Blu-Ray Authoring

So now I am really confused. I called Apple and they confirmed that DVD SP4 is in fact able to burn to a Blu laser (nice hidden button). I verified the settings and there is a red or blue laser option on the interface. MCE makes an internal Blu-Ray drive. If using Final Cut Suite 6.0, will I be able to write onto a Blu Ray disk and see the output on a consumer Blu-Ray DVD player using the MCE drive? Please advise.

Thanks.

Rob Wise

Basic HD-DVD is built into DVDSP. Never any mention of BluRay authoring, anywhere. Interstingly, though, I noticed a BluRay Compressor setting???

Did you find out or try out burning a Blu-Ray disc and seeing if it would play in a Blu-Ray player yet? I too am curious, since Apple seems reluctant to update DVD Studio Pro any time soon.

I'm done waiting for Apple. I am going to purchase DVDitPro for the PC side of my Intel Mac. Thanks Apple. I may next invest in Encore. I feel ripped off by Final Cut Suite.

John,

There is also a blue laser option button on DVDSP4. Based upon that, you would think that you could encode to Blu-Ray. I read that Apple is about to launch a DVD writer that will write to both HDDVD and to Blu-Ray. Do you know anything about this?

I heard something about Blue Laser HDDVDs...I can't remember where though.

Now that Blu-Ray has emerged the winner...has someone actually made one with DVDSP? I don't have a burner yet, but I'm wondering what else I need to be able to author Blu-Ray discs...I already have customers asking about it.

Casey

HD-DVD uses a blue laser, and shares the VC-1 codec with Blu Ray, but as far as I know that's where the similarities end. To my knowledge, there is no way to author a Blu Ray DVD in DVDSP, but you can compress a Blu Ray-compatible MPEG-2 using compressor. From what I've seen, the best option for authoring Blu Ray on a Mac is Adobe Encore. Unfortunately, the H.264 files Compressor makes are apparently not compatible with Encore, but the MPEG-2 files are; assuming you have used the Compressor setting for Blu Ray. I believe you can also use Toast to author Blu Ray discs, though I've heard complaints about the stability of that workflow. What I'd like to know is if there's any way to transcode XDCAM files directly into Blu-Ray compatible MPEG-2, since it already is an MPEG-2 format.

Thanks vurchdc. Can you or anyone tell me what Apple is waiting for, being that the war has been won by Blue-Ray? I can't see why Apple is willing to let video producers migrate to Encore because Apple has yet to support Blue-Ray in DVDSP. Doesn't Apple care that they are loosing customers? When is Apple going to get with the program? We have all waited long enough!

That's the million dollar question. I think it's a licensing issue at the moment, and I don't think Sony is too keen to let any home editor with a mac or pc start making Hollywood-quality Blu Rays just yet. As far as I know, only one software package sold directly from Sony allows one to fully unlock Blu Ray's potential, and it isn't exactly cheap. I have to believe we'll see full Blu Ray support in FCS3, but who knows when that will launch. Apple's been too busy with the iPhone lately to be paying much attention to anything else. They weren't even at NAB this year...which I thought was shocking.