How do I maintain 720p in distribution (on a G5)?

L

Larrym

Member
If I were to shoot a wedding at 720p 30 f/s, how would I maintain that quality through my G5 via FCP 6?

It has a superdrive on it, but the one from Aug 2004 if that matters. Is there any way to burn a regular DVD with 720p quality? I didn't think there was...so would that mean that I'd need to buy a burner that burns Blu-Ray? What about HD-DVD?

Thanks users,
Larry
 
Nothing is going to keep the quality unless you output in the native format as data and that will give you a few minutes of footage on a dvd. DVDs are in Mpeg2 format which is a compressed format. Blue-ray is a higher data rate thru put but still has to be encoded to play as a dvd. For storage you can out put data in the dvcpro 100 or dvcpro 50 format and they will hold 15 or 25 or 50 gigs of data.

I believe that you can do a search on Blue-ray encoding and find all the post that you will need to achieve what you want to do. I think at the moment you can edit in FCP but will have to burn out to Blue ray in Premeire but check out all the posts here it has been discussed before.

Good luck.
 
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Blu-Ray burning on the Mac is becoming more and more possible and yes you can do one in 720p. That said, most folks watching a wedding are probably going to be on regular DVD. But if you know for sure you can expect a Blu-Ray player, read this post for a workflow:

http://www.callboxlive.com/resources/?p=124

-Noah
 
Thank you. I am further researching and I'll check out the article as well.

I was just wondering if there was an easy solution for burning to blu-ray on the G5.
 
Do you mean authoring a blu ray video disc or backing up to data blu ray?

My experience in authoring related to using CS Encore 3 and Toast 9 -- the only solutions on a Mac.

Not impressed with either.
 
I was intending authoring with a menu etc...

DVD Studio Pro doesn't do blu-ray does it...?

Would I need to upgrade my superdrive? I just have no idea how that would work.
 
Larrym said:
I was intending authoring with a menu etc...

DVD Studio Pro doesn't do blu-ray does it...?

Would I need to upgrade my superdrive? I just have no idea how that would work.
Click to expand...

Yes- you would need a new Blu-Ray burner and DVDSP doesn't help at all.

Noah
 
FastMac, Lacie and MCE sell blu ray burners for the Mac.

You need Encore CS3 to author. I'm not impressed with its encoding capabilities.
 
As the other posts indicate, the technology is just not quite ready,
particularly with regard the authoring software and user playback hardware.

So here's a halfway "solution":

Author a regular SD DVD w/ DVDSP, one that includes all the menus--
all the shots of the kids and the cousins and the dogs--
one that will keep Grandma and Uncle Ben happy.

Then put together a much shorter "highlights" clip, with just the best
shots, much shorter edits, and compress that using h.264 at 720p.
Include that Quicktime movie using the "DVD-ROM Data" option
in DVDSP's Format window.

That way, the tech-savvy members of the family will be able to watch
more pixels and the backwoods family members can watch with their
standalone players.

And maybe, if you hang on to your 720 assets, the couple might call you
back in a couple of years (when technology has advanced and Aunt
Sue has a Blu Ray), and hire you to re-author the project in HD.
The h.264 file will be a little advertisement, reminding the bride
just how good she could look for a cool anniversary present.

My $.02,
Never Married
 
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Yes, make a regular SD DVD. If you take advantage of the best compression options (using Compresor) the quality will be oustanding - much better looking than a DVD that was SD from the gitgo. Then later, when DVDSP does supprt Blu-ray, you can do it again in full HD.

Hopefully that day will not be too far in the future.
 
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