[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Trevor,

Easy fix – do NOT use a “multiplexed” MPEG-2 file, meaning one that has audio/video combined. Rather, export as two separate files. This will be .m2v video, and either .wav or .ac3 audio. If .wav, then Encore will automatically transcode to Dolby AC-3, so no worries.

Be sure to correctly bit budget so that the files you create will fit the DVD, otherwise Encore will transcode the video again, resulting in quality loss.

I typically use the formula 560/minutes=bitrate, and just round down the result a bit to allow for menu overhead, or just do a web search for “dvd bitrate calculator” and there are plenty.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Randy,

Just get an inexpensive HDMI “splitter” unit to drive two displays, such as those offered by monoprice

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Audio tracks by default are usually 48k, so if for instance you have an audio clip at 44k, it won’t drop into a 48k track. Drag clip from bin down to very bottom of sequence and it will create a new audio track to match your clip. If you want to clean up the work area and get rid of empty audio tracks, right-click on left area of audio track, choose “Delete Tracks” and then “Delete empty tracks”

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Peter,

What is your workflow with Sorenson? Do you have to create an intermediate file from Premiere and then bring that into Squeeze? If so, that may create additional compression loss and of course add to encoding time. With AME, you can create the Blu-ray output direct from Premiere, so really up to you, if you want to compare quality and workflow steps and make your own decision.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Peter,

Please verify – in your Encore Blu-ray project, did you do the following –

Go to File > Project Settings and then in the Project Settings pop-up window, change “Authoring Mode” to “DVD”?

I ask because if you simply exchange Blu-ray and DVD in the Build window, that does NOT change the authoring mode, so it would still be in Blu-ray mode even if you changed the “output” to DVD.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Peter,

What struck me from the start was the description of the P2 Sequence that said it was for “1080i – 1080p”. I’ve never seen an Adobe preset COMBINE the two, because they are DIFFERENT and usually each have their own preset. The above preset shows “Upper Field”, so that is obviously then NOT progressive. Therefore when you dropped progressive footage into that sequence, Premiere wanted to change the setting to match the footage, which it did by changing the fields to progressive.

So I feel that the custom preset is correct and should work fine for you then.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Peter,

What I’m seeing is that the original sequence preset shows UPPER FIELDS, where the custom preset shows PROGRESSIVE

[Jeff Pulera]

With the client using the iPad, is that so they can call up random video clips to show people as needed? If they just need a “looping” video to play in the booth, then I would recommend a Western Digital “WDTV” or similar “media player”. These are very small boxes that have a USB input, into which you connect a thumb drive or small USB hard drive with your video on it, and then the box plays it out to the display via HDMI. So you encode your videos to H.264 and put them on the USB drive, and the WDTV has a remote control with it and provides an onscreen menu interface to your monitor where you can go through the videos, stills, music clips and choose what to play, whether to loop, etc. Under $100, I use one at dance recitals and such to sell videos, let it run all day and loop my demo clips in HD.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Randy,

When talking about an HD TV in one’s living room, those don’t care too much what the source is. If the TV is a 720p model, you can still send it a 1080i or 1080p input, and it will just be shown scaled to 720p resolution since that is the max that the TV hardware can display.

So in that case, no the display does not really dictate what you shoot. Plus, in Adobe Media Encoder, you can always output to something different than what you shot (though frame rate changes can affect quality).

However, I still recommend that you find out what the whole deal is with the trade show setup. HOW do they feed the display? For instance, Blu-ray discs only support certain combinations of resolution and frame rate, so if they intend to play the source from Blu-ray, you’d want to shoot in a supported format. Or maybe they use some sort of “Media Player” device, so again, find out the specs of what it handles/requires. And same goes for the display – is it projection? LCD? Some third-party hardware the feeds multi-displays in a video wall? The the “living room” thing goes out the window and you need to find out the specs for the delivery system and produce your content in a supported resolution and frame rate.

Start at the end (delivery), and work your way back to the camera (acquisition). Once you know the specs for delivery, that will guide the camera setup.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Chris,

Image sequences are not known for playing back smoothly, even at a video frame size. Your images are HUGE! Two options:

1 – Batch-convert the stills down to a video-friendly size to match your project, such as 1920×1080, before Importing.

2 – RENDER the timeline for smooth playback. Even at the 1920×1080, the sequence may not play back smooth, just the nature of things, but will be easier with the smaller files

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers