[Tom Laughlin]

It’s a great question, DVDSP doesn’t use file size of the source, it uses the “time” of the source file, to determine what to do with the file, and you can see in the upper right hand corner of DVDSP, there is a meter, showing you if the file will sustain itself and fill the DVD’s maximum space.

So, if you import a file into DVDSP, and it’s a 2 hour file, it doesn’t matter if it is an 16GB file or a 16MB file, it will automatically calucate the encode, and how much compression will be needed. Another thing, if the file (your QT .mov) is about 3 or 4 GB, the compression hit will not be as harsh as a hit from a file that is around 8GB. “But”, remember, the source file, if it is uncompressed to begin with, it will not take 2 hits. People say that when you use Compressor and then use DVDSP, it takes 2 hits, the first is big, and the 2nd, not so much, it’s more of a DVDSP format-check, not an actual encode, but in a sense. There’s no control over a file once it hits DVDSP, so that’s why you send it out of FCP uncompressed, and let it take just one compression hit, or more like a pass, not a hit. Also, don’t forget to preview the file. When you import the file, whether it is an uncompressed 8-bit QT .mov file (16x), do not forgot to make the file display as “Anamorphic” if your file is a 16×9 file. You have to tell DVDSP to do this, it’s not automatic, and you can also preview the file being played and how it’s going to look once you haev encoded it, using the simulate DVD option. This preview will give you an idea of what it’ll look like.

Also, ensure that you export your file out FCP with the correct frame-rate, so when you import into DVDSP and simulate the DVD, that the frame-rate or file doesn’t jitter or lag, which sometimes can occur. DVDSP should be able to preview this ok, I know that playing anything uncompressed lags in QT player, but DVDSP it pretty good about giving that playback sense.

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCP7/Sony EX-3/Mac Quad-Core Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

So what does standard def 16×9 shot by the DVX compare to the HMC’s standard def 16×9? Identical?

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCP7/Sony EX-3/Mac Quad-Core Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

Noah,

Why are shooters still using the DVX? Is it the familiarity, as well as the film look? Does this film look compare to the latest “film looks” that the DVX was so noted for? How do feature films shot on the DVX look after they are blown up?

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCP7/Sony EX-3/Mac Quad-Core Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

Try this, export your movie out as an 8-bit uncompressed file. If it is a 4×3 file, leave it at 4×3, but if it is a 16×9, make sure you select that. I did a test last week with a clip a little over 2 hours long, and I exported out an HD time-line, to a QT 720×480 (16×9) and used “8-bit Uncompressed”as the compression, so at then end, it was a QT movie, now SD, and it was 16×9, and it was opening up at 853×480, which it what QT player does.) Looked great! Drug that SD/QT .mov file into DVDSP, encoded, looked good.

I then did another test, exported out the same 2 hour time-line in QT, as a “1920×1080 HD” (it’s native res) instead of a down-res/coverting to “720×480 (16×9)”, and still used “8-bit Uncompressed” as the compression, saved it out, took forever to encode, then drug that into DVDSP, burnt it out, looked much better. Both looked good, both end up on DVD anyway, the quality wasn’t hugely different, but both looked good.

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCS3/Sony EX-3/Mac Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

Here are some other potentially helpful tips:

1. Close all other apps down, except for FCP, then render the time-line through, so Compressor doesn’t have to render it out as it compresses. I’ve found that if I do not fully render my time-line before I export, the exporting takes WAY longer.

2. Cut your time-line down and export smaller portions of it. Sometimes batches with shorter clips take less time that exporting out a 2 hour clip from your time-line.

3. FCP Server, I heard has a way of networking and utilizing all the computers on the network, and harnessing all their processors together, outputting faster when exporting with Compressor. If you do not have FCP Server, you might use another computer to export the first half of the time-line on one computer (like your tower) and the 2nd half on another computer, like a MacBook Pro.

4. Check output – It may also depend upon what you are exporting to or outputting to. Certains codec encodes take longer than others.

5. Instead of Compressor, QT Conversion, saving time-line out as a QT, avoiding Compressor’s engine, export out of QT, then import and export with Compressor or 3rd party encoders, which might also be faster.

6. Use “Onyx” to clear out all garbage (hidden computer files that acrue cache as you work with hidden buildup over time), with Onyx, it clears out a lot of stuff on your computer, that maybe causes it to run slower, just a thought. I run “Onyx” once a month. That’s the best I can tell you. Hope it works out.

