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Time to compress Pro Res 422 HD to SD in compresssor?
I’ve seen lots of threads on the compression workflow for HD footage to DVD. I’ve chosen the one pasted below as it produces good results on a short test clip. My question is, how long should each step take in compressor. I just got step one going in compressor on a 90 minute file and it says it’ll take 10 hours. Doesn’t this seem a bit high?
I’m running a Macbook Pro w/ 2.26 ghx intel core 2 duo, 4gb RAM and the file is stored on a good Lacie external HD with lots of space.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
-Gabe
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1. Resize your HD movie to SD using Compressor but don’t compress it.
* Encode it to ProRes HQ* In the Frame Controls tab, turn Frame Controls On, set Output Fields to Progressive, Deinterlacing to Better, and turn Adaptive Details Off.
* In the Geometry tab set image size to 853 x 480 using a custom 16:9 aspect ratio.
2. See how your movie looks. It WON’T look as good as HD, as the image resolution is seven times smaller. But it should look OK. The best approach is to work with only a short – say 20 second section – to save time until you get the settings you want.
3. Then, compress the resized image to MPEG using the DVD Best Quality 120 minutes setting.
This two-step process takes a bit longer, but should provide a lot higher quality.
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4 Replies
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It will take a long time going from HD to SD, Compressor is slow.
I would NOT de-interlace or go progressive UNLESS your HD material is progressive.
Chris
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Apparently.
I’m not de-interlacing as the footage is shot on DSLR (progressive).
I’m new to the Hd workflow and it’s a bit suprising how long everything takes.
Thanks, Gabe
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HD –> SD conversion takes time. On your hardware I imagine it’ll take quite a bit of time. Laptops don’t have the same horsepower as desktops. Be prepared to wait.
You also may want to import your test clip into DVD Studio Pro (or whatever authoring software you intend on using) because 853×480 is not a NTSC supported resolution. It will likely look strange on a DVD. If you are doing widescreen on the web with a square pixel aspect ratio then 853×480 is the correct resolution. But SD-DVD’s use a 720×480 resolution with a 1.2121 pixel aspect ratio (meaning non-square pixels). You can set this in Compressor in the Geometry tab by selecting NTSC CCIP 601/DV (16:9) from the pixel aspect drop down menu. That will create a SD clip that is NTSC compatible.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
Thanks Ryan!
I did burn a test disk with a few clips using the workflow I outlined and it looks great on a tv and pretty good/acceptable when played on my laptop. So, I’ve decided to go ahead with the actual files.
Thanks for the notes on size and aspect ratio. As everything looked good I decided to stick with 853×480. We’ll see. If for some reason it doesn’t work I’ll try what you suggested.
Thanks again, Gabe
P.S. Nice website. Hope business is good.
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