Best Export Resolution & Compressor Codec

Justin Reade

Justin Reade

Active member
What exact setting(s)/codec in COMPRESSOR would you use to achieve the highest possible resolution on a SD DVD, when you're working with a 1080/24pA source from Final Cut Pro 5.1?

For example, would there be an ostensible difference between the resolution of my SD DVD, if I simply EXPORT from FCP 5.1 using "Quicktime Movie" and burn that to disc using DVD Studio Pro, versus if I use Compressor for my FCP export?

If the answer is YES -- that you can achieve a better looking SD DVD by using Compressor upon export from FCP 5.1 -- what precise settings should one use in Compressor?

Thank you.

Justin.
 
This is what I do:

Capture 720/24pn - use what ever your capture was

Edit in FCP

Export QT/Self Contained current settings/Video and Audio/No recompression

Drop into Compressor and elect preset consistent with length of movie, ac3/Dolby 2 audio,

or use a custom droplet in BitVice 1.7

Import and author in DVD SP.

It looks fabulous on our component out set top to a plasma.
 
So even though you export as a QT mov, and you could theoretically burn that QT .mov directly in DVD STUDIO PRO, you take it and go into Compressor before you burn. Does that boost the res of the QT mov or something??

Thank you very much! I printed that out, gonna try when I get home...
 
I don't recommend using DVD SP to "encode" not burn the QT movie.

One reason is that you have toadjust the bit rates consistent with the length of your movie in the DVD SP preferences file, and Compressor gives you more controls.

AND

DVD SP will not convert aiff audio to AC3 audio.

Aiff audio is seven times more overhead than ac3, and that affects playback and compatibility for DVD Recordables.
 
David S has the workflow right. Only difference is I 1st export a video only QT mov at the native resolution, then aif audio only. I use compressor to create a Dolby ac3 file. I then use BitVice for SD mpeg2. The quality of the compression is MUCH better than compressor and at considerably lower bitrates. Franky, I find compressor unacceptable for mpeg 2 encoding. Too many pixelatted dissolves etc. Bitvice will take a 108024pa QT mov and downconvert to 23.976 with pulldown flags. I never encode at bitrates peaking over 7mbps, average bitrate is around 4mbps. Bitvice encoding is slow - but worth the wait. I hope they get BitVice 2.0 out for authoring to blueray/hd-dvd soon.
 
Digihead said:
Only difference is I 1st export a video only QT mov at the native resolution, then aif audio only. I use compressor to create a Dolby ac3 file. I then use BitVice for SD mpeg2.
Click to expand...

Actually, I do use Compressor 1.7 and have a custom droplet preset for scaling 720/24pn for SD DVD.

I agree that BitVice wins over Compressor for encoding.

Actually, I sometimes use Toast which I believe uses MainConcept's encoder I believe, and then rip the VOB files back to m2v. Looks very good.

I also do export aiff separately
 
First of all, thank you again. I understand that I am effectively "encoding" rather than "burning" when talking about the process in DVD SP. I will use Compressor to "encode" and see how the results differ, based upon your workflow guidelines. Now, I am going to be a brutal literalist for a moment (I am a lawyer after all, so excuse me), only because I want to utilize both of your great advice to its fullest. Clearly, I'm a novice in this dept., but I'm trying to acquire aptitude.

When I go into Compressor, you indicated to "elect preset consistent with the length of the movie." By that, I am taking it to mean that I select the setting "DVCPRO HD 1080/60" in Compressor? (FYI: I shot in 1080 24pA, and reverse telecined all my clips in Cinema Tools so that all my clips are consistent with editing in a 23.98 timebase -- then exported to a QT .mov). Because I also noticed that there is also an "Uncompressed HD setting" in Compressor that is specific to "1080 24p"... so the first question is to ascertain what SETTING is proper.

With respect to the audio issue, I simply import my audio clips into Compressor and convert them to Dolby 2 audio. That's fairly straightforward.

Lastly, as far as BitVice v. Compressor, I don't believe I have BitVice (is it part of FCP Studio?). If not, then I guess I will have to make do... obviously, the entire goal here is to get the best looking DVD possible from my 1080 24pA source...

Appreciate the suggestions!

Justin.
 
Justin Reade said:
(I am a lawyer after all, so excuse me),

When I go into Compressor, you indicated to "elect preset consistent with the length of the movie." By that, I am taking it to mean that I select the setting "DVCPRO HD 1080/60" in Compressor? .
Click to expand...

Surprisingly, so am I.

UC Davis School of Law - graduated in 1974, federal law clerk, taught at Gonzaga School of Law . . .

The preset is based on the length in minutes for your video.

If you have a 60 minute or less video, choose the DVD Best Quality 90 minutes, 16:9.

