Compressor Fast Encode or QTself-contained???

Hi there all- I am going to try to post this on the DVD Studio Pro forum too:

My timeling is 40 mins, and would take 10-12 hours to compress in best quality mode. Sadly, I do not have the time.

I output a QT self-contained, with DVD Studio Pro Chapter Markers, and that file looks good.

I just started a Compressor export using the fast encode, and if I let it go it'll take about 3 hours. At this point I am supposed to vacate the room in just about 3 hours!

But if the compressor file is good, I can take it uptown where I have access to DVD Studio Pro 3, which is way too slow for a QT file, but compresor files are fine there.

My other option is to try to use the QT file here, and not bother with the compressorafst encode export.

I am nervous about that because I have never done it, and I don't know how DVD Studio Pro 4 compreses the media, and I also don't know if THAT takes forever...

Anyone have experience using longish "QT self contained movies" into DVD Studio Pro 4? Does it compress well generally? And is it very slow?

My piece is not heavy-FX, but it does have 4 layers of cropped black slug on top, as it's a hand-made letterbox matt with sides to keep things clean for projection...other than that there are some fades and dissolves and a few cheesy swing-cuts, and some stills with slow moves.

All experience and anecdotes are much-appreciated,

Marla, yeah, still awake in New York...

Hi there-

I just read on the DVD SP forum that it's faster to compress from a QT into compressor than from a FCP sequence...

I started an FCP export to compressor about 20 minutes ago. It says it has 3 hours and 43 mins remaining. It's a 40 minute video and I am in a bit of a rush, though I want a solid comressed file, naturally.

I had already exported a self-contained QT movie, with DVD Studio Pro Chapter Markers selected...

If I interrupt the Compressor export now, and drag the QT file into compressor, will the time savings be significant enough to justify it?

Also, will the Chapter Markers, DVD SP style, mess anything up? Will they come through?

Thanks, all knowledgeable advice and/or goofy anecdotes are appreciated,

Marla



Post Edited (06-06-06 06:17)

M A R L A


Current System:

FCP 7.0.3 on an MBP 17" from early 2011, running OS 10.8.3

Processor 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB
Software OS X 10.8.3 (12D78)

Do you have access to DVD Studio on the machine you are currently working on? If so, export from Final Cut as a reference movie then import into DVDSP and burn that way. I've burned videos over 1 hour long and took maybe an hour to burn and the quality always looks great.

If you don't have access to DVDSP on the machine you're on, then probably quicktime selfcontained is the way to go. I haven't had much personal success with compressor, so I'm not a big advocate.

Steven Gladney



Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.

Thanks steven,

I do have DVDSP4 on this machine, but as I have to be out of here by noon, at this point I'd rather have a file that I can take elsewhere (good to know about the reference movie tho, I have never tried that, do you bring that right into DVD Studio Pro and then DVDSP does the compression? Doesn't that part take a long time?)...

ALSO-DOES ANYONE any info on the chapter markers thing??? I mean the fact that I selected the "DVD SP Chapter Markers" option on my QT file? Will that translate in compressor or mess me up in some way? Do I need to export a QT self-contained file that does not have that option selected, if I am going to take it and run it thru compressor best qual encode before DVD SP3?

I wish I had DVD SP 4 elsewhere, hopefully the fast encode will be alright. I have had good luck with Compressor, but I prefer to use the best quality encode...

Thanks,

Marla

> I do have DVDSP4 on this machine, but as I have to be out of here by noon,
> at this point I'd rather have a file that I can take elsewhere

Then don't do a reference movie. Make a self-contained movie file at full quality. A 40-minute show, already rendered, should only take eight to 10 minutes to export a full-quality movie file, and at that point you can move that single file anywhere to make a DVD with. You can even use iDVD on a non-FCP-equipped station. With a reference movie, it's useless once you detach it from the original clips.

> Do I need to export a QT self-contained file that does not have that option
> selected

Precisely the opposite -- you do need to have that option selected on the self-contained file. Make sure your chapter markers are on the timeline where you're doing the export, not on the clips within that timeline, and make sure the markers all have FCP's own <CHAPTER> code on them.

<do you bring that right into DVD Studio Pro and then DVDSP does the compression? Doesn't that part take a long time?)...>

Yep! Bring it right into DVDSP and lay it directly on your indicated track. Works great for me. And it doesn't take a long time at all (imo)


But Derek is right! If you do have to "take it with you", then do not do a reference movie. You'll be all skrewed up.

Steven Gladney



Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.

Thanks Steven and Derek-

So miraculously I was able to get my compressed (fast encode, alas) file done with an hour to spare! The remaining time indicator was WAY off.

So I was very bleary, but I managed to author a aDVD in DVD SP 4, though 2 odd things happened.

1 of my chapters was missing, no biggie, it was in some black so I was able to make a sufficiently exact chapter marker inside of DVD SP.

But I must have accidentally chosen some weird button qualities, I am going to have to redo this: I have 10 buttons on the screen, and chapter/button #1, after I click back to the menu from ANY section, shows a random frame of video inside it, from within that chapter. Since it's a talking head, it's bvery unnattractive, it'll just catch some frame where the dude has his mouth open or the like... All of the other buttons are the right colors at the right times, etc.

I am no longer at Goldcrest, but I'll be back at my work station at the museum next week, where we have DVD Studio Pro 3. Anybody know if I can go backwards to a previos version? I mean I know I can just redo the whole thing from my compressor file, but I was curious...

Marla
PS-Steven, are you talking about short timelines? How long would it take to compress a 40 min piece that way? And you need DVD SP 4, not 3, right??

Marla,

I've done timelines in excess of an hour (one such had 3 layers of the exact same video clips layered on top of itself --remedy for adjusting dark footage--) plus several other clips and a complete DVD menu with some motion mixed in, DVD took max about 45 mins - 1 hour to burn. And yes, I am using DVDSP 4, but I have done the same thing with reference movies in DVDSP3 in the past (but much shorter timelines).

Steven Gladney



Sometimes the obvious is hidden in plain view.

Are you on a Dual G5? The version 3 we have at work is a pretty old G4... But that really does sound fast to me, I may try it out, just as an experiment, see if it looks better than the fast encode compressor version.

But are you talking about burn time, or encoding time? Does DVD SP do them simultaneously, if you import a QT self contained movie?

Marla