Help Going from Final Cut to DVD Studio Pro

B

Bostonpartygoer

Member
Hey Guys -- I just finished editing a music video in Final Cut and I am looking to make a DVD of the video without losing any quality whatsoever in doing so. With all the compressor stuff I have been trying the resulting video quality has been yeilding video that has a crap load of video progessive lines and the like, which doesn't appear at all in watching my video in Final Cut. What you you suggest I export my video as in Final Cut so I can have a DVD made from that file that looks basically the same as watching it in Final Cut? It's only 3 min and 30 sec long and therefore can't afford to have the video quality crap out on me when exporting to DVD. Please help me out here and maybe I'll get around to posting this baby in the specs section of DVXuser.com. THANKS!!!
 
I just need to go to DVD

I just need to go to DVD

Hey-- I really don't have any money to spend on a tutorial book/dvd. I already have the dvd studio pro manual which is thick enough. I just need a simple answer about how I can burn my final cut project into a mpeg or quicktime file that I can burn to a dvd that will not lose any quality whatsoever from how it plays in final cut. I am seeing way too many glitches (horizontal video digital lines , unsmooth animation in the animated sections...etc) when trying out all these diff mpeg2 formats and stuff. Please, I need someone to tell me strait out what setting and program I should be using to make a quicktime file that has the same exact quality as in final cut so I can burn this 3 and a half min MV to dvd today. IF anyone can help, it would be of great service. Thanks!
 
Option A
If you want a file with the same quality as in FCP you can choose export > quicktime > select 'current settings' > make movie self contained. If you're working with DV material your QT movie should fit on a DVD. The downside of this is that you can't stick this disk in a DVD player and expect the player to playback the footage. You can move the file to After Effects or to another computer if you wish. This is the only way to fill your requirement of having the same exact quality as in Final Cut.

Option B
If you want a file that will playback on a DVD that's a different story. As Noah pointed out in his first reply DVD's use the MPEG format. The material must be compressed to comply with DVD standards. I agree with Noah, you can get very good results if you know what your doing.

I think it would be helpful if you clearly stated what you are trying to do, saying "burned to DVD" isn't enough information.
Are you trying to:
A. create data file such as Quicktime (no quality loss)
or
B. Put your film on DVD so it can be viewed from any DVD player (small quality loss)
 
I'm going to assume that you want a DVD that plays on a DVD player.

A quick perusal of Ken Stone's excellent site on FCP yielded this article:

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/compressor_warmouth.html

Following the recommendations in this article will get you started, and a decent result.

If you want better than that, then invest a few more bucks, get a book, and spend the time to experiment with it. There is no ONE perfect setting for all DVD's.
 
Geesh, the Compressor Quick-Reference Guide is only about $23 and a must have for any FCP editor.

Ok, for the BEST video quality, Export directly from your Timeline to Compressor, Choose the 90 Min Best 16:9 (I'm assuming this is DVCPRO-HD material) preset for your MPEG-2. Tweak that so your Avg is 6, your Max bit rate is 7. In the Video Format tab, from the Video Format drop down menu, select Automatic SD. Then for your audio use the Dolby 2.0 preset as is, you'll have great looking video. I do this all the time for short projects and it always gives me great results.

This is assuming DVCPRO-HD is your original.
 
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