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCS3/Sony EX-3/Mac Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

This may help:

https://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/apps/flv_bitrate_calculator/

If you have Apple’s Final Cut Suite, Compressor has presets and a specs window, when you drag and drop a preset on to the video clip you wish to encode, it will allow you to see the “estimated file size” before you encode (if you have the flv plug-in for FCP). With Final Cut Pro, if you export it out as an 8-bit Uncompressed HD 1920×1080 (it may take a few hours), you could then drag and drop that file into Sorenson Squeeze (an encoder software) and try that, after you tweak settings to your needs. But just for the record, you might be hitting a roadblock in quality, as you are drastically down-sizing and compressing this file, so lots of things being compressed to a file only 30MB, that may take a major quality hit. Just my 2 cents.

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCS3/Sony EX-3/Mac Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

I’m not an expert here, but export your video out as an 8-bit uncompressed. Then bring that in and try using Compressor for the encode. You may also try exporting out using the ‘Animation’ codec, it’s worth a try. I recently downloaded the MainConcept encoder and it handles graphics very well, give that a try.

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCS3/Sony EX-3/Mac Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

You may try and install your version of Compressor on another machine to see if repeats the same issue.

Also go through and make sure the time-line is rendering out, sometimes corrupted video (which is hard to detect) can cause problems with Compressor. In this case, since you’re working with a few clips and sending a Batch to Compressor, you may try exporting them out one at a time to see if one of the videos is causing the hold-up, try 2 or 3 at a time later on, or also check and see if there is a compatibility issue with any recent Compressor updates you may have recently re-installed or updated.

You may want to try and reinstall an earlier version of Compressor and check and see if it still hick-ups, then if it doesn’t you know that the latest version you have, as old as people say it is, may be the root of the problem, if you have access to the original version, for example your disc may be Compressor version 2, but after you install 2, you go and download the update for 2.5, and now it is not working, but version 2 was working, sometimes updates cause the problem, and also re-check your Operating System, as certain recent updates to the OS may haev inadvertently caused a problem with your Automation or processing.

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCS3/Sony EX-3/Mac Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

Try this:

1.) In the Viewer tab, highlight the files you want to batch export to Compressor.
2.) After you highlight all the files for export, go to “File” then hit “Batch Export”, or right-click on the highlighted group and right click on Batch Export option.
3.) In the ‘batch export’ menu, click on Settings, then click “Format”, after you set your destination and chose where to save the exported files.
4.) After you click Format, the drop down window will give you some selections. Click on the button and chose “QuickTime Custom”. Then click under the “Settings”, click “Options” button, and in the “Movie Settings” window, go to the “Settings” button, and chose the settings of the compression you want, I’d chose “8-bit uncompressed 4:2:2”, (this give you a pure uncompressed master file, you can use for any archiving purposes, or if you want to use this file later for some other purposes, you can use the 8-but file to compress down to any format you want, like for web, but this 8-bit is your master QT file.)
5.) Under “Size” hit: “NTSC 720×480 4:3” – this setting will be applied to all batched files. Also click “Deinterlace Source Video” and chose “Ok”.
6.) Click “ok” once more to exit the “Batch 1” window.
7.) Click “Export”.
8.) After these files batch encode, drag these files into Compressor and compress to Mpeg-2 and ac3 audio or whatever “DVD Best Quality 90, 120, 160, you want, and apply those settings and export from Compressor. You may find that the m2v files you get from this look better had you gone directly out of compressor from off the time-line. I tested this and I’ve gotten many better looking encodes this way from encoding from an 8-bit uncompressed QT, because with an uncompressed file, there is no compression added to your file, as with other ways to export and encode to m2v and ac3.

Let me know if this helps.

Thanks

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCS3/Sony EX-3/Mac Intel

[Tom Laughlin]

Geese, guys, thanks for making this easy on me! haha! Craig like one and Daniel like another. As in terms of returning with another question, would it be safe to assume that MC and AME’s MC’d h.264 codec encode the exact same, using the same codec? It was mentioned earlier that AME used MC’s codec licensed to them by MC, so does that mean the codec will encode the same quality from AME or will the MC software output a cleaner encode?

Thanks for the responses,

Tom Laughlin
Producer/Editor
Salt Lake City, UT
FCS3/Sony EX-3/Mac Intel