[Vic Noseworthy]

Thanks very much, Jeff. Just wondering…
I have a highlights version of the wedding, which runs about 14 minutes. When I burned it to DVD using the “Professional” quality setting, it appears that only half (or, perhaps, even just one-third) of the space on the DVD was used. Is there a way to use ALL the space on the DVD, thereby getting better quality video?
Thanks again.
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Thanks, Steve. It’s a little bit confusing, the calculator. Are these settings I’d use when using DVD Studio Pro? Thanks, Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Thanks, again, Dave. I should’ve mentioned that I’m delivering on DVD. So, I’m wondering what is the best set-up in terms of Sequence, and ingesting/importing the two types of footage.
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Thanks, so much, for your help, Dave. Could you offer some more advice?
I may have started my project on the wrong foot, so to speak.
I’ve shot a wedding using both a DSLR (Canon T3i, which shoots progressive) and a camcorder (Canon Vixia, which shoots interlaced). Can you suggest settings I should use for my sequences?
Also, what’s the best way to import/ingest each of these types of footage so as to maintain highest quality?
I’m pretty new to FCP7 (coming from FCE4), and I am really struggling to find the right set-up for the types of footage I have.
Any advice you can offer will be tremendously appreciated!
Thank you very much, Dave.
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Hey, Spencer.
Thank you, again, for your awesome help! I was out of town for a few days, so it took me a little while to respond. I will definitely be experimenting with the suggestions you have made. Also, and as an aside, I just finished reading “The DV Rebel’s Guide” (while I was out of town) and, in that, the author talks about color balancing and luminance adjusting. I do believe I am gradually getting to understand and appreciate the importance of adjusting color in post. In fact, I’m kinda’ excited, since I’m sure it’ll make my productions all the better!
Going forward, I will no doubt have many questions. Again, your willingness to share your expertise in this area is so very much appreciated. I can’t thank you enough, and I expect I may wish to draw upon your kindness and knowledge in the future.
I will keep experimenting and testing!
All the best,
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Thanks so much, Spencer, for those tips. I will definitely try them.

I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to quality on DVDs; everyone’s seems better than mine. At the same time, I haven’t had a single complaint from customers (i.e. brides). In fact, two (of the 8 or 9) weddings I’ve done so far have raved about their videos.

With regards to my cameras, I should mention that I also shoot regularly with a Canon T3i. My understanding (from what I’ve read online) is that the T3i shoots at about 45Mbs, as compared to the Vixia camcorders, which shoot at 24 Mbs. I like to shoot with these because I can afford to have several cameras, and hence several camera angles at once (esp. at the church). I really like editing, and the multiple angles provide a great selection of shots.

FYI: The image quality is very, very comparable between the Vixia camcorders and the T3i. In fact, the only real difference I can see is in the color balance; the T3i is much warmer. (I love the bokeh afforded by the T3i, esp. when I use my f/1.4 lens, which is always!)

I have been wondering about color correcting, and how it might affect the overall image quality that I’m getting. When I say my image looks “washed out”, what I’m really saying is that the image shifts very much to the brighter end of the spectrum, such that everything is overexposed (especially the whites!). This problem is very much exaggerated when I compress for DVD (i.e. mpeg2). Perhaps there’s a way to bring down the whites??? I really don’t know much at all about color correcting, though I have toyed with it for specific clips. My problems is that I really don’t understand the workflow necessary for color correcting. Do I have to go in and color correct each clip individually, or can I cut my clips together and color correct afterwards? I ask this because I never know which clips I’m going to be using until I’m actually editing, and it seems crazy to try to color correct every clip. How do the pros do it? Do they color correct each and every shot, even those they don’t actually use? Do they save two copies of each clip (i.e. the original and the color corrected version)?

Anyways, sorry to bombard you with so many questions. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated! Thank you again!
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Hey, Spencer.
Thanks for the link!
A follow-up question, if I may:
Basically, I’ve been burning DVDs that, I believe, could/should be of a higher quality. (i.e. currently, I feel the image quality is a bit washed out, especially compared to the original .mov files used to create the DVD, and also as compared to other DVDs I have viewed).
My question is this:
How much quality is lost in the final stage of video production, i.e. DVD creation? I’m asking because, it seems to me, I’m generally quite happy with the quality of my video projects right up until the DVD-burning stage. That final leap, i.e. creating the DVD, seems to steal away far more of the image quality than I would like or would have expected. I realize that I’m going from HD to SD, but I still feel I’m losing too much quality when burning DVDs (I seem to get the same quality whether I use DVD-SP or Toast to burn the DVD).

Any information you can provide to help me determine what’s acceptable, quality-wise, for the DVDs I create will be very much appreciated.
Thank you, again!
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Hey, Spencer! Thanks so much for your help. It appears I still have one more hurdle: Because my internal DVD drive gave out, I have since purchased an external DVD drive (it’s a good Pro model that cost me, like, $400).
Previously (i.e. when using iDVD), when I clicked on “Burn”, I would get the option to select the external drive. However, when I’m using DVD Studio Pro, I don’t get that option; instead, it tries to use the internal DVD drive (which doesn’t work).
Any idea how to set up DVD Studio Pro to work with an external burner? Is there a hardware settings window either in DVD Studio Pro, or on the computer itself?
Thanks so much!
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Hey, again, Spencer!
I’ve looked to see what files were created by Compressor, and the only two files I see are:
1. one that ends with: MPEG-2 18.0Mbs.m2v
and
2. one inside a folder labelled ; that file is named similarly: MPEG-2 18.0Mbs.mtv.par
Perhaps I have used Compressor incorrectly?
Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated. I will review your previous suggestion on how to use Compressor to make sure I’ve done it correctly. FYI: My first Compressor attempt took about an hour to export an 18-minute .mov file for DVD creation.
Anyways,
Thanks again!
Vic

[Vic Noseworthy]

Hey Spencer. I’ve converted using Compressor. I’m into DVD Studio Pro, but man it’s confusing! Can I use the mpeg2 file (the one created by Compressor) to simply create a DVD in iDVD?
Thanks,
Vic