how to burn blu ray disc with H264 files and ac3 files?

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Level 1

4 points

how to burn blu ray disc with H264 files and ac3 files?

Hello,

I have tried many times to burn a bluray disc with FCP and compressor and they always end up not successful. After spending days on testing different settings, I finally managed to only get it to work if I tried
1) outputting to Hard drive as opposed to burn to bluray
2) Turning the default bit rate down from 35Mbits to between 15-19Mbits.
Then I used either disk utility or toast to burn the disc image onto the Bluray disc.

I have however on a recent job forgotten to switch the setting on compressor to output to harddisk and instead set it to burn to Blu-ray. Big mistake. Again I end up with a h264 file and an ac3 file, and nothing I can do with them after 24 hours of rendering. Oddly, the compressor says "successful" but nothing is created but that 2 files.

My question is (before I restart the whole 24hr rendering process again) - is there anyone who can help me use the .264 file and the ac3 file and create the blu-ray disc with the menus again without having to re-render all over again? I have not been able to find anyone to provide me with a solution or find any where online that helps with that.

Desperately ...
Yee-wei

Mac Pro 8-core 3.2, 10GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.6.3), FCP Studio 3

Posted on May 14, 2010 8:50 AM

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Answer 1

NLEdit

Level 4

1,645 points

May 14, 2010 9:21 AM in response to ywchai

Just go over the instructions in the manual. It's all there.
Now the unanswered questions: do you have a real Bluray burner, or are you trying to go to red laser media?
Note that you can use Toast to burn the files to disc, assuming appropriate burners/media.

If you go through the posts on this forum you'll find a LOT of information on this topic.

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Answer 2

ywchai Author

Level 1

4 points

May 14, 2010 9:33 AM in response to NLEdit

Hello,

Sorry but the instructions in the manual (online and offline) do not answer my question. Yes I do have a bluray burner, it is a matsushita BD-MLT SW-5584. I wrote in my post that when I set it to output to HardDrive, it will create a dmg file nicely for me to burn using disk utility or toast.

But when set it to burn to Bluray disc, nothing gets done. I just want to find out, with the h264 file and the ac3 file that gets created in the process of creating the dmg file, can I still burn the disc or create a dmg file from them without having to re-render the whole thing again.

Maybe you never tried burning a Blu-ray disc with FCP or compressor before. Let me explain how it works. When you submit the project to process, it will create 2 files - 1 ac3 audio file and a .264 file. After that 2 files are rendered (which takes 24hrs for my 2hr 30min HD clip), it will use that 2 files to create your Bluray disc or your dmg file. Problem occurs when it doesn't burn the disc and you are left with just the 2 files that cannot be used to burn the project again. My question is : is there anyone who knows how to set the compressor to see that the 2 files are already created and just continue to create a dmg file?

Hope my question is clearer now.

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Answer 3

NLEdit

Level 4

1,645 points

May 14, 2010 9:52 AM in response to ywchai

Actually, the manual does explain it.

But go over to Mac Break and Mac Break Studio on iTunes. Brian Geary does several nice video presentations on not only how to burn BR on both types of media, but on how to hold onto your files to burn them again. Actually, it's just exactly what you're attempting to do.

Oh yeah, some of us do know how this works.

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Answer 4

May 16, 2010 4:48 AM in response to ywchai

You can try to jump start the building process. The application that does this (Create Disc) is rather problematic. You can try this however:

In Finder, select Go:Connect to folder. Type "/var/tmp"
This is the folder where the settings for your project are stored. Sort by date, and find the latest document that ends in "1cdvd".
Right click and "open with" Text Edit.
You will see settings in xml (?) format. Verify that your audio and video files are correct (both name and filepath EXACTLY).
Save changes if you need to and close.
In Finder, double click that document. Create Disc should open. Do nothing while it works. It takes a long time. You can open activity monitor ahead of time, and keep tabs on how it is doing that way.

If you have changed the location or names of files since you last tried it, you will have to make sure that everything is exactly how it was in the settings document.

Jeremy

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Answer 5

NLEdit

Level 4

1,645 points

May 16, 2010 9:17 AM in response to Jeremy Hansen

Jeremy,
That's what the MacBreak videocasts go over, and the links to Create Disc.

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Answer 6

May 16, 2010 11:23 AM in response to NLEdit

I'll have to check that out. Thanks.

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Answer 7

ywchai Author

Level 1

4 points

May 17, 2010 9:17 PM in response to Jeremy Hansen

Thanks guys!

Jeremy, that is exactly the answer I was looking for. I wonder why compressor or FCP doe not make this any easier. And I can't find the documentation for this "Create disc" thing anywhere on the web! I am now happily editing XML files and creating Blu-rays with the 264 and ac3 files.

NLEdit: Thanks for the macbreak studio recommendation. I watched the clips regarding compressors and bluray and though it doesn't address or solve the issue that I have, but it is nonethless a cool podcast.

Thanks guys!

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Answer 8

May 18, 2010 5:12 AM in response to ywchai

By the way, a plist editor makes looking at those .1cdvd files easier.

One thing I have not tried is kick-starting Create Disc with a previously encoded file that seems unrelated. My big question is where the chapters are stored before building the BDMV file structure. I would say they are either embedded somehow into the .h264 file, or they are cached in some deep dark temp file somewhere. I had many problems earlier with chapters, but the problem was other than what I though it was, and is fixed now.

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Answer 9

tom_as

Level 1

8 points

Jun 9, 2010 8:39 PM in response to NLEdit

Jeez NLEdit, the aggressive conceit seems completely unnecessary. I'm having similar problems and can't even find the podcasts you are referring to ... could you at least provide a link? Maybe the fact that I've never done this and have been staring at this computer screen for about 14 hours has something to do with my complete inability to find useful resources, but could you be a bit more specific?

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