Exporting a sequence of still images from FCP to DVD Pro

I captured my stills & processed my sequence in FCP using version 5.0.4. I am making a DVD of a couple hundred still images 720x480 jpegs w/ transitions and text all connected in a 21 min. sequence. I have tried importing from a Quick Time movie and from a Compressor batch file (my first time to use Compressor and I'm not sure it's correct, but it did make a compressor batch file) into DVD Pro, but I get an "incompatible format" message. When I drag the compressor batch file from my desktop into compressor, I get the message, "error trying to open source media file". I'd appreciate any kind of help. Thanks, Nick

You didn't tell us what format you exported to. For that matter, what Sequence Settings did you use in FCP? It sounds to me like you're using Compressor incorrectly and that's the stage where it's going wrong.


www.derekmok.com

Sequence: DV NTSC 48 kHZ

Format: I am unsure other than I exported 3 different ways: 1) To a Quick Time Movie: 2) Quick Time Conversion, and 3) Compressor.

you don't need to worry too much but the compressor BATCH FILE.

export from your timeline as a Quicktime movie.
drag that into compressor.
apply your choice of DVD presets to that file in compressor, and hit submit.

that wil give you 2 files (picture and sound) that you can use in DVDSP.


just a suggestion:
change your sequence preset to something other than DV
for what you are doing (stills to DVD) you'll get better results.
you could try uncompressed 8-bit, or Photo Jpeg set to 75%
you might not be able to edit with those settings, but certainly switch over for your export.


cheers,
nick

Thanks, Nick. I drug the Quicktime movie into compressor and tried several settings: a) QT Movie, b) 8-bit uncompressed NTSC, c) MPEG-2, 5.0 Mbps, 2-Pass, 4:3, none of which worked and all gave the same response - "Unable to connect to background process". I didn't see a Photo JPEG option. Are there other presets I should be concerning myself with other than the ones in the drop down list? Perhaps of importance, when I try to play the video in compressor, I get the pinwheel and within a few sec's Compressor is "not responding".

First, restart your machine. If it still doesn't work, reset background processing in compressor. Quit Compressor. Then in the finder, go to var/spool/qmaster/ and delete the contents of that folder. Restart compressor and encode.

What settings? The DVD best preset.



www.strypesinpost.com

strypes addressed your "background processes" issue. But:

> I drug the Quicktime movie into compressor and tried several settings: a) QT Movie, b)
> 8-bit uncompressed NTSC, c) MPEG-2, 5.0 Mbps, 2-Pass, 4:3, none of which worked and
> all gave the same response - "Unable to connect to background process". I didn't see a
> Photo JPEG option.

You're not quite understanding the process, so let me try to explain.

You have JPEG still images. That's your master footage.

The Photo JPEG/Uncompressed 8-bit options Nick recommended are for your Final Cut Pro Sequence Settings. Because currently, you are processing your JPEGs through a "buffer", the DV NTSC codec -- which doesn't give you great quality.

However, what you're doing is exporting your images through a DV NTSC Sequence into a QuickTime movie (thus already taking the hit in your images), and then trying to export to Photo JPEG/Uncompressed 8-bit. First of all, there's no reason to use Compressor for that. Second, you're actually degrading your image quality a second time. The QuickTime movie you're using as the source of your Compressor encode is already DV NTSC; it will never get any better.

So here are your options:

1. Reset your Sequence Settings in FCP to what Nick recommended, say Uncompressed 8-bit. Re-export the movie file at full quality (Export - QuickTime Movie, not Export - Using QuickTime Conversion), and put "uncompressed_8bit" somewhere in the file name so you don't confuse it with the older DV NTSC movie file. Drag that into Compressor and use a DVD Preset. Or, if you're using DVD Studio Pro for the DVD encode, you can just use the Uncompressed 8-bit movie file directly in the DVDSP project; it doesn't need a pre-made MPEG-2. A DVD preset in Compressor gives more control, but you may not care.

