Bad DVD's from HVX footage

GraphicPlanet

GraphicPlanet

Well-known member
I recently outputed some footage from FCP. I shot it in 720P mode. Then I dropped it into DVD Studio Pro and created a SD 16x9 DVD. I encoded with Variable 2-pass 6.8-7.8. When I watched the DVD the footage looked horrible. Obviously I know it won't look as good as it did in HD, but it had horrible artifacts and anti-aliasing stair stepping through out. Anybody out there have any ideas?
 
Did you let it encode in the background in DVDSP, or did you use Compressor?

Also, anything above 6 for your data rate is pushing the ability of most consumer DVD players.

You can do one of two things that give good results.

1- Create an NTSC 16:9 Seqeunce, drop your 720p Sequence into it, render, output for DVD authoring as normal.

2- Export via Compressor to an NTSC SD MPEG-2 file with the proper settings. This is actually how the book recommends it.

I wouldn't trust DVDSP to handle it properly on it's own.

The book I mention is a brand new one out you will probably want to get, it runs 20 something dollars, and is fantastic.

Apple Pro Training Series; Compressor Quick-Reference Guide
 
I have had terrific results using compressor the same as BenB. I always output footage through compressor instead of dvdsp.
 
i have given several dvd's to clients using dvdsp as well and have always used compressor, with always good results. thats actually the only way i know how to do it, but it works great.
 
The biggest variable you left out was the total length of the video in minutes.

An encode rate that has a maximum of 7.7 then may be entirely inappropriate.

Moreover, there is no control over the audio encoding. That means you have both uncompressed aiff audio and a spike beyond 7.7, which means that many set tops will choke on that data flow.

You need to spend some time with the manuals, learn to use Compressor, and use Dolby2 audio, not uncompressed aiff.

This is part art and part science.
 
I'll just add a slightly different workflow. I prefer BitVice to Compressor. So, I export a self-contained movie from FCP and encode in BitVice. I then use Compressor to convert audio to AC3. One little trick-- to get chapter markers in BitVice, you have to open the self-contained QT file in QT Player and enable the text track.

But, either way, don't allow DVDSP to do the encode.

Ned Soltz
 
I like BitVice Pro, too. Wish it did ACC audio, though. It is faster than Compressor for sure. I use it when I only have to put out for a DVD. If I have to compress for DVD, web, etc, I'll do the whole Batch thing in Compressor. But Bit Vice Pro is faster. No quality improvement, but quite a bit faster than Compressor.

Yeah, 2.0.1 rocks...
 
I'm using Compressor 2.3 and I think it gives fantastic results.
It's nice to create a droplet and just drag a file to it and start compressing.
 
compresor is the way to go

compresor is the way to go

we had this problem for a while. We always just dragged our dvx shot projects into dvdstudio pro, idvd, or toast and the results were always very good.

When it came time to do HVX shot projects the results were horrible. Artifacting just like you said and a mucked up image. I was in shock.

A friend of mine always encoded in compressor and when he took an HVX file and went that route the results were GREAT!

It is unfortunate you can't simply drag and drop HVX footage but that is the price you pay for that good looking footage. I'm sure those programs will update soon but for now go with Compressor, which I am sure you already know by what everyone else said

I didn't realize though that the new compressor has a better encoder for this....I have the latest version but haven't installed it I guess it is time

Ronster
 
Encoding requires attention to length of the video and the encode rates and the all important audio encoding.

No update is going have a magic button that can be clicked for "good looking footage."

You have to work with the variables, and those are dependent on the length of the video, type of video, treatment of audio and the rest.

We do this with color correction; it has to be done with encoding as well.
 
Thanks for all the help guys! Have a great holiday! When I get home on Tuesday I'll try all your suggestions. Oh, by the way, has anyone tried the new Magic Bullet Colorista for CCing? Looks very cool.
 
Some folks say its really nice. I tried the demo mode, but they fill your image with a ton of noise in demo mode, and I can't judge properly what its doing with all that noise. Until I can see real, clear, solid results, I won't spend that much money. Too bad they didn't just use a watermark or something that didn't interfere with the process of very sensitive color correction.
 
Well, you guys speak the truth! Compressor did the job. SD DVD with my HVX footage but clearly looking better than Mini-DV. Thanks Guys! And I think I'm gonna buy colorista later today and give it a whirl.
 
GraphicPlanet said:
Well, you guys speak the truth! Compressor did the job. SD DVD with my HVX footage but clearly looking better than Mini-DV. Thanks Guys! And I think I'm gonna buy colorista later today and give it a whirl.
Click to expand...

What Compressor preset did you use?
 
darwinandpaine said:
What Compressor preset did you use?
Click to expand...

The preset to be used is based on the total length of the video in minutes.

It varies. Also use Dolby2/ac3 with -31 normalization for audio.
 
There's a Best Quality/Ninety Minutes Preset that I used. I wish there was a smaller one, since my footage totaled only twenty minutes. Not sure what I should change from the preset for that.
 
You want to change the bit rate. You can go down pretty low with Compressor, down to 3 with decent quality images, 4 or 5 with really good quality.

What you do is change the bit rate in the Inspector in the Quality tab, then go to the
row of icons just below "Description", the one all the way to the left is the summary. It'll show in there a pretty accurate estimated file size. Just remember not to let that file get too big so you have room on the DVD for audio, menus, transitions, etc.

That way you can adjust the bit rate and check the estimated file size until you get a good balance.

I'd recommend, for 20 minutes, the following:
Two Pass VBR Best
Avg bit rate - 6
Max bit rate - 7
Motion estimation - Best

That should give your 20 minute clip great image quality, and 20 minutes of video won't take up much room at all on a DVD. You can set you Avg and Max bit rates to 7 and 8 respectively, but you'll get better set top compatability with 6 and 7.
 
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