Want two versions of DVD--Blu-Ray and regular DVD

Blu-Ray discs have fallen dramatically in price. I am making a documentary and want to make two versions--regular widescreen and Blu Ray widescreen. I will be making the Blu Ray DVD version in Encore as DVD Studio Pro does not support Blu Ray.

What is the most efficient way to do this in Final Cut Pro 6? Can I simply make the whole thing with Hi-Def footage and sequences, then copy those sequences and change the sequence settings to regular DV widescreen? Will Final Cut magically convert the HD footage and sequences down?

economicsprofessor Wrote:
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> Blu-Ray discs have fallen dramatically in price. I
> am making a documentary and want to make two
> versions--regular widescreen and Blu Ray
> widescreen. I will be making the Blu Ray DVD
> version in Encore as DVD Studio Pro does not
> support Blu Ray.
>
> What is the most efficient way to do this in Final
> Cut Pro 6? Can I simply make the whole thing with
> Hi-Def footage and sequences, then copy those
> sequences and change the sequence settings to
> regular DV widescreen? Will Final Cut magically
> convert the HD footage and sequences down?

I am not well versed in this, but I believe that
Compressor does an excellent job of the
"standards conversion" to mpeg2, as this is
what you would use for SD.

If you're working on a Final Cut Pro system ? as opposed to Final Cut Express; a lot of people still think they're comparable ? you should never convert anything to DV. DV is an absurdly compressed format.

Not knowing anything about your workflow, I'd recommend just passing your finished HD master to Compressor and using one of the built-in MPEG 2-for-DVD presets. They do an outstanding job as long as the material is 24p. I've never used them for 60i downconverts, so I can't speak to that. But since you're talking about a documentary, I'm just assuming you've been in 24p all along.

I export out of FCP into ProRes HQ 16:9 NTSC. Then I drop that file into Compressor for MPEG-2 encoding. That way the encode to MPEG-2 is focusing only on video compression not downconversion at the same time- which takes forever. And I get a high-quality master for other stuff like Internet and tape at the same time.

Noah

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
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On the contrary, I'll run the standards conversion in Compressor. It's great if you have the time, then in Compressor, set resizing to "best". That makes use of optical flow technology, which beats the hell out of FCP's resizing, but the trade-off is time.

Compressor in FCS2 will only do a Blu-Ray stream in Mpeg 2, if i'm not wrong. According to the release notes, FCS (*the new one), will do a H.264 stream for Blu-Ray.



www.strypesinpost.com

Sure that works great if you have the time- which can mean overnight or more. Plus if there's a glitch with the encode along the way- you start from scratch with nothing. My way you have a 2 step process and still have a nice downconverted master if the MPEG-2 encode fails or doesn't look high-quality enough.

Noah

Final Cut Studio Training, featuring the HVX200, EX1, EX3, DVX100, DVDSP and Color at [www.callboxlive.com]!
Author, RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera available now at: [www.amazon.com].
Editors Store- Gifts and Gear for Editors: [www.editorsstore.com]

Actually, my way is 2 step, if quality is critical. First I down-rez to Uncompressed SD in Compressor, then I go to Mpeg2.



www.strypesinpost.com

Why downconvert?

I just export from my DVCPRO HD sequence to Quick Time (current Settings). That .mov
file import in Compressor (best 90 min mpeg2).
Once that is finished, I import that in DVD Stdio Pro and burn it.

Haven't done anything longer than 10 min projects so far, but the quality
of those DVDs done is spectacular.

For Blue-Ray, haven't tried, but from first tests done in FCP 7, it's easy,
everything done in FCP (of course Compressor does it probably in background).

So no need for Toast, Encore or anything else, finally.

Check this:

[www.kenstone.net]

Mio

>Why downconvert?

What you mentioned downconverts HD to SD Mpeg2. But that post is cool... So you really don't need Toast anymore? Awesome!



www.strypesinpost.com

I just skimmed that thread, so it wasn't entirely clear whether the external Blu-Ray burner "just worked," or whether a driver or something had been installed separate from FCS. But the whole idea of throwing your timeline on a Blu-Ray disc with a very simple menu (or, hopefully, no menu at all?) straight from Final Cut is pretty fantastic.

As suggested before, I'd make an HD master file out of FCP, like a Prores (HQ) export. Then you would work with that in Compressor. Encode for Blue-Ray and downconvert and encode for SD DVD in DVD Studio Pro. I've done Blu-ray Encore projects this way and the results are fantastic.