Help! Compression Disaster!

Hi Y'all-

Compressed my final, exported, uncompressed self-contained movie file 3 ways so far:

Originally my sequence was with the AJA Io codec, 8-bit uncompressed - 720X486. I exported a self contained uncompressed movie file and used this as the source file for compression.

1)re-imported the file into FCP and went thru compressor (2Pass encode, but using the default settings, no custom settings) - this ended up looking very blurry

(I had also tried converting the sequence to a DV, 720 X 480 one INSIDE of FCP, which also made it quite blurry)

2)re-imported the file into FCP and went thru compressor (2Pass encode, best bit rate possible, frame control on automatic so it'd convert to 720 X 480 in a better way)

3) just through Compressor without FCP (same custom compressor settings)

Both the 2nd and 3rd m2v files would not go into DVD Studio Pro, it said: "incompatible file format!"

What does this mean? Could something be wrong with my original file? Another wierd thing, I brought the m2v file from #2 into FCP to get info, and the size was 640 X 720! I know that the summary inside of Compressor said 720, NOT 640...

I need to make a DVD tonight, and I don't know what to do. Should I relink the project and go through compressor through FCP from the original sequence files? Should I try to do the compression INSIDE of DVDSP, instead of in Compressor itself? Should I just drag the m2v file into toast and mux it there?

This is a desperate sitch, and all help is appreciated!

Thanks,

Marla
PS-also repeated on DVDSP

Did you already try importing the full-quality 8-bit SD movie file into DVD Studio Pro? Compressor 2's been reported as having problems.

If that doesn't work, redo the export out of FCP, full-quality self-contained movie file.


www.derekmok.com

No I did not - do you mean just bring my self-contained movie into DVD SP, and let it compress it there? I have never compressed inside there, is there a way to control the re-sizing at all? Any settings you'd recommend?

This job has some video, but it's very graphics heavy.

Thanks for the quick reply,

Marla

I just brought the self-c movie file into DVDSP OK. Not sure what to do next about "intelligent resizing," and any other encoding settings to be aware of...

> No I did not - do you mean just bring my self-contained movie into DVD SP, and let it
> compress it there?

Yep. It's not guaranteed to fix the issue, but it's a possibility. I've had at least two major cases where I exported full-quality self-contained Uncompressed 10-bit SD movie files, but after I turned them into MPEG-2s via Compressor 2, they led to unusable DVDs. When I imported the 10-bit movie files themselves, they were fine.

The only disadvantages to bypassing the Compressor MPEG-2 conversion are:

a) Longer build times in DVD Studio Pro, because the MPEG-2 content has to be made at that stage;
b) Less control over compression settings;
c) More storage space required in order to keep the DVD project active, since you have to keep the Uncompressed SD files rather than small, efficient MPEG-2s.


www.derekmok.com

Understood - and thanks - but I need a little more guidance please:

What settings should I use? Max bit rate? Should I change the pixels to square? Any other details appreciated as to the procedure, Do I treat the self-c as my asset to set up the DVD first, and then where do I tell it to encode? Do I just set my settings and then hit build/format and it will automatically encode and then build?

Thanks Derek!

Marla

Oops-don't know if this has ANY bearing on ANYTHING, but both the m2V files open up fine in Quicktime and look good...

MM

> Do I treat the self-c as my asset to set up the DVD first, and then where do I tell it to
> encode? Do I just set my settings and then hit build/format and it will automatically encode
> and then build?

Yes, though I usually do Build and Format separately.


www.derekmok.com

I just did a build, and then took the TS files into toast to burn. The DVD plays smoothly, but the graphics look very blurry again! I noticed in the viewer/simulator menu the rectangular pixel was checked, didn't see any pixel related choices in the encoder settings...

Should I have formatted inside DVDSP? Does that mean burning (I always burn in toast)?

Thanks,

Marla
PS-I am wondering if compressor 2.3 is problematical on the intel machine. It has FCP v5.1.2 universal, but maybe I should redo with compressor on a different machine? I do have access to a "normal" G5 also...

Thanks again, feeling very blue and it's great to know you are out there!

Marla

Marla

I used a different machine and got workable files. Still some blurriness but I did all I could with the bit rate etc.

Thanks y'all,

Marla