simple DVD question?

I am rubbish at DVD studio pro... I can't seem to make the simplest of tasks work. I have a film shot on DV CAM, I know there is a function called 'pan and scan' that will compress and create a DVD to perfection but how? Help please. Cheers Phil UK

Pan and scan is not a compression function, but a description of how the video will look on different sized screens if it is applied. It's like saying letterbox... which isn't a video compression either.

If you've shot on DV (in PAL, I take it) then use FCP to edit the footage. Export to Compressor and use an appropriate compression preset to convert your DV material to MPEG2, and the audio to AC3. Use these files in DVDSP, not the DV.

When you set up your DVDSP project, choose the aspect ratio to suit your footage - 4:3 or 16:9. You can then start to think about how your footage will look if shown on a TV of the other size and shape... i.e. if you shot 4:3 and create a 4:3 disc, what should happen when it is shown on a 16:9 screen? This is where pan&scan comes in.

Have a look in the DVDSP manual, chapter 2, page 52. It explains it all there rather well.

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