[Ryan Atkins]

Agreed. But, these presets are the same idea as using an easy setup in FCP.

[Ryan Atkins]

No problem. It just takes practice and a little reading sometimes.

Good luck on everything.

[Ryan Atkins]

Well, I’m not sure how the newest version of Compessor works, but for Final Cut Studio 2, you get three options for DVD’s. Every preset should give an option for “All”, I do believe. By selecting “All”, you are putting the .m2v and .ac3 presets on your batch.

[Ryan Atkins]

No, he’s right. ProRes isn’t an option when you want to set up your Motion project. It allows you to export as ProRes, but set it up.

I’d use XDCAM EX 720p30. You’ll want your motion graphics to be progressive and the codec runs at 35 mb/s. You can then export as ProRes though, no big deal…though you are adding more information and will lead to a bigger file size.

[Ryan Atkins]

“I´ve had problems viewing my video on PC´s and the quality seems to be muuuuch poorer.”

First off, you should know that a computer monitor won’t display pixels the same as a TV does. NEVER use a PC monitor (laptop or desktop, Mac or PC) to judge the quality of your DVD’s. 720×480 on a computer monitor will not display over the entire screen, like a TV does. If you make the DVD full screen, it will pixelate, because you are actually viewing it at what the video card is set to display.

So —

ALWAYS use a stand-alone DVD player for testing. Sure, make sure the DVD plays fine in a computer, but never judge quality from it. Also, before you commence in burning your DVD in DVD Studio Pro always simulate it – see if there are any major quality flaws with the content you want to burn.

Also, I agree with David. Though, do some tests on multiple players and make a few copies of your own and test those out.

You should definitely get Compressor working again. It has presets for your DVD time length, and those values are set by the video bitrate. So, always export a RAW video file from FCP, bring that into Compressor – choose the appropriate preset (DVD 90, 120, or 150 minute), and this will create an m2v file that DVD Studio likes.

You might have to play with your bitrate settings to get your .ac3 and .m2v file to be under 4.4 GB for a DVD-5 single layer disc. However, the less advanced you are at adjusting these presets in Compressor, the more trouble you get in – it takes time.

Test on a stand-alone, never a computer monitor for quality judgment…and use Compressor.

Hope that helps

[Ryan Atkins]

No, for a live capture you’ll want to change the Capture device to “Non-Controllable”. When recording footage to a tape, any standard MiniDV will do. I will suggest that you use Sony brand – and/or just stay consistent with your tape brand, as they have different chemicals that could potentially damage your tape heads on your camera deck if mixed.

I’ve always used Quicktime to capture live – just start a new video recording and make sure the camera is the selected device.

[Ryan Atkins]

Ok, here are some slightly different settings for HDV capture on the HDR-FX1 with FCP 6:

Camera (VCR) Settings:

– VCR HDV/DV: make sure “HDV” is selected

– i.Link Conv: Off

– A/V to DV out: Off

Refer to the picture below for FCP settings…

Note: I have found that although ProRes 422 captures files that are much larger in file size, it captures the highest possible quality that you can get from the HDR-FX1, as opped to the Apple Intermediate Codec.

So, assuming your FireWire 400 cable and port (on both the computer and camera) are working properly, this should work perfectly. I’d also make sure you have installed all updates for Final Cut Studio 2 as well.

Also, make sure that your tape actually has HDV 1080i footage on it. Some people think that just because they use a DVM63 tape that is has HDV footage on it – not true. This tape is really no different then a standard DVM60 tape. The DVM63 can also record DV footage to it as well.

[Ryan Atkins]

Thank you very much for this fix. Although, I could probably run Disk Warrior again, just to have a happy Mac.

My filters and effects were turned off, and could not figure out why.

This worked for me – greatly appreciated.

[Ryan Atkins]

Yes, it would be helpful to know what the delivery format would be as you will need to apply different compression settings for each format.

Web is a higher compression then DVD or Blu-Ray.

[Ryan Atkins]

Well first off, whats your original codec for your raw footage?

Then, I’d suggest to export that as H.264.