2. If you're happy with the quality of the DV movie file, just drag that into DVD Studio Pro, or run it through a Compressor DVD preset. As above, either will work in DVDSP.


www.derekmok.com

Thank you, Derek, for explaining that to me. I'll get right on it.

One other thing, I can't find the file var/spool/qmaster. Where is it?

Thanks again to all of you.

PS Any suggestions on some good FCP tutorials? I do have the manuals, but sometimes find them difficult to comprehend enough. I live in the sticks of Salmon, Idaho with no opportunities, or really, enough money to be flying to various courses. Something I can do at home.

Nick

Go to the finder. Go to users. Then hit shift apple g, and type the path I mentioned. Drag the contents into the trash.



www.strypesinpost.com

The folder's name is AA77B5F2-11BFB4E6 and there are two sub folders named "job" & "shared", but both are empty. Should I still delete them? I just want to be sure not to screw anything up.

Thanks, Strypes

I get a "General Error" message when I try to export to Quicktime Movie. I did change the sequence preset to "uncompressed 8-bit NTSC" before I opened a New Project and pasted the old one in.

I noticed in the sequence preset part of Audio/Video Settings and Easy Set-Up that it notes that "settings for existing sequences will not change." I copied the original and pasted it into a New Project and renamed it as you suggested. Do I need to somehow alter my previous sequence? I hope I don't have to start from scratch!

Switch your compressor to 8 bit uncompressed in sequence settings. NTSC has 2 frame sizes.

You can delete the two folders. Compressor will recreate it if it can't find the folders. If the jobs folder is empty, you shouldn't have a problem with background processes. What version of FCP/OS are you running?



www.strypesinpost.com

FCP 5.0.4, OS Version 10.6.6 , Mac Pro 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 16 GB Memory. Job file is empty. I went back and trashed the jobs & shared folders, and reset the background processor and set the compressor sequence to 8 bit uncompressed. Now, when I highlight the file in the Name section and play it, it works okay, but when I highlight the 8-bit section under Settings then it become unresponsive. What was the reason for you mentioning that NTSC has 2 frame sizes?
Thanks again, Nick

It will be unresponsive. Your drives probably aren't fast enough to play it back. Don't worry about it. just export and encode.



www.strypesinpost.com

> I noticed in the sequence preset part of Audio/Video Settings and Easy Set-Up that it
> notes that "settings for existing sequences will not change."

You're changing the wrong thing. You're confusing "Sequence Presets" (under Audio/Video Settings) and "Sequence Settings". Sequence Presets only apply to the default settings of a new sequence created. To change the latter, select the current Sequence and press APPLE-0.


www.derekmok.com

Thanks again, Derek. Now at least I know how to change the curent sequence settings. However, after having done that, I go to Export>OuickTime Movie>Save>(Setting: (Current or I have also tried to scroll down the drop list and enter the uncompressed 8-bit both to no avail), Include: Audio and Video; Markers: DVD Studio Pro Markers (according to manual), Make Movie Self-Contained Box (checked) Click Save and it tries to write Video & Audio then I get a "General Error" warning. It does produce about a 2 sec version of my sequence on my desktop. I keep trashing these to avoid confusion, etc. This is so frustrating. I'm so surprised it is this difficult considering the power of this program.

Thanks for all your help. Please don't give up on me yet.

Too many things could be wrong. We need to reduce the number of variables.

Look at your timeline. Press SHIFT-Z (Fit to Window). Is it as long as it's supposed to be? It's very common for beginners to leave junk far down the timeline (eg. four hours down the line, out of sight) that can mess with your export.

Did you render everything before exporting? How much space do you have left on your drive?

Export to the [username] - Documents folder instead of your desktop. Forget the DVD Studio Pro markers for now. And make the export file name (Test.mov).


www.derekmok.com

Timeline is correct. Yes, I did render all. HD space = 213 GB,

Export > QuickTime Movie (Uncompressed 8 bit sequence) Save As: Test.mov, Setting: Current Settings (Uncompressed 8-bit), Include: Audio and Video, Markers: None, Box Checked: Make Movies Self-contained>Save to Username: Documents.

