Blu Ray On Mac Not Ready for Prime Time with Encore/Toast and HVX200

David Saraceno

David Saraceno

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Just a heads up for the Mac users and I trust this is in the correct forum because it is workflow

The blu ray encodes using HVX200 footage are not very good out of Encore on a Mac. They also are not very good out of Toast 9 on a Mac. I've been using DVCProHD 720/24p footage as self contained QT movies out of FCP 6.0.2.

This is with h.264 encoding and DVD authoring, which is done internally using the Main Concept encoder for both Encore and Toast.

I've been working with the product manager for Encore to resolve some of the issues.

Banding, and flickering horizontal lines, etc. And those lines are greater than five or six pixels.

Also Encore lacks the polish and workflow of DVD SP, and can be downright buggy at times.

Footage encoded to h.264 and authored in DVD SP 4.2 to HD DVD on red laser dye discs is qualitatively better appearing on a Toshiba HD set top. I know that HD DVD is no longer with us, but I would expect the blu ray encodes would be at least as good as HD DVD encodes.

No other Mac encoders can produce h.264 blu ray encodes.

I tested the mpeg2 blu ray encodes out of Compressor with Toast and Encore, and it produced severe digital artifacting and strobing.

I'll update as I learn more.
 
Noah:

I've also used 1080/24p footage with both Encore and Toast. Again, it's not the footage, it's the encoder and some limitations of Encore.
 
Perhaps it's re-encoding on the burn. That used to happen in DVDSP when someone brought in a slightly wrong MPEG-2 encode and DVDSP encoded it again.

Noah
 
thanks for the heads up on this. i'll be working on a bluray project in late july so hopefully these issues will be resolved by then.
 
One of the issues is improving.

I created a program stream blu ray encode preset in Compressor for mpeg2 HD.

Used that m2v file and an associated ac3 file and the questionable footage improved greatly.

But program streams should include audio, but it didn't in Encore.

But at least things are improving.
 
too bad for mac users. i use the hvx200 1080p footage in premiere pro cs3 and encore all the time as my workflow.

a) shoot on hvx200 in 1080/24p
b) edit in premiere procs3
c) author in encore
d) burn with Nero
RESULTS: looks great.

basic workflow rules (for any platform)
#1 - your dvd authoring program should NEVER do any encoding/reencoding/transcoding
#2 - your disc burning software (toast, nero, etc...) should NEVER do any encoding/reecoding/transcoding either
#3 - do all FINAL renders/encoding from FCP/compressor or Adobe Media Encoder in Premiere Pro CS3

your problem might be the encore encoding, i NEVER use encore to encode, and i always export my final timeline out of premiere in an already compatible format. so if i am authoring to SD DVD, i export as MPEG-2 DVD compliant mpegs at 8mbps, if my intended target is BluRay then I use that preset under "File"/"Export"/"Adobe Media Encoder" - get great results day in day out. plus, p2/dvcpro hd is native in premiere, no need for Raylight or any 3rd party plugins, or conversion to edit.
 
crobs808 said:
too bad for mac users. i use the hvx200 1080p footage in premiere pro cs3 and encore all the time as my workflow.


your problem might be the encore encoding, i NEVER use encore to encode, and i always export my final timeline out of premiere in an already compatible format. so if i am authoring to SD DVD, i export as MPEG-2 DVD compliant mpegs at 8mbps, if my intended target is BluRay then I use that preset under "File"/"Export"/"Adobe Media Encoder" - get great results day in day out. plus, p2/dvcpro hd is native in premiere, no need for Raylight or any 3rd party plugins, or conversion to edit.
Click to expand...

The MainConcept Encoder is used by both Premiere and Encore to do encoding.

It does it internally with Encore and as an export from Premiere.

Same engine for each.

Interestingly, you can set higher encode rates inside of Encore when encoding to h.264. Not possible with Premiere.

Check your Premiere Adobe Encoder export dialog box. If it says Mainconcept, it's the same engine.

The issue is MainConcept's capabilites, not where the encode originates.
 
David S. said:
The MainConcept Encoder is used by both Premiere and Encore to do encoding.

It does it internally with Encore and as an export from Premiere.

Same engine for each.

Interestingly, you can set higher encode rates inside of Encore when encoding to h.264. Not possible with Premiere.

Check your Premiere Adobe Encoder export dialog box. If it says Mainconcept, it's the same engine.

The issue is MainConcept's capabilites, not where the encode originates.
Click to expand...
ha, been editing in pemiere pro since the early 90's, so im not gonna argue the point, but it is in fact a known issue on tons of forums like creative cow, etc...if you encode in premiere and just let encore split the file basically into the vob's you get a much better DVD on playback.

p.s. - i can export as high a bitrate as i want with h264 out of adobe media encoder in premiere pro cs3, what are you talking about? can go up to 100mbps if i wanted to. lol

-connor
 
Glad you can, because the slider in the export dialog box stops at 35 mbps in my program.

When I attempt to enter a higher number, it won't take.

Great if you could post a screen shot, because we must have two different programs.
 
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