Workflow - 1080p/24 to (SD) Standard Definition

[rzr219]

Wish I could help you, but I don't use Adobe. There must be a way to set the bit rate min and max. Don't go over 8 (older players don't like that) try to stay around 7.2 or so max and 2 Pass at VBR. To encode to MPEG should only take 20-30 minutes for a 2 hour DVD (or on my older Mac that what it takes sorta of). Don't put it on a disc, build a file on your hard drive and open it with your dvd player to see how it will turn out before you waste a disc. Hope this helps.

[deedub5090]

The best way to go is to do it as a two-step process:

Step One export from 1080/24p to 16:9 standard definition 720x480 24p. I generally recommend the codec to be ProRes HQ or Uncompressed. This gives you a pristine looking SD master.

Step 2- use that master as your source for MPEG2 encoding to 16:9/24p. That should give you the best possible SD output. What looks terrible is going directly from 1080/24p to DVD as that throws away a ton of information as the encoding is trying to calculate the downconversion and the MPEG2 transcode in a single step.

-Noah

Ok here are the results. I tried both versions.

TEST 1

I edited the 1080p/24fps footage in a sequence in premiere. I then exported the footage to 720x480 24p widescreen uncompressed (Think this was the error don't have ProRes HQ). This resulted in a 100gb file. I then imported that file into encore and encoded it to Mpeg2. I wanted the file to MPEG2.

The results here were not good. The video was absolutely unuseable. There was signifcant artifacts. I must have done something wrong. Was it the codec..

TEST 2

Sent the file directly from Premiere Pro CS6 to encore via dynamic link. Selected DVD and widescreen. The encore transcode settings were set to automatic. The default settings were to use low quality 4mbs CBR. I changed it to high quality 7mbs CBR. Clicked enter. The file size showed just over 3GB. Put a disc in clicked start and went to bed.

Took forever to encode....don't really care about that but I have got to upgrade my graphics card. System is pretty robust but graphics card is two years old.

Anyway the DVD came out excellent. Virtually no artifacts.


Hope this helps. May even try VBR 2 pass to see how that turns out but overall I was pleased with TEST 2.

This was a test so I could see what the DVD would look like prior to sending it out to the client. I have some work to do.. but at least I am confident that the output to DVD is acceptible.

Darryl W

[rzr219]

Glad to hear you were able to make your dvd work. And prores is part of Final Cut. VBR2 would be your best way to encode if possible it will reduce the size of the DVD without losing any quality. CBR is fine but takes some space on the DVD. In the end it is what ever works for you.

[deedub5090]

Wish I could help you, but I don't use Adobe. There must be a way to set the bit rate min and max. Don't go over 8 (older players don't like that) try to stay around 7.2 or so max and 2 Pass at VBR. To encode to MPEG should only take 20-30 minutes for a 2 hour DVD (or on my older Mac that what it takes sorta of). Don't put it on a disc, build a file on your hard drive and open it with your dvd player to see how it will turn out before you waste a disc. Hope this helps.

In the second test the bit rate was set to CBR 7mbs encoded with a single pass. I did send it directly to a DVD. Regarding the encode time it is long (4 hours) but that is something for another discussion. Has something to do with the Matrox drivers I have on the computer. It used to be very fast but since installing the Matrox drivers it has slowed down AME considerably. Still need to upgrade the video card. Not worth tinkering with right now. Click and sleep.