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What settings for initial FCP7 set-up?
Hi folks,
I have worked using Final Cut Express for several years. I do a lot of composite editing, so I stepped up to FCP7 since I thought a better codec would yield better final output to DVD (I do weddings).
FYI: I still use the same “pro-sumer” (i.e. consumer) cameras that I used with my previous platform.
Since I switched to the better codec (I currently use ProRes422LT), my DVD quality seems to be worse, not better. Needless to say, I’m disappointed.
I suspect my inexperience with the more professional platform is the problem. I really know very little about how to set up a project in FCP7. I’m wondering if someone more experience would be kind enough to provide a little info on how to go about setting up a new FCP7 project so as to maintain DVD quality.
What settings should my sequences be? (My cameras are Canon HF M400s)
Are there other settings I need to pay attention to?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Thanks very much,
Vic -
14 Replies
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You don’t really need to setup the project settings. Once your footage has been transcoded to ProRes LT, you just open a new project, drop a clip into the timeline and say “yes” so that the timeline will automatically become your footage’s format.
Once you complete your edit, export a “Quicktime Movie” “self-contained”. This is full res Prores LT file of your finished project. At that point you should see zero quality loss. Now take that file and bring it into Compressor. Apply the “Best Quality” DVD settings to your file and submit. Once Compressor is done, you bring those files into DVD Studio Pro to complete the burn (or build your TS folders in Studio Pro and bring those folders into Toast to burn). With this process your final DVD will look great. -
EDITED
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Hey, Man! Awesome advice, and it gives me hope! I’ve never used compressor (in my life! Never even thought of it, but it did come with my FCS3!) I’m thinking it will help a lot, ’cause a long time ago I’d read about how it improves quality!
I will definitely give this a try! Can’t wait to see the results!
Thanks so very much!
Vic -
Hey Spencer. I’ve converted using Compressor. I’m into DVD Studio Pro, but man it’s confusing! Can I use the mpeg2 file (the one created by Compressor) to simply create a DVD in iDVD?
Thanks,
Vic -
Hey Vic!
Honestly man I’ve never used iDVD, but here are the easy steps for Studio Pro:
-Compressor has created 2 files (mpeg for video and aac for audio)
-Open DVD Studio Pro. Drag your 2 files straight from the finder into the little tv box icon (called “track 1”) in studio pro in the upper left hand window. You’ll see your movie in the box and in the timeline and in the “assets” window now.
-You can delete the other box called “menu 1”. Now control click on the “track 1” box to bring up the menu, and select “First play”.
-Now at the top, select “burn”. That’s it!This is without menus, just a straight dvd that plays.
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Hey, again, Spencer!
I’ve looked to see what files were created by Compressor, and the only two files I see are:
1. one that ends with: MPEG-2 18.0Mbs.m2v
and
2. one inside a folder labelled ; that file is named similarly: MPEG-2 18.0Mbs.mtv.par
Perhaps I have used Compressor incorrectly?
Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated. I will review your previous suggestion on how to use Compressor to make sure I’ve done it correctly. FYI: My first Compressor attempt took about an hour to export an 18-minute .mov file for DVD creation.
Anyways,
Thanks again!
Vic -
Vic, make sure that when you apply the DVD setting in compressor you drag and drop the entire folder “DVD best” onto the file, not just the video setting in the folder. It contains both the audio (ac3) and video.
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Hey, Spencer! Thanks so much for your help. It appears I still have one more hurdle: Because my internal DVD drive gave out, I have since purchased an external DVD drive (it’s a good Pro model that cost me, like, $400).
Previously (i.e. when using iDVD), when I clicked on “Burn”, I would get the option to select the external drive. However, when I’m using DVD Studio Pro, I don’t get that option; instead, it tries to use the internal DVD drive (which doesn’t work).
Any idea how to set up DVD Studio Pro to work with an external burner? Is there a hardware settings window either in DVD Studio Pro, or on the computer itself?
Thanks so much!
Vic -
Hey Vic, sorry don’t have any experience with this, but take a look at this thread it might be there:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3112577?start=0&tstart=0
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Hey, Spencer.
Thanks for the link!
A follow-up question, if I may:
Basically, I’ve been burning DVDs that, I believe, could/should be of a higher quality. (i.e. currently, I feel the image quality is a bit washed out, especially compared to the original .mov files used to create the DVD, and also as compared to other DVDs I have viewed).
My question is this:
How much quality is lost in the final stage of video production, i.e. DVD creation? I’m asking because, it seems to me, I’m generally quite happy with the quality of my video projects right up until the DVD-burning stage. That final leap, i.e. creating the DVD, seems to steal away far more of the image quality than I would like or would have expected. I realize that I’m going from HD to SD, but I still feel I’m losing too much quality when burning DVDs (I seem to get the same quality whether I use DVD-SP or Toast to burn the DVD).Any information you can provide to help me determine what’s acceptable, quality-wise, for the DVDs I create will be very much appreciated.
Thank you, again!
Vic
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