[Jeff Bellune]

[Alicia Beeson] “I started a new project to test the imported 704 size by transcoding it to 720 size with just one of my movies and it worked! but then of course I decided to re-build the entire project and it didn’t work again.”

That one of your files worked (like it should have from the beginning) but not all of them did, indicates that something is wonky with one of your assets.

If you use footage from this camera in the future, and you edit or composite it in AE, the direct-to-mpeg2-in-AE workflow should save you time overall.

If the footage is stretched coming out of AE, then your comp PAR is wrong. If you are setting up a widescreen comp with a PAR of 1.2 and the camera’s footage isn’t true 16:9, then the output from AE will appear stretched.

Try rendering a comp in AE that has a PAR of 0.9 and see if the footage looks normal.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

Encore supports 704×480 for import, but not for output to DVD.

I read a review of your camera, and it records to mpeg2, *not* DV. That explains how it could produce 704×480 output.

However, Encore should be able to transcode the 704×480 uncompressed .avi files into 720×480.

You could try putting your 704×480 mpeg files into a 720×480 AE comp and then exporting the comp to .m2v and .wav files for use in Encore. That would take the transcoding away from Encore, and possibly prevent the error. It would also keep you from having to render the uncompressed .avi in AE, and then spend the time again in Encore to transcode to mpeg2-dvd.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

[Alicia Beeson] “704×480 is the native size the video was shot at on a DV camcorder.”

I have never heard of a DV camcorder that records at that frame size. Which camcorder was used? AFAIK, NTSC DV is *always* 720×480.

How did you get the transcoder settings in Encore to transcode to 704×480? I don’t know of any way to force the MPEG2-DVD presets in Encore to 704×480 – they all output 720×480. In the Project Transcode Presets dialog, make sure to check the text at the bottom of the preview window. The left side has your source dimensions and the right side has your output dimensions.

Maybe if we can get the info on your settings squared away, maybe you won’t get the error anymore.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

Why 704×480?

Why not use Encore’s Automatic Transcoding?

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

That menu works just fine here.

How do you first link to the menu?

Is the loop number set correctly?

Do you have any overrides set, any at all anywhere in the project?

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

Thanks.

1. As you have discovered, nothing obvious points to what is causing the problem, so digging deeper is needed.

2. What is the peak bit rate of the files?

3. Just for clarification, what is the GOP structure?

4. Are the combined file sizes too big for the project, i.e., is there any chance you are trying to put more than 4.7 GB into a single-layer project?

5. If you set the transcode settings to “Don’t Transcode”, what indications are you getting that Encore is transcoding the video assets?

6. Just for fun, please try changing the extensions on the files to .m2v for the video and .wav for the audio. Don’t make any other changes to them and then try them again in Encore.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

[Thad Ciechanowski] “he mpa’s are PCM 48K/16bit and the GOP’s of the mpv’s are set up correctly.”

Frame size and frame rate of the .mpv files, please?

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

I think DVDSP does the same thing that you can do in Encore, except that it automatically fudges things to make the duplicate menus.

DVDSP is notorious for sometimes creating out-of-spec DVDs.

DVDSP has to use a kludge because the highlight color limitations are part of the DVD spec, not just of one authoring program or another.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

You can’t have fancy graphics as highlights. The highlight layer is a 2-bit graphic that’s generated by the DVD player during playback.

To do what you want, you need multiple duplicate copies of the same menu, each with the logo appearing next to a different button, and the button auto-activate feature turned on. Be prepared for lots of linking to lots of different menus. It will be a real nightmare if your menu structure is more than 2 deep.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Jeff Bellune]

Linear PCM audio doesn’t, but it will chew up a lot of disc space.

MPEG Layer 2 (.mp2) audio doesn’t, but it is an optional format according to the spec and some players won’t play it.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0