Bitvice is a separate app from innobits.se
 
Here is a a little formula I developed for choosing the best compression bitrate:
595.333/x-0.292 where x represent min of your project.
Lets say you have 98 min of content:
595.333/98-02.92= 5.7 that means you can create your MPEG2 preset with a 5.7MPS avarege bitrate...
NOTE: ASSUMING: 1-You are using Compressor.
2- You are compressing your audio with 192.000 bits/sec stereo AC-3
3-You are using a simple menu....
 
If you are encoding to play in the new Toshiba HD-DVD players, you must encode MPEG-2 HD as the Toshiba's won't read anything encoded H.264. I have found in just a few encodes from HVX material that the H.264 material is a little lighter than the MPEG-2 possibly requiring some gamma adjustment at the encoding level.
 
nsoltz said:
If you are encoding to play in the new Toshiba HD-DVD players, you must encode MPEG-2 HD as the Toshiba's won't read anything encoded H.264. I have found in just a few encodes from HVX material that the H.264 material is a little lighter than the MPEG-2 possibly requiring some gamma adjustment at the encoding level.
Click to expand...

I guess the real Q for me, ned, is that I'm trying to get my standard def DVDs to look as great as possible, within its obvious standard def resolution constraints. I have seen DVDs authored from stock DVX100 footage that look cleaner than what I'm doing. Currently, I have just been encoding DVDs from the QT .mov that I exported from FCP 5.1, based on 1080 24pA footage. So, clearly, I'm not doing something right. I'm losing resolution in my compression/encoding process...

I didn't know if choosing H.264 compression versus MPEG-2 compression might be one reason. At this point, since there are so many settings nuances, I am trying to figure out what tweaks I need to implement....
 
Justin:

Are you trying to author HD DVDs, or SD DVDs from HD Material?

If the latter then:

This is what I do:

Capture 720/24pn - use what ever your capture was

Edit in FCP

Export QT/Self Contained current settings/Video and Audio/No recompression

Drop into Compressor and elect preset consistent with length of movie, ac3/Dolby 2 audio,

or use a custom droplet in BitVice 1.7

Import and author in DVD SP.

It looks fabulous on our component out set top to a plasma.
 
I am authoring STANDARD DEF DVD's from an HD (1080 24pA) SOURCE.

Last week, I printed out your EXACT instructions, and I am going to implement them 2nite to see how it works on my system... unfortunately, I don't have a plasma. But just the same, I'd like to see how it looks on my unit, as a DVD of someone's DVX100 footage looked better on my system than did the SD DVDs I was burning of my HD footage. So, from that, I knew I was doing something wrong. Was just checkin' to see if there was anything I missed. I didn't quite know the difference btwen H.264 and MPEG-2...

Thanks again, David.
 
You encode out of Compressor for SD DVDs, has to be be m2v/mpeg2, not h.264.

If you encode to h.264, it will compress, and the DVDSP will compress it a second time
 
Don't know the reason why, but when I "encode" out of Compressor as an mpeg-2, the resultant DVD has pixelation errors occurring intermittently while it PLAYS. Alternatively, when I import the 1.2 GB FCP 5.1 Quicktime .mov into DVD STUDIO PRO directly, DVD STUDIO PRO then encodes it for me, and the resultant DVD is error free. I have had virtually no luck with any files encoded in Compressor...
 
Here is what I do and have done for 3 projects with 1080p24 from the HVX in FCP 5.1.1: Edit in FCP. Create a new sequence. Right click on seq - settings. Load the preset for DVCpro50 23.98. Click Anamorphic in the upper right on the first pane of sequence settings. Click OK. Drag 1080 sequence to DVCpro50 sequence. Export to compressor using DVD 90min High Quality 16x9. (I pick all and delete the aiff export and only keep the video and AC3).

Letting FCP downconvert seems to give better results.
 
What worked really well for me is:

When I have to use Compressor: Mpeg-2 setings, 1-pass VBR. I get the benefit of VBR but without the bugginess of 2-pass VBR. Looks EXCELLENT.

Of course, BitVice still kicks compressor's butt. Due to the slower speed of BitVice, one has to budget time more carefully for timely delivery... ;-)
 
I love how tweaking one little setting affects things so dramatically. One thing I have noticed (after burning 25 DVDs sequentially and taking notes about what I'm doing differently each time) that this works the best for me:

Export as QT .mov
Drop QT .mov into Compressor
Select Best Quality DVD 90 minutes 16:9
In the Inspector Window, select "BEST" for all video and motion settings (this was the clincher for me... without this, I got choppy DVDs, weird motion, etc.)


[FYI: Some people have said 2 pass VBR, others 1 pass. I don't know what the difference is, honestly -- so if someone would like to explain, feel free. Everyone tells me something different in that regard, therefore, I don't know if there's TRULY one "better" alternative...]

When I burn SD DVDs with these settings, the results look GREAT, and I have an older (non-flat screen) television. On my pops' 40+" plasma, it looks INSANELY GREAT, no artifacts, no motion problems, just beauuteeful.

-- Justin.
 
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