Okay, this was a little different in that I didn't get a "General Error" notice, but the video lasted only a couple of sec's as did the quick window stating it was writing the video & audio. I did a second test as well. The first test was 25.6 MB & the second was 38.2 MB but didn't seem any longer when I opened it. I haven't trashed them yet in case you wanted info from them.

Perhaps I should re-iterate that I have been able to export my original sequence that was DV NTSC 48 kHz, and I could play it on my computer, but when I burned it to a DVD it wouldn't play. That has been saved to my desktop (as suggested by the manual) and that is what I had been trying to put into Compressor before you put me straight about not using it. That file is 540 MB. So, just to be clear, I have changed the sequence settings to Uncompressed 8-bit and have been using that sequence for our testing.

I just went back to check my original sequence and I guess I hadn't "Rendered All" which I am doing now. I had done it on the second one I copied and have never been able to get it into a full QuickTime movie. I'll let you know the results after rendering is completed. Thank you for hanging in there with me.

I Rendered All and got the same thing, but this time the file size was increased to 42.4 MB

> I Rendered All and got the same thing, but this time the file size was increased to 42.4 MB

42.4MB is nothing. Did you have In-Out points set? If so, press OPTION-X and clear them.


www.derekmok.com

I didn't have any In-Out points, but I did the clearing and tried exporting again with the same results. The only reason I mentioned the file size was in case it meant anything that it was getting larger. I'm trying to give you as much info as I can.

Exported movies should be much larger. Something is preventing your file from getting saved.
Start a new project file with the right Sequence Settings. Copy over the contents of your Sequence timeline (not the Sequence itself) to a new Sequence in the new project. Save that and try again. If that doesn't work, repair your permissions and try again. Also try exporting a reference movie file instead. That might get you past the DVD stage either via Compressor or directly in DVD Studio Pro.

Like I said, too many possibilities. It'd be a lot easier to troubleshoot this in person. The increasing file sizes doesn't tell me much except that it's not a consistent problem.


www.derekmok.com

Quote
Derek
Exported movies should be much larger.

As Derek alluded... for NTSC DV/DVCPro video at 29.97 fps, 21 minutes should result in a file size of close to 4.5 GB.


-Dave

"Copy over the contents of your Sequence timeline (not the Sequence itself) to a new Sequence in the new project".

Is the Sequence that you don't want me to copy in the Browser? To copy the Timeline (which I think I did do originally, but will try again because I may not have) I just Select All via Apple-A, right?. Since my settings preset is now set to Uncompressed 8-bit NTSC that should suffice to give me the "right sequence settings", right? I'll do my Permission Repair now just in case.

Yikes! Thanks, that at least gives me a ball park idea.

Off-topic and a bit nit-picky, but why people use the inaccurate term "Apple-" for the keystroke command? It has never been called this. It should be "Command-A", "Command-S", etc.

It's even more confusing because the Apple symbol was removed from all keyboards some years ago. It was only ever there for compatibility with older Apple II series computers. The Macintosh (and now Mac OS X) has never referred to that key in any way except the Command key.

Oh well...



-Dave

Because a lot of early Keyboards and certainly UK keyboards had an Apple on the Command Key and NOT "cmd" UK or "command" USA as it does today.

You need to study your history Davey!

[en.wikipedia.org]

Quote

The Apple symbol was removed in the keyboard's 2007 redesign, making room for the key's name to appear. In the US, the keyboard now uses the word "command"; in Europe, the word used now is "cmd" printed on the key. The removal of the symbol triggered outrage among some Apple supporters who felt that a unique design feature of the Macintosh was being dropped without a compelling need.

For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

...and if you see an Apple what would you call that key if you didn't know otherwise?



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

It is off-topic, but I used the term Apple instead of Cmnd, because that's the way it was presented to me. I will admit that it threw me a little, but since all that I really care about is getting this problem fixed, I was able to overcome and go with the flow. Nevertheless, thanks to all who care to help.