emergency, and other than that we use use a hardware encoder for everything. It just plain looks better in the end.

If you are working with those, though, definitely have Compressor do your conversion, not DVD SP. I hear quite a few of the Pros saying that you should shoot for around 6.5 CBR for the best quality.

Also, check out the preferences in DVD SP. You can tell it to either encode in the background, or encode on build. So if you are taking it to a post house, simply set it to encode on build and you won’t have it sucking up valuable processor cycles while you’re working.

Best of luck to you, and let us know what you end up doing in the end to get the best final product.

[Peter Crawford]

Thanks Lucas,

Sorry if this question seems obvious…but just want to make sure..

1/Currently under under preferences/destinations I am saving to my dvdsp files on my main application harddrive and then when I save the project myself Im saving it to my current projects in my 2nd drive..Is this right?…Whats the difference?…The Icon in the folder ive specified under destinations drive says dvdsp-‘layout’

2/Which folder would I be delivering to the post house?

3/No dought in this or a seperate folder I have to provide (all)the original media I have used to create the DVD..ie folders with all the logos, tracks etc otherwise I’ll just be giving them an offline reference copy???

Thanks again.