FCP EDIT to DVD

E

ElementFilm

Active member
What is the BEST way to get to MPEG2 for DVD out of the uncompressed FCP edit\? I've heard that going from the edit to tape (digi-beta, beta-sp, etc...) is only a 5:1 compression, where as going from the edit to MPEG 2 using things like compressor are more like 20:1. So accordingly I've heard that going to tape and making the MPEG 2 from the tape is waaaay better. Does anyone have experience with this? And if so, what tape format is best? I shot 24PA, squeeze mode, did the pulldown when I imported the clips and edited on a 23.98 sequence with 23.98 media. I know we all work our asses off on these projects and DVD is our most common end-format -- so we should all make sure we're getting the BEST final format look. I hate to think of showing people the finished film knowing that it could look better had I done the final MPEG 2 differently.
 
If you want to put it on a DVD, you have to get it to an .m2v output. You can do that in QT or in Compressor. You are much better off doing it in Compressor.
 
If your timeline is at the uncompressed codec then you're not going to get a whole lot of difference between going out to tape first and going straight from the timeline. Actually if you go out to tape, you're then limited to the tape's compression/quality level and the mpeg 2 creation is based on that. Whereas if you go straight from the timeline that is in uncompressed setting, the mpeg 2 is created based on that.

The one thing though is that if you have a high quality archived tape (digital betacam is probably your best choice for SD by the way) then you can take it over somewhere for hardware encoding. Hardware encoding will beat software encoding. So that is the one way in which the tape would beat say using compressor from the FPC timeline. However that is not a cheap solution. Additionally, you could use Cinema Craft Encoder which is considered the top of the line software encoder and rivals hardware encoders for results (available only on the PC though).

Encoding from tape or encoding from the timeline, dealing with different compressions or artifact issues, its not straight forward answer. You really have to look at what you shot with, what you actually shot (lots of action vs lots of static heads), how long is your final edit, and so on and so forth. Lots of different things can impact your final result.

That all said, if you go out from your timeline using compressor you should get some really solid results. If you have DVD Studio Pro 4 as well, then you can even make use of dual layer discs and really give yourself a lot of flexibility in your encode quality.

cheers.
 
If you chose a software encoding solution, going from your Timeline directly to Compressor ignores your reder files and renders from scratch, giving a bit better quality image. But it also ties up FCP for this process. Better quality than saving out as a QT movie.

BitVice Pro is a really killer encoder that does really super nice quality, slightly faster than Compressor. But, you have to save your Timeline out as a QT movie. If it's NOT self-contained, it creates the encode from the original source files, rather then the re-compressed self contained QT file.

Either of these two methods will give about as good a quality MPEG-2 files as you can get software wise. But then, hardware encodes are better than software encodes, period.

Get over to the recipe4dvd.com site, you'll find a ton of info there.
 
Thanks

Thanks

Lots of great info here -- thanks. I did a test out with compressor and I just wasn't happy with the results first time around. It was straight from the timeline but I felt it looked brighter and less detailed on the same monitors as the video-out directly from the timeline did. I'm also going to experiment with the 24P setting in compressor, however, that lists that it is an Mpeg4, not Mpeg2.
 
When you say it looks brighter, are you talking about on your final burned DVD or are you talking about viewing the raw MPEG-2 with a video out to a monitor? I'm pretty sure Apple recently released some statement about not being able to trust the Gamma from like DVD Studio Pro. So you'll want to make sure to burn that to a DVD, then hook up your stand alone player to that same monitor and then make the comparison.

If that's what you've done though, then well yah one of the cavets of Compressor. Its not CCE and its not a hardware encoder. As for the reading it as an mpeg-4 and not as an mpeg-2, that's a bit weird. But what precisely is your timeline settings? What compressor that is?

cheers.
 
Also, what were your settings? You're not just using the presets "as is", eh? That's never a good idea.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top