Not happy with quality of Toast Blu-ray video
I have created twenty H.264 QT movies by Sharing from FCP X. Each is a song from a band performance. I am now burning a Blu-ray video using Toast Titanium (version 11.1). The test discs I have created are disappointing. The quality degradation is not huge, like you see in going to the Internet, but it is noticeable in the skin tones.
My custom settings in Toast are:
Video format: MPEG-4 AVC
Average bit rate: 15.0 Mbps
Maximum bit rate: 20.0 Mbps
Motion estimation: Best
Re-encoding: Never
Field Dominance: Automatic
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Audio Format: PCM, 48KHz, 24-bit, stereo.
Even though I set it to "Never" re-encode, Toast is re-encoding when I burn. I tried going to a Disc Image rather than a Blu-ray disc just to see what would happen, and in this case it multiplexed rather than re-encoded, and this went much faster.
Questions:
1. Are there different settings you would recommend?
2. Why is Toast re-encoding when I tell it to "Never" re-encode? Since the QT movies are H.264, 48 KHz 24-bit PCM audio, what exactly is it re-encoding?
3. Is there a better way to make high quality Blu-ray videos, using something other than Toast?
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2010 Mac Pro Dual Quad, OS 10.8.1
Blu-ray burner is: OWC Mercury Pro 12X Blu-ray+DVD/CD Burner FireWire 800/400 (made by Pioneer)
Final Cut Pro X, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1), Mac Pro 2 x 2.4GHz Quad-Core Intel