[Todd Reid]

Did you say that your sequence is H.624?

I thought that was a delivery codec and not great to edit in.

Try changing your sequence (prores?) and see if that helps.
You may be hitting a weird compression scheme hiccup.

I have have good results with text final converted to flash, so I know its possible without the flash overlays (which would obviously be better quality).

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

Adobe Media Encoder does a great job too!

another things to possibly consider is:
are your text lines positioned on even/whole numbers (ie 12 instead of 11.7)?
is your font just too thin?
try creating font in Motion or use Boris 3d Text (FCP text tool not the best)

doubt any of these are your issue, but its worth noting just in case.

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

since you got this off of a dvd, I assume that we are talking standard definition (mpg2?).

Red is a very bad color for standard definition, which (in your case) you compressed further to go to dv.
You are experiencing something we all have….your problem is quite simply that the files are compressed, and red is the most unforgiving color. It was probably introduced when you went to dv.

Not a lot you can do, as it is what it is!
However, try editing in a higher quality codec, like 8bit uncompressed.
That may help a bit, if not solve your issue.

If that doesn’t work, try to re-export from your dvd (vob) in uncompressed or ProRes or something higher quality than dv.

hope that helps.

When I ran into this problem, I didn’t know about the cow (may not have even been around WAY back then), I had to troubleshoot my system for several days, talked with at least 4 engineers, and really was never satisfied with the answer. Its really quite simple.

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

this comes up often, and a search will reveal MUCH more information than this…

easiest way is to export a quicktime, then let DVDSP do the conversion, to get slightly better quality, let Compressor chunk away, and the 29 hours, doesn’t surprise me too much. (dont go through fcp, but export a quicktime, then take that into compressor and that will get you a good ratio on fastest possible/good quality.
That is just an estimate, and shouldn’t take quite that long, but you probably will have a lot of time to get all that yardwork done that you’ve been neglecting while editing the play.

search for the exact phrase in your subject line, and you may get some tips for better quality

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

you mention that you got the academic version, right?

I was under the impression that you cannot update an academic version, that is why they sell it cheaper. This may be your problem.
That version is cheaper, but very limiting, so much so, I usually never suggest it. You also, aren’t supposed to use an academic version for ANY commercial project, not even while your using it for school.

unfortunately your fix may be to buy a commercial license.
Not sure about the legal way to “sell” or get rid of your academic version, so you don’t loose too much in your situation.

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

What do you mean “NOT”, I’ve done this successfully 2 or 3 times.

The other one mentioned Mpeg Streamclip, works too.

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

Also, PLEASE tell us that you are not trying to import copyrighted commercial dvds.

I can’t believe I actually wrote this, I get a bit tired of reading that response to this question, as I have had several legitimate reasons to need dvd material transfered into my mac, but that was my very first thought after reading this post.

Having said that, assuming your intentions are honorable, Hand Brake, is one of the many programs that will do this. Google!

DVDSP is a dvd authoring program, so it just makes dvds.

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

why are you making a “smaller version”?

Does you computer choke up. Wow haven’t done an “offline” edit in over 7 years.

I think you should for sure go to the 16/9 route, not sure about the 1920/1080, as I rarely go over 720p 1280×720.

How are you delivering? tape, dvd, file?

This may help dictate what you need to use.

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

Åre you using the proper pixel ratio?

I just checked a project of mine, and my 720p sequence is using square pixels.

Try changing that, or better yet,
use an “easy setup” that most closely matches your footage.
I use the 720 prores set up.

if you do this, it won’t change any existing sequences, so create a new sequence, and copy/paste into it.

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.

[Todd Reid]

not sure if this will help,

but did you repair permissions (before AND after) the update?

Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.