[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Al,

From my experience using a few different brands on stand-alone DVD recording decks, a couple of minutes is all that is needed to “Finalize” the disc so you can hand it to the customer. Will not play in other DVD players until Finalized.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

If you have Premiere CS5 or newer, and the DVD is not copy-protected, copy the VIDEO_TS folder from disc to your hard drive, then IMPORT the .vob files directly into Premiere to edit, no ripping needed.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Kevin,

Your video SOURCE (camera files) can be ANY size, up to and including uncompressed, as this has nothing to do with any limitations on the delivery format (files will be compressed for DVD at the end). By shooting at 7mbps, you have limited the initial quality. I’d recommend shooting at the standard 24mbps or whatever high-quality setting your camera offers for best results.

I work with Premiere CS6 on the PC and don’t know the Elements or FCPX workflow, but generally you can do your edits in the NLE, and from there, EXPORT TO DVD and the software handles the rest as far as conversions go.

Please review your software documentation and search online for tutorials on how to accomplish your goals with the software you are using

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

A better question would be, why don’t your coworkers update to 5.5.2?

Jeff

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Sheree,

Across any video clip on your timeline, you should see a yellow line – this controls the Opacity of the clip. Just slide it down to achieve the desired level of transparency.

Also, highlight the clip and then go the Effects Controls menu and you can scale and position the image as needed using the MOTION effect.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Martin,

I should mention that the maximum video encode rate for DVD is about 9, but most people won’t go over 7 or 8 for the sake of broad playback compatibility. In other words, under 60 minutes, don’t use the 560/minutes formula, just use CBR 7 or 8 for instance.

Jeff

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Martin,

As you figured out already, edit in a Sequence that matches your footage. For Export, use File > Export > Media to open Adobe Media Encoder, and choose “MPEG-2 for DVD” as the Format. For the Preset, choose “NTSC Widescreen High Quality” for instance. There is also a Progressive option if that suits your source video.

You will need to configure the DATA RATE for the length of the video. A formula I got from Adobe is 560/minutes=rate. For instance 560/120=4.66 and I round down just a bit to allow for menu overhead and such, so 4.5 works well in this case.

Up to you whether to use CBR or VBR encoding, that is a whole other discussion.

At bottom of AME window, select “Maximum Render Quality” as this improves downscaling quality from HD to SD.

Export and then Import results into Encore to author.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Any chance either end of the video got trimmed at all in Encore? Any edits will force a transcode

Jeff

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Bobby,

A couple of possibilities –

1) the MPEG-2 file isn’t fully Blu-ray compliant

2) Maybe your default encode preset in Encore is set to H.264?

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Dave,

I do believe your question has been answered, the Dip to White is behaving exactly as it was meant to. Just because it doesn’t work exactly as you *think* it ought to does not mean there is a bug 😉

Use File > New > Color Matte and make your white clip (235,235,235 suggested) and have at it. Place it at the end of your clip and dissolve to it, will FADE to white and stay there (different than a DIP).

Jeff