Need Best Codec from FCPX to iDVD

Discussion in 'Digital Video' started by jcapune, May 18, 2013.

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  1. jcapune, May 18, 2013

    jcapune macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2012
    #1
    I edit (SD video from a very old Sony Camera) of worship services and create DVD's for folks who can't come to church. I am exporting to Compressor than into iDVD and it is taking WAY TOO LONG. Looking for a better process. This is what I am doing.

    I am importing SD video (720 x 640) with other video, some HD most not into FCPX with project preferences 0f 1280 x 720 (don't care about black letterbox). Every works fine with the editing, titles look good video looks as good as SD video can. Final movies are from 1 hr to 1 her 20 minutes.

    I then export to Compressor with Chapters Markers checked using HD 1080p under Video Sharing Services. Takes 10 hours or more to render. Then I create the DVD in iDVD. I have tried different codecs but either the video looks bad or the titles look bad.

    Is there a way to shorten the process?
     
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  2. Unami, May 18, 2013

    Unami macrumors 6502a

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    Jul 27, 2010
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    Austria
    #2
    you probably shouldn't work in 720p HD when editing for SD-DVD. use the ntsc-sd settings for your project and don't upscale to 1080p when exporting - you'll just get a bigger file that's harder for compressor to work with.

    have you tried exporting to prores (use the "master file" preset) and then importing this in compressor?

    also, when dealing with longer render-times it's often good to first export a master file (in prores 422 for example) and then import this file in compressor and render it using a render-cluster (use qmaster for this - just google "qmaster compressor cluster) with all your cpu-cores. afaik, when using the share->compressor settings export options in fcpx it only uses one cpu-core.
     
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  3. JasonA, May 19, 2013

    JasonA macrumors member

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    Feb 18, 2009
    #3
    If you're using iDVD to build your DVDs, there's no reason to use Compressor. iDVD does all the compressing. FCP X > ProRes master file > iDVD. That should shave a lot of time off your workflow as your HD 1080p encode in Compressor is a wasted step. Multiple stages of recompressing may also explain the poor quality you describe.
     
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  4. MisterMe, May 20, 2013

    MisterMe macrumors G4

    MisterMe

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2002
    Location:
    USA
    #4
    Three additional things:
    1. SD is not 720 x 640, SD is 640 x 480 interlaced.
    2. NTSC DVD resolution is 720 x 480. The resolution required by all NTSC DVD players is 720 x 480. DVD uses rectangular pixels. 4:3 pixels are "tall"; 16:9 pixels are "wide."
    3. Standard DVD uses the MPEG-2 compression. All applications that create DVDs for playback on standard DVD desks including iDVD include MPEG-2 as part of the standard installation.
     
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