Help: How do I produce high-quality DVDs?

Hello.

I am new to the world of digital editing and would like input from those of you who know your way around this stuff. I have many years of experience shooting and editing on tape (Beta SP, U-matic, MiniDV) and I'm used to a certain level of image quality.

Now I have a Mac Pro, just 2 months old. I recently had to produce a quick and simple project...shot on MiniDV, imported via Firewire 400, edited in iMovie HD and burned with iDVD 6 to a Verbatim 16X DataLifePlus DVD-R disc. iDVD settings used were "NTSC 4:3" and "Best Quality". This is the first time I have ever completed a project on a computer and burned it to a DVD. Everything worked as promised, but the image quality is well below the standard that I am used to.

I realize that DVDs involve compression, but this level of coarse pixelation is unacceptable. The entire video almost looks "posterized." Even stuff that I shot long ago on VHS looks better than this. Clearly, high-quality DVDs can be made; I have plenty of store-bought movies and TV shows that look great on either my TV or my computer screen. So, what is the secret?

The quality on the MiniDV tape is fine, so the loss is coming somewhere after that....the transfer, the editing, the encoding, the burning, or a combination of these steps.

I am about to drop the money for Final Cut Studio 2. Will that alone get me the results I am looking for, or is there something more that I need...a piece of hardware or software that will allow me to produce commercial-quality DVDs on a Mac Pro?

I'm grateful for any assistance you can give me in this quest. Many thanks!

Cromulent said:

iMovie and iDVD were never intended to produce commercial quality DVDs.

Compressor and DVD Studio Pro should give you the options of producing DVDs that look great. That is of course if the original quality is there in the first place.

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Exactly. I have ordered FCS2...it's on it's way. Speaking of quality, let me ask you this. I have a lot of old footage on various tape formats that I'd like to edit now. I currently have the ability to get this stuff into my computer using the digital pass-thru feature on my MiniDV camcorder (Firewire 400). Will I get better dub quality if I buy a hardware interface with the various connectors I need...RCA, BNC, S-Video, etc. (BTW, which of these connectors offers the best dub quality?)? I've heard the name Canopus before....good? Something better out there? I'd appreciate any suggestions regarding brands and model numbers. Thanks!

AviationFan said:

Fred,

that's good, that gives you some powerful tools for the encoding process. Be advised, though, that there are many different ways to export and encode video for DVDs using Final Cut Studio, each of which can be fine-tuned by adjusting a variety of parameters that influence the encoding. What I suggest is that you install and experiment with FCS for a while to get your feet wet, and then do a search on the web (search for "DVD" and "bonsai method", to name just one example) to get an idea of what other people do.

Encoding is a complex topic, and there is no one solution that always works best.

- Martin

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Thanks, Martin. I have no fantasies about becoming a FCP expert overnight...I expect to have many headaches and questions along the way. Back in the day, I'd shoot and edit on U-Matic. Big and bulky, but beautiful results! I don't have the space for a full editing suite in my office (nor the need; I'm a one-man operation and I don't produce enough video projects to justify that kind of expense). The Mac Pro will have to do. I just want the best possible image quality that I can get from it.

balamw said:

Simple question: What was the length of the project?

You can't expect to get more than about 60 minutes of video on a single sided 4.7 GB DVD without sacrificing quality.

B

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Total time was just under two hours, so that seems a likely culprit.
Is there a magical cutoff time....45, 60, 90 minutes...where quality suddenly goes downhill, or is it just a matter of "the shorter, the better?" Thanks.