Serious aliasing in Standard Def DVD created from XDCAM

I've just finished editing my first short video with my PMW-EX1. The footage is beautiful on my 30 inch Mac Monitor and external HD monitor.

I had my sequence settings in Apple ProRes 422 XDCam in Final Cut Pro 7. I exported my program as a complete Quicktime movie at full resolution. I then pulled the program into Compressor and used the settings DVD Best Quality 90 minutes. Everything still looked good when I then put the video into DVD Studio Pro 4. I then built the DVD and burned the disk using Toast from the Video TS file.

The resulting program plays fine, but aliasing is very evident and all text titles look pixelated.

I am working on a Macpro Dual Core running system 10.5.8 with 4GB RAM. I am working off a Cal Digit Raid.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Are you working with an interlaced format? Go to frame controls, turn it on, switch resizing to "best". Do a test on a short clip where the aliasing is very evident. The encoding may take a while, though.

I haven't touched Toast since it was Toast Titanium, but why don't you burn it straight from DVDSP?



www.strypesinpost.com

Thanks for the suggestion.

I am working with 1080P material. I spoke with Apple this morning and they suggested that I export directly from Final Cut using the Share command from the menu. Compression still takes place through Compressor, you just don't have to go there.

I tried this and the results are even worse than before. I also found a bug in Motion that Apple agreed was there and did not have an answer for in regards to exporting finished projects.

I did try burning from within DVD Studio Pro. It was much faster.

I would not recommend that anyone buy this release. I did it because I could bring in my XDCAM files without going through XDCAM transfer. Big mistake on my part. Apple needs to clean this up...

The aliasing is probably a result of the downscaling. I'm not in FCS 09, but I don't think resizing is any better/worse than it is in FCS 2.

If you can, turn frame controls on in Compressor and set resizing to "best".

What bug in Motion?



www.strypesinpost.com

I am pretty sure that's where I had it set when I tried the Compressor version.

The aliasing is definitely worse when I exported using the "Share" command than it was when I used Compressor by itself. If you open up the options in Share you see the compressor selections. I've got it set for a 90 minute DVD, best quality, same as I had it when using Compressor by itself.

I am using good quality disks. The program plays beautifully on my Mac and external monitor. I am sure I am doing something wrong, but can't figure it out. This 14 minute program is for a presentation I have to give in September and I am working on a 45 minute training program where this shorter program will be a bonus feature. I am tearing my hair out over this one...

Motion exported a Motion Menu and changed the font I had set, although that's not the bug. The bug is that it does not show a progress bar. It did not do it on my machine, nor did it work for the Apple tech. In addition, when I exported the file the MPEG was O KB, which obviously would not work...

After checking on the Apple Website under Compressor I have learned that there is a known bug in the latest version of Compressor. Numerous people have complained about unusable output and supposedly Apple is working on the problem.

Thanks for posting. Yea, i checked it. Yes, you should never upgrade to a new .0 release of a software for a paying gig. Unless you absolutely need the new bells and whistles.

.0 releases are usually plagued with issues (I can cite quite a few major ones from FCP 6 and Leopard), and usually they are ironed out after a few updates.



www.strypesinpost.com

Yes, it was a dumb mistake on my part. I did it because someone else had responded to a post I made about being unable to name XD-CAM Clips with the shot numbers in Sony's XD-CAM Transfer. They pointed out that the new version of Final Cut Studio has a log and transfer function that allows naming and works great - it does.

I have a big project with lots of shooting left to do so I thought that being able to name the files would speed up my work flow. Obviously, that's only part of the picture. I just did not give a thought to other issues, like Compressor, which is not exactly the sexy part of the work flow. I've got a month until I have to present this, so hopefully, Apple will work out this issue before then....

To be honest, i only see myself moving up to FCS 09 just before the end of the year, or I may make the leap along with a more stable version of Snow Leopard. I do want the bells and whistles of 7, but I don't need it when most places I work for are still on FCP 6.



www.strypesinpost.com

I have not been able to "Send" to Compressor in FCS3 either. However if you export using QT and then compress the QT file it works great until the problem is solved by Apple.

I've tried that method and can get it to Compressor. The problem is the results out of Compressor are lousy - serious aliasing. If you're getting good results, that's great, but there are lots of people who have also posted on Apple's website in the Compressor section who are not...

I'm still on FCS2. I find that I get beautiful DVDs from XDCAMEX files using standard "Best for 90 min" compression settings - when the file is short. When I tried an hour long file compressor put in a pulsing, intermittent, compression artifact thing in 2 or 3 sections of the video. It lasted for 1 or 2 minutes, and just pulsed like 2 times a second for a minute. All the footage was talking heads sitting still with no camera movement.

Now I am trying to do a compress for DVD of a 45 minute XDCAMEX clip, and the file just stops compressing and disappears half way through. The audio file does work though. My original file was shot/edited at 720/30p XDCAMEX. It is maddening. How can I make a DVD of long footage? I have a DVD player with uprez going through an HDMI and whatever I play looks like HD. It's amazing.

So now I have exported a 720/30p Prorez 422 file from my project, and am in the middle of using Compressor's "Best for 90 min DVD" preset. We'll see how that works. It's just lame to have to make a giant file just to burn a DVD.

Are there any updates to the New FCStudio yet?

Stats:
Final Cut Studio 2
Mac Pro
Processor: 2x3 Ghz Quad Core Intel Zeon
Memory: 5GB 667 Mhz DDR2 FB-Dimm

My Music: [www.humboldtmusic.com]
My Work: [www.precisionintermedia.com] (Video & Jingles)
My Fun Video: [www.youtube.com]