[Vincent Rosati]

Aanarav Sareen, that is. Sorry.

[Vincent Rosati]

I think the video you’re looking for is…
Premiere_Pro_2.0-System_OptimizeiPod_Lo.m4v
by Aanavar Sareen

I can’t seem to find it either, to link it to you.

Otherwise…
Three internal hard drives:
1-OS & Apps
2-Project, previews, & conformed files
3-Capture/Source audio & video

Turning off Play Video on DV Hardware & Play Audio on DVD Hardware. (Project/Project Settings/General/Playback Settings).

Using uncompressed source material.

Defragment source drives.

Spyware & antivirus sweep.

EndItAll 2 (PC)

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Mostly a pleasure trip, family… Although, I was also scouting for a new area for me to live in.:)

Regarding the difference in quality of the High vs. Low 2 Pass 4MB VBR renders, to my understanding, is basically how much time your processor is going to spend analyzing the source.
In Adobe Media Encoder you are able to make a number of adjustments to tweak your process to fit your needs, but many settings are not available as it makes for an easier to understand interface. In Main Concept MPEG PRO you would see a ton of new options, regarding encoding. These options are automated in AME.
I’m not sure that adjusting the Quality slider affects the final file size, so much as the bitrate specification (of 4MB, in this case) does.

Encore
Creating a No Menu/Autostart Single Program DVD

Encore will encourage you to author a fully featured DVD program, that’s it’s behavior – that spunky little app!

1-Open Encore

2-File/New Project

3-File/Import as Timeline… and select your .MPG file.
  *-This adds the MPG to the Project window, and creates a Timeline file that contains the MPG.
  *-All timelines have a Chapter 1 marker added, by default. So, I’m not sure how it will handle your existing chapter markers. I usually place the markers in Encore.
  *-Notice the yellow circle on the timeline file icon, in the project window. This indicates that the timeline is the “First Play” asset in the DVD program. If you were going to create a Menu, you would probably set it as the First Play, which would be a different workflow and require a new title (above). 🙂
  *-Notice the Transcode Status field in the Project window. A status of “Don’t Transcode” indicates that MPG is compliant with Encore and will not transcode. It’s a badge of honor that says “You did it right!”, encoding, that is.

4-Select the Timeline file in the Project window and the Properties tab for that timeline will be displayed.
  *-Set the End Action of the timeline by clicking the triangle drop-down. You’ll probably want to choose Link Back To Here or *Timeline*:Chapter 1.
  *-Set the Menu Remote of the timeline by clicking the triangle drop-down. You’ll probably want to choose *Timeline*:Chapter 1.

5-Click Window/Disc tab, and the Properties tab for the disc will be displayed.
  *-Set the Title Button of the disc by clicking the triangle drop-down. You’ll probably want to choose *Timeline*:Chapter 1.

6-Check the project by clicking File/Check Project… Than click Start. With a little luck, the check will return no issues. Click Done.

7-Preview the DVD program by selecting File/Preview.
  *-Here, you can test your chapter markers. I seem to remember once having an issue using Premiere placed chapter markers in Encore. My fix was to manually reposition the markers in the Encore timeline.

8-Write the DVD program by selecting File/Build DVD/Make DVD Folder.
  *-Click through the next set of prompts, finally clicking the Build button.
  *-Assuming the MPG holds the “Don’t Transcode” status and the program fits in the disc, this step should only take a minute or two, otherwise a transcode would occur and you know how long that takes. 🙂
  *-When completed, click Okay, File/Save, and Exit.

You now have a VIDEO_TS folder that is ready for burning, as a DVD-Video disc, with your burning app.
  *-Allow the burning app to create an AUDIO_TS folder, or simply create an empty folder next to the VIDEO_TS folder, and name it AUDIO_TS (all caps).

Regarding quality, as your intent is to edit video, (I didn’t want to say this, but…) you would want a cam that doesn’t use MPEG compression. MPEG is a delivery format, I imagine that if you view the master disc it looks pretty good.
I had you decompress the MPEG as to generate a lossless copy that is in an editing format.
Many DV camcorders use DV compression, while still compressed, the quality is much higher than MPEG and was designed for editing.
Ideally, with digital processing for DVD, you would want only one-generation of quality loss, during your DVD production process. The process you have, with your cam, is a sort of two-generation loss, as the video is MPEG compressed twice – once in the master recording, than again in the encoding out of Premiere.
  *-Note: I was only guessing as to the correct field order of your PAL source material as being Top Field First (TFF). I mailed Canon, but haven’t received a response. 🙁

Possible options for improving the quality would be looking into the subjects of Deinterlacing and Deartifacting. There are many articles in the COW archive and on the web that cover these subjects.

I’m not sure about the “Effects” prompt you are getting in Encore. I’m using version 1.5, and haven’t see that feature.

I’m a “graphics guy”, primarily for print and design. My favorite application is Adobe Illustrator, which is the main tool that I use to pull a paycheck!
I’m working my way into web, and my video work is almost entirely a hobby. I just happened to have worked on a few large “motion picture” type projects that greatly accelerated my understanding of this entire process.
It was during these projects that I found CreativeCOW, specifically for help with After Effects. I found the site so helpful that I’m now inclined to return the love by helping in the forums. 🙂

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

As far as fonts, consider using Suitcase. It really helps to save system resources by keeping your font library outside of your system fonts folder, if you have a ton of fonts – many other benefits as well.
For plugins, maybe Plugin Commander can help you.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Set your desired workspace, than…
Window/Workspace/Save Workspace…

Maybe this will work for you.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

You might be able to right-click on the effect under Effect Controls in the Monitor and Save Preset…

If you are using layered effects (multiple effects), you would have to save each one.

Also, Save the project file. You can always open an old/saved project into a current project, than use copy/paste to apply effects to another clip or image. This works well if you have any keyframe settings that you’d like to save.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

I’m going away for a few days. I want to look at this when I return?
But, my process is to save an Encore compliant MPEG2-DVD (.mpg) file, out of Premiere.
Author in Encore, where the MPEG is split into 1 GB chunks. Than save a “DVD Folder” which contains the VIDEO_TS, the AUDIO_TS, and all of the goodies (VOBs, IFO’, BUPs).
Than burn this Encore DVD Folder as DVD-Video in Nero. Neither Nero or Encore do any transcoding.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Adobe integration is a big plus, for me too.

In PP 1.5, I get List view with no thumbnail, or Icon view with thumbnail. I’m not sure if there are other settings.

In List view, in your version of PP, I imagine there is still the Poster Frame preview, just above the list?
Access the options by clicking the triangle drop-down button on the top right of the project window. But, I’m not sure if there’s a configuration that is exactly what you are looking for.

Note: By scrubbing through a clip in the Poster Frame, than clicking the camera icon, you can set a specific frame in the clip as the Poster, which may help you.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

Yes, unlock the mask once the new picture has been added to the menu file.
Position the new picture’s layer above the original picture.
Drag the mask from the original image onto your new image.
Copy the layer name of the original image and paste it into the layer of the new image, and delete the original. Encore needs the layers to be named properly.

Vince

[Vincent Rosati]

In Photoshop, you could click on the chain link, on the existing masked layer, to unlink the mask from the existing layer.
Than, you could drag the Layer Mask Thumbnail onto your desired layer – your pasted image.

Vince

~The files are INSIDE the computer?