HDDVD_TS...am I missing something?

[treehorn]

So a client messengers me a DVD today with Broll footage that I'm supposed to incorporate into a TV spot. Put the DVD in a DVD player and get a Read Disc Error message. Put it in my brand spanking new Mac Pro and I get very stuttery playback.

Figure it's a bad DVD but for fun open the disk image on my desktop and discover that the disc itself is named HDDVD_TS and the disc contains to folders (such as the VIDEO_TS I was expecting) and has instead a number of file names that I don't recognize.

Finally figure out that what was given to me was not a DVD, but an HD DVD...and once I stopped running any programs in the background I was able to play it on the computer (and doing some web searching indicated that only newer MacPros would even be able to do so).

Now...forgetting that it would have been beneficial for the client to print HD DVD on the label (or at least mention it was an HD DVD...or even HiDef). And tossing aside that I was able to convert the footage using Handbrake into something usable.. And dismissing the fact that for a three minute piece of footage, getting something uncompressed (or at least less compressed) burned onto a DVD would have been more helpful...

...am I right in thinking that HD DVD is a dead format that lost to BluRay and shouldn't have been given to me in the first place (and shouldn't be given out to TV stations as Broll in the second place)

 

[RedTomato]

Didn't understand your post, until I realised you were talking about B-roll or even b-roll footage.

Client gives it to you. You sorted it out with Handbrake. End of story. That's what you do as a media pro. Cope. All part of the service and price.

 

[Nermal]

The client probably didn't know that they were producing a non-DVD-compliant disc when they selected the "HD" option in their authoring tool.

But yes, Apple's HD DVD playback is pretty appalling...

 

[treehorn]

Didn't understand your post, until I realised you were talking about B-roll or even b-roll footage.

Client gives it to you. You sorted it out with Handbrake. End of story. That's what you do as a media pro. Cope. All part of the service and price.

Since client was given this (and had no clue as to what it is and that it could cause problems) was looking basically for verification that this was indeed an outdated format so I could gently let him know...

 

[treehorn]

The client probably didn't know that they were producing a non-DVD-compliant disc when they selected the "HD" option in their authoring tool.

But yes, Apple's HD DVD playback is pretty appalling...

I was amazed it even played it, to be honest. It was the first hddvd I ever received and given Apple's aversion to BluRay, I didn't think they played any hd footage on a disc format

Just to be clear, the client wasn't the one who authored the disc. And since I know he will be giving it to major networks, and since they will be unlikely to take the time to explain any problems... If I am correct and this other editor/company he used made the disc in an outdated format, I'd like to gently let him know ( and if I'm wrong and hddvd is still a viable submission format, I'd like to update my information)

 

[RedTomato]

I don't work in media, so I can't properly answer, but my intuition is that you should inform the client that their work is in a rarely used format, and offer to transcode the DVD into something that you *know* is a widely accepted format.

HDDVD sure isn't getting any more popular.

 

[Nermal]

I was amazed it even played it, to be honest. It was the first hddvd I ever received and given Apple's aversion to BluRay, I didn't think they played any hd footage on a disc format

You can even make them by using DVD Studio Pro

 

[boch82]

You can even make them by using DVD Studio Pro

When i got a new MBP and installed Final Cut Studio, DVDSP defaulted to that and I would burn a disk, test it on my computer and it played. Passed it off to my assistant to check in a DVD player and no luck. It defaulted to HD DVD even if the SD was selected. Had to go into the preferences and have it default to sd.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I was amazed it even played it, to be honest. It was the first hddvd I ever received and given Apple's aversion to BluRay, I didn't think they played any hd footage on a disc format.

Back in '04/'05 Apple actually touted DVD SP as the first desktop solution for creating HD-DVDs even though all it could burn then, and all it can burn now, is a limited-spec HD-DVD that only plays in Macs and Toshiba brand HD-DVD players.

Oh, how times have changed.


Lethal

 

[Nermal]

They play in Xbox 360 HD DVD drives too. I was under the impression that they comply with the HD DVD spec.

 

[LethalWolfe]

They play in Xbox 360 HD DVD drives too. I was under the impression that they comply with the HD DVD spec.

An update to DVD SP might have brought it up to spec at some point. In the beginning though it was limited to just other Macs with Super Drives and then Toshiba players once they started hitting the market.


Lethal

 

[Nermal]

You're right; the 4.0.3 release notes list:

DVD Studio Pro 4.0.3 updates compliance for the 1.0 HD DVD Video standard content specification to Tiger and Panther based users. Users with DVD Studio Pro 4.0 or later need to install this update to ensure their projects are compliant with the 1.0 HD DVD Video standard content specification.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

What you have is a "3xDVD", a standard 4.7 or 8.5 GB DVD, but with the encoding scheme of HD DVD (either MPEG-2, H.264, or VC-1 video format.) The fact that it plays back means that it is not encrypted, and is in MPEG-2 or H.264 format (not VC-1.)

This is what Apple added support for in Final Cut Pro. In addition, newer versions of Toast can create these. This does not need an HD DVD drive, but just a plain DVD drive, as it is a plain DVD, physically.

Handbrake can rip these into a "standard" .M4V H.264 file just fine. The reason you get stuttery playback is because the 3xDVD standard requires a FAST DVD drive, and it's possible that the drive in your Mac Pro can't quite handle it at full speed. (Although that would surprise me.)

 

[spacepower7]

Would it be better to let Final Cut Pro import the footage and convert it to the codec that you are using in your sequence rather than convert it with handbrake?

That's assuming that you are using FCP.

 

[LethalWolfe]

MPEG Streamclip would be a better tool for conversion than Handbrake. Streamclip can transcode into any codec installed on your system where as Handbrake, AFAIK, only transcodes into consumer & mobile codecs.


Lethal

 

[treehorn]

Thanks for all the info. Not only am I glad to know I was correct (yay) but glad to hear that MPEG Streamclip is a better tool as Handbrake didn't do that great a job (the audio was a bit crackly).

And Anon Freak - it didn't play at first because I was having something processing (either compressing or rendering) at the time. When I put it in a little bit later (when I wasn't doing anything in the background) it played fine - which was a surprise.

I'll gently pass this on to my client (who used another videographer for this project than us...and may have gotten what he paid for