Best Quicktime Export for DVD from FCP

Hello Everyone,

I hope someone can offer some advice.

I shoot in DV NTSC Anamorphic and have always exported using FCP's standard export 'Quicktime Movie... Current settings (NTSC Anamorphic)'. Today I received a Quicktime File in the H.264 Compression setting and it's stunning in comparison! I've exported two versions of a file, one in Quicktime (Current Settings) and the other in H.264 and the difference in clarity is amazing. H.264 is so much better.

Now I understand that H.264 is a Mpeg4 format and so isn't recognized in DVD Studio Pro. My question is:

How can I get this kind of quality onto a DV NTSC Anamorphic DVD project. In other words could someone please explain the exact settings to get the best quality for a DVD that has about and hour and a half of footage on the DVD?

Thank you in advance.

Russ

H.264 looks better on your Mac because it's meant for playback on computers (usually via the internet). DV exports usually look like crap in the QT player, but if you output to a TV screen you would see a world of difference. Your DV SCQT is still the highest resolution master you can make, although you wouldn't send it to everyone (that's what the H.264 is for).

As far as DVD goes, you're still starting with the best quality if you compress your DV SCQT for the disc. Compressing an H.264 to Mpeg-2 is two layers of compression, and you don't want that. Try using Compressor, and try tweaking the DVD 90-minute "Best" setting to your liking (the Gamma, Color, and de-interlace controls specifically). Test your new preset on short sections of your movie until you find one you like. And watch your outputs on a TV, not the computer!

JK

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SCQT! Self-contained QuickTime ? pass it on!

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the Gamma, Color, and de-interlace controls specifically

Whoop. Not quite, John. You definitely do not want to deinterlace DV material that's destined for DVD. That'll be a big step down, quality-wise.

Really, the encoding stage is not where you want to be making color and contrast adjustments. The purpose of MPEG-2 encoding for DVD is to generate a compressed copy that's as faithful to the original as possible. If you want to make adjustments to your look, make them on your timeline using the color corrector, or a (far superior) tool like Colorista. I'm not sure if Color can take DV material; I think it'd probably have to be converted to ProRes first, which is a lot of work for that extra twenty percent or so that Color can give you that Colorista can't.

The exception here is encoding for Web delivery. Some people like to make certain very limited adjustments while they're encoding to H.264. I don't happen to be one of them, but there are those who advocate it.

I know some folks who like to tweak those controls in Compressor, but I believe you as I tend not to touch them myself. The "Best" settings tend to work just fine. Didn't know that about the de-interlace though, thanks.

JK

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SCQT! Self-contained QuickTime ? pass it on!

Hello Everyone,

thanks so much for the help. Now I understand!

Best,
Russ