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can anyone help. I have FCP4.5HD, DVD Studio Pro 2 and Toast 6. What is the best process of authoring a dvd. If I export to compressor I get two files (aiff and video) these go out of sync with each other. If I make a self contained movie and use toast, the dvd doesn't work in some machines. Is there a definitve answer to get a high quality dvd from a project in fcp???!!!

milesa,
Hi Alan

I make a QuickTime movie in FCP, but DO NOT make it self-contained, ie make a reference movie. Of course this means that you'll have to retain your original captured media. I don't use Compressor.

Import this new movie into DVDStudioPro. Author and encode. I find one-pass vbr with setting of 4 min and 8 max work well for me. Finally burn the DVD.

Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that some players will not play some dvds.

Hope this helps.

Steve Thompson.

"Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that some players will not play some dvds."

Thats not true. It is for recordable media but not if you go to replication and know what you're doing authoring wise.

Yeah the method I use is to export a video only ref movie and then export a .wav. Use the standalone encoder QT/Compressor/BitVice etc to encode your footage to mpeg-2. Then run your PCM audio through A.Pack to get Dolby Digital AC-3 streams. Bring those into dvdsp and author.

-In dvdsp 2 dont use a build to the HD or .img with Toast. You should select all regions 1-8, write to dvd-r first then use the build from that dvd-r with Toast. That way you'll have the Regional Code Mask flagged as 0, and the .LAY and .layout files are removed from the VIDEO_TS folder.
-Write at 1x
-Use name brand media, Taiyo Yuden, Maxell etc
-8Mbps is a bit too high for Compressor/QT due to the illegal spikes it lets slip through, especially if you're not using AC-3 audio.
-Make sure you use the right settings in Toast also as many dont.

Good Luck,

Jake

JakeRussell,

Just to be different,
I always use Self Contained Movies, they are much safer. I've had refence movies go AWOL with odd results. I never export to Compressor, but drop the self contained movie into Compressor. I tend to use the built in settings in Compressor (ie 60, 90, or 120min high quality settings) as a basis and tweak the bitrate for maximum disc use. And use DVDSP to assemble the disc, which I always .img to HD then mount and burn in Toast that always works.

I find Compressor very fast, high quality Mpeg4 is 2-3x realtime, 1 pass Mpeg2 is much faster than realtime, 2 pass is a little slower than realtime (not much)
The pain is with A-Pack - constant OS errors, (don't have any other Apps running)

Some clients have older fussy DVD players, so I tell them to go and buy the cheapest player they can from somewhere like Tesco. These new cheap players play anything you throw at them. I use cheap media for general work, Datawrite Reds and Bulkpak orange from SVP. I have used hundreds never a problem, and I often burn them at 8x - double the maximum speed (a nice easy hack on my Pioneer 107 )

It works for me...

duncancraig,

"I've had refence movies go AWOL with odd results."

Thats not the norm though!

"I never export to Compressor"

Me either and that wasn't advised

"I tend to use the built in settings in Compressor"

As many do but to be honest it doesn't really listen to you and it's not very responsive at all.

"I tell them to go and buy the cheapest player they can from somewhere like Tesco."

Well I know for sure that's just not acceptable for many people. And why not spend a few more pence and follow good dvd authoring practices to avoid such situations. That can just give dvd's a bad name...

"I have used hundreds never a problem"

Hundreds really isn't that big of a test. And like you said it works for you and I'm sure it works for others but on forums/boards I feel it's best to offer advice to help people avoid know issues. I mean for every author like yourself having NO problems but having to tell your customers to buy a new player cause the disc plays so well in the player they have, there is the author that has all kinds of issues but one of the mentioned practices usually clears compatibility up.

Good luck just incase you ever need it,

Jake

JakeRussell,

My responses weren't aimed directly at you Jake. But at Alan and the other people who kindly responded too.

And I think your original answers may have been a little involved.
Clearly Alan has limited knowledge of Authoring and I try to offer simple advice, using the software that Alan has, and a similar workflow.

