From HD (Canon Vixia) to SD (iDVD) - best way?

[aki]

I just got a vixia hf10

right now i just am making normal SD DVDs, and i use iDVD

i thought the way for best end quality would be maybe:

AIF (in FCP) -> ProRes(/Uncompressed/PNG) -> iDVD

(i use prores because it is fast to export from fcp tho websites i read say export PNG is best for quality and size but it takes waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long...)

BUT

i read in some other websites that iDVD makes very bad DVDs from HD files....and that this way actually makes better DVDs:

AIF (or whatever HD files) -> DV (quicktime export as ntsc widescreen .dv) -> iDVD

this sounds crazy.... does anyone know if its true or the reason? is quicktime .dv export better than iDVD ProRes->mpeg2 transcoding for some reason? or does anyone have more experience/ideas about HD to DVD (with iDVD?)

thanks for any help...!!

 

[NeoMayhem]

You mean AIC? If you have FCP, why not use compressor to make your mpeg2 file?

 

[aki]

yes sorry AIC!... because i am using iDVD to make the final DVD and iDVD doesnt accept mpeg2s done in compressor, with iDVD you have to let iDVD do the final encode

i did actually test the dv export myself and it looks bad so unless i missed something the post must be lying hehhe

my best result so far is

(HD cam ->) AIC -> ProRes -> iDVD

it gives the best image and is also quite fast to export (one site says to export from fcp as PNG for best quality but PNG encoding is sloooooooooow)....uncompressed works to but its large filesize and it didnt look better than prores to me

any other ideas tho id love to hear!!

 

[Courtaj]

I'm using FCE4, but for exports intended for an iDVD project I use File -> Export -> Using QuickTime Conversion -> Format = QuickTime movie -> Options -> Settings -> Compression Type = DV–PAL (or NTSC if it fits your project) -> Best (on the Quality slider). Then back in the Movie Settings window, click size, and choose as appropriate.

 

[timseley]

stick with pro res instead of dv

I haven't messed with any HD -> SD conversions with iDVD so take this with a grain of salt, but you might try downrezzing to something other than DV. DV looks great on tube TVs, but its starting to show its age. It has do with how it handles color information. You can see for yourself if you just convert one of your HD vids to a DV clip the edges of colors will look jagged and a little blurry. If iDVD handles the ProRes with no problem then stick with that and you'll get much, much better results.