Sequence/Export settings

[Tom Meegan]

Given your situation I would use an uncompressed sequence.

If the edit is going take more than several days and go through revisions, I would upconvert your DV footage, and anything else that is not uncompressed, to 10-bit or 8-bit uncompressed. Which you choose depends on whether you have enough disk space, and how sensitive you and your audience is to quality. Many people can’t see the difference between 8 and 10 bit unless they are side by side, and it will probably be irrelevant by the time your get to DVD.

Although an upconvert will not improve the quality of the DV footage, your matted graphics will hold up better after a uncompressed sequence render than they will after a render in a DV sequence. The difference between matted graphics in a DV sequence can be significant when compared to matted graphics in an uncompressed sequence.

If you exported your graphics with the animation codec, these will have to be rendered in the time line. You may have to try a few experiments to come up with the best workflow.

Your edit will be most efficient if you pre-convert your footage to the most common and highest quality format. Whether “most common” or “highest quality” takes priority depends on many factors. Like:

1. Disk space available
2. Ratio of differing amounts of footage
3. Deadline
4. Quality sensitivity
5. Delivery formats

An uncompressed sequence is the best compromise, if graphic quality is very important, and you have the disc space for a pre-edit convert, or the patience for many renders as you edit.

If there aren’t many graphics, or there is a LOT of footage and not a lot of disk space, I would recommend another path

[Loren Hillebrand]

Thanks, Tom, for the detailed reply. If I do use a DV sequence, would exporting that sequence using QuickTime Conversion as Uncompressed 8-bit provide better graphics than exporting using Quicktime Movie with current settings? Or is the quality dictated/limited by the sequence settings before export?

[Tom Meegan]

When your DV sequence is complete, the highest quality way to get to MPEG-2 and AC3 files for your DVD delivery is using Export Using Compressor from within Final Cut Pro.

File > Export > Using Compressor

However, this method is slow and ties up Final Cut Pro while it works. Depending on your deadlines and facilities, not being able to use FCP while the compression is going on can be a bummer. You also need a working knowledge of Compressor.

A second way to go would be to export a movie that you will then bring into Compressor or DVDSP:

File > Export > Quicktime Movie

Setting : Current Settings

and Check next to Make Movie Self-Contained.

This will give you a stand alone DV movie of your final product that you can bring into Compressor or DVDSP.

If you don’t check Make Movie Self-Contained you will get a reference movie. This movie will be quite small. It works by refering to the original media. If the any of the original media is moved or deleted, this reference movie will not work. Creating a reference movie is a good choice if you lack disk space, but will can get dicey if you move projects and media between computers and drives. Use with caution.

The down side of this method is it introduces one additional compression cycle.

I suggest you find a 15 second bit of your sequence that has many elements and test different methodologies to see what you like. The additional DV compression of an export from FCP is unlikely to matter as much as really nailing the mpeg-2 settings in Compressor. Test all the way out to burning a DVD and playing it on your TV. Label the burned discs and compare and contrast.

Mpeg-2 settings, to borrow a phrase from David Bogie, is part science, part dark art. Experimentation on a little bit of video, as well as reading the manuals and anything you can find online, will help a tremendous amount.

If your are going to iDVD, you don’t have control over these mpeg-2 settings. Just export your DV movie from FCP, bring the result into iDVD and hope for the best.

Good luck.

Tom Meegan

[Loren Hillebrand]

Thanks for all the information, Tom. It’s very much appreciated.