I don't claim to know a lot about authoring, but I have had success with hundreds of projects. As with most of the people on this forum, we are FCP users, who need to make DVD's that work quickly and simply.

It seems Alan wasn't asking about making masters for mass duplication, or a mass market, so I haven't mentioned mastering discs and expensive media (both of which I sometimes use) Steve T mentioned some players won't play some discs, and was obviously refering to DVD-R, I find the easiest thing is to get one of the newer cheap player

Alan states he has FCP, DVDSP and Toast, your saying you use another piece of encoding software may suggest something is wrong with Compressor. Although I'm genuinely interested in what you mean when you say Compressor isn't 'responsive?' As I say I don't claim to know a lot about authoring, it's a Black Art in so many respects!


Breaking down my post into secions and commenting on them is frankly annoying, but like I say, my post was not a direct response or critisism of yours. Sorry if it was taking out of terms.

duncancraig,

Ok well despite the fact we use software (dvdsp) that hides us from the dvd spec it still uses PGC (Program Chain) structure, domain layout etc like you would in Scenarist or something highend (well spec based).

So although we click add track in dvdsp and set it's end jump to a menu, what dvdsp does is create a VTS (Video Title Set) with a Title and a PGC (our track) in and then our end jumps are commands that take you to the VMG (Video Manager) domain and the to the VTSM (Video Title Set Menu) domain. So although we are hidden from the spec it's still there and applies to us.

Now you are not allowed to have specific Region Coding on recordable media. They must be region all spec wise and the info must match in the lead-in and VMG. In dvdsp 2 when building to the HD or .img the RCM (Regional Code Mask) is set to 192. We need it set to 0 to be region all.

To make the RCM region all in dvdsp 2 (this is fixed with .img in dvdsp 3) you have to write direct to dvd-r or DTL. So sorry if I was unclear or made the method complicated but you just have to select all regions, write to dvd-r out of dvdsp. Then drag the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folder off of the disc to the HD. Then write with Toast. The reason behind it might be complicated but not the actual process.

Now with all that said it's just to help increase the compatibility of the dvd-r. While you may never have a problem with this as many players only check the VMG setting for region coding, there are lots out there that will give you disc error and many software players that will too.

As far as compressor goes. Yes there have been issues with it. It caused tracks not to be able to be seen on some players, old Pioneers & Sony's among others. The colour shift issue causes a problem for some and it's ongoing illegal spikes cause problems all the time.

When I said about the responsiveness of it I mean with other encoders if you set the max or make tweaks to the settings they try to listen to you and encode with what you've told them in mind but not Compressor! it's in it's own world. I mean once I encoded the same file with the same settings and everytime it got smaller!

Dont get me wrong it's a nice encoder but it's just a shame if you set a max of say 7.8 Mbps it'll blow right over that!

Now this sync thing as per the original post is another bug waiting to be squashed and I tried to advise as to how we might solve it for milesa and the many others that just read or search when looking for answers.

Sorry to quote you in the last post but it wasn't meant to be personal either and if others had commented before I'd replied I'd of quoted them to make referencing easier! But I'll stop that Even though lots of this thread isn't about the sync issue anymore I just feel it's best to comment for the sake of readers who believe what they read all the time if I feel something isn't accurate. And I try not to assume a persons level too early as you just never know.

I'll say sorry to SteveT too I guess as I didn't mean to say that you didn't know the difference between dvd-r and dvd-video but I was just hoping to clear things up for people that were unaware of the difference.

Gotta run & happy authoring peeps,

Jake

Hi,

I came across this topic as I have just posted on the forums for help with authoring a very simple DVD. I don't need menus or buttons, just a simple dvd movie that will auto play in a player/computer.

However, I'm a complete novice regarding video. I'm a print designer by trade and this piece of work has come to me regardless.

I've tried iDVD but that doesn't seem to allow you to burn a DVD without a menu.

Any ideas for a FCP simpleton?

Thanks, Rob

northernboy,

DVD Studio Pro will do this.

I'm sort of assuming that what you want is the DVD to play in insert?