FCP to Quicktime to DVDSP

[neelagrawal]

Hello everyone.

I dont know if anyone can help me, but I need to make a standard definition DVD of my FCP timeline. As of right now the FCP timeline settings are as follows.

Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)
23.98 Editing timebase
Pixel aspect ratio square
Width x Height
2048 1024

I have tried exporting to many different Quicktime files including a ProRes 422 (HQ) file, a H.264 file, and a Redcode file. The ProRes and H.264 worked but the Redcode one gave me a transfer with just a gray screen and audio. When I imported the ProRes and H.264 into DVDSP and burned a DVD the quality of the image on my television really sucked. It looked beautiful on my computer when I viewed the Quicktime file. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
Neel

 

[Thomas Koch]

Are you using Compressor to make your M2v files?

When I went through compressor I used a filter on all the 2K files to soften the image just a tad to reduce aliasing. I cut in proxies and the exported using compressor to m2v and aac audio for DVD studio Pro. Looked great.

The actual filter in Final Cut was the “Soft Focus” filter with “Amount 1” and “Strength .21”.

just make sure you go through compressor.

 

[neelagrawal]

Compressor settings?

Compressor settings?

Hello Tom,

Thank you for your reply. I did use compressor to go through. What I did once was I made a non self contained quicktime movie file from FCP, then I went into compressor and used a 6.2Mbps 2-pass to make a .m2v file. Im not sure which settings to use in compressor after I make the non self contained movie.

 

[Brian Kadar]

I don't have TOO much experience with this specific workflow, but you might want to try creating a self contained pro-res file, and use one of the default best quality options in compressor. Maybe just try doing a few seconds of the sequence and report back.

 

[Jeremy Neish]

Nearly everything I produce eventually goes through Adobe After Effects at some stage of my workflow (sometimes a couple of times). I use it for scaling, de-interlacing/inverse telecine, cropping, (some) color correction, etc.

Don't let people convince you AE is only for short clips, I've processed many a full length movie through it. (Though I have run into it's 4 hour timeline limit a few times, once when we were trying to create a 16 hour quicktime movie, we ended up making 5 shorter ones and splicing them together in QuickTime Player).

My recommendation is export a self contained QuickTime movie from FCP, bring it into a DV sized composition, and scale/crop/correct as needed (make sure your frame rates match). Export back out of AE as another QuickTime and compress in compressor or your MPEG encoder of choice.

 

[neelagrawal]

Tried the Soft Blur

Tried the Soft Blur

So I tried doing the soft blur thing. I used the settings I was recommended, and burned another DVD but unfortunately it still doesn't look good. Maybe my expectations are too high because of how it looks in Final Cut Pro and how good the Quicktime files look and how good it looks in DVD Studio Pro. I've been using Compressor to make the .m2v and .ac3 files. Is there anything I might be missing that would account for such a poor quality DVD? Thanks for the help guys.

 

[ThomtheEditor]

Brian's reply is the best workflow, output self contained quicktime (Current settings) and compress using 90 min best quality (if it's 90 min or less of course), self contained is very important to the process, or use the same settings and go straight from fcp to compressor (export>using compressor...)

also what kind of tv/dvd player are you viewing on, connections, etc.

need more info.

 

[neelagrawal]

Self contained vs. direct to compressor?

Self contained vs. direct to compressor?

Dear Thom,

I have been going directly into compressor from the timeline in Final Cut Pro, and using the best compressor settings for my DVD, which is actually only a short film. I am viewing it on a 40 inch Sony XBR3 1080 HD television. I have both a regular Sony DVD player and a Blu-ray player. I have been playing it on the regular Sony DVD player. Is it possible I am just expecting too much from the DVD playback? Im just comparing what I see on the TV to the Quicktime files and playback in Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro. The quality of the image just isn't crisp and clear. Its pixelated. Thanks for the help guys.

Neel

 

[Scott M]

If you want to keep it all in Apple's workflow, the best method so far is to output your ProRes master then take that into Compressor, drop the "90min Best DVD" settings in and then:

Select the Frame Controls tab (3rd option from the left in the inspector) and make these settings:

Frame Controls On:
Retiming: (Best) High quality Motion Compensated
Resize Filter: Statistical Prediction
Deinterlace Filter: Best (Motion Compensated)
Adaptive Details: On
Antialias: 0
Detail Level: 0
Field Output: Same as Source

Once the files are output, open up your DVDSP project and add the m2v and AC3 files to the Assets tab and go from there. This will get you basically the best possible SD DVD output from the Apple lineup.

 

[ThomtheEditor]

you wouldn't happen to be cutting off the proxies would you?

 

[neelagrawal]

I don't think I'm cutting off the proxies but if you could explain a way for me to check I would really appreciate it. Thanks for all the help.

Neel

 

[Brian Kadar]

Some HDTV's will display SD footage a little different than others. I wouldn't be too critical of the pixelation you're seeing, it might not be because of what you're doing. I would however monitor it on an SDTV simply because it is SD footage. If you can't tell a difference on an SDTV when you change the settings....I wouldn't worry about it. Hope that helps.

 

[neelagrawal]

I haven't taken a look at it on a SD television yet but I will sometime soon and report back. Thanks for the help.

 

[neelagrawal]

Well I finally looked at it on a standard definition television and it looked really good. I was impressed with it in comparison to my numerous 16mm film projects, DVX100A project and HVX200 project. I loved the image and when I compared the soft focus version with the version Mr. Glory instructed me to make I actually liked the non soft focus one better. The soft focus version was a little bit darker. Thanks for all the help guys, I learned a lot about burning footage to DVD.

Neel