Best Export Quality

Hi

Best You can do is by using Compressor and DVD Studio pro. Other will describe how.

I use iDVD as I'm a lazy bloke.

Several things

• How to go from FCE/P to iDVD

• Free space on Start-up hard disk

• Encoding

• Brand and type of DVDs used

• Burn speed set

• iDVD BUG

• Chapters

How to go from FCE/P to iDVD I do

• Disable Screen and Energy saver

• IMPORTANT --> FIRST in FinalCut - Mix Down Audio under Sequence Menu / Render Only / Mix-down

• Export out as a QuickTime .mov file

• Select with Mark - Chapter Mark

• Not as Self-Contained (not important but saves time and space)

• NO QUICKTIME CONVERSION (IMPORTANT)

This QT.mov file I import into iDVD from within iDVD.

Free space on Start-up hard disk

I set a minimum of 25GB (for Mac OS and iDVDs temp files)

Encoding

• I use Pro Quality encoding

Brand and type of DVDs used

• I use Verbatim

• I use DVD-R

Burn speed set (IMPORTANT)

• I set down this to x4 (or x1)

iDVD BUG

• One can not go back to movie-project for any alterations and then go back to

the iDVD project. It will notice and ask You to either Up-date or Cancel. Neither

of them will work.

Medicine - Start a brand new iDVD project.

Use of Chapters

• I only use a to z and 0 to 9 in naming them. NO other symbol/letter !

• NO Chapter-mark at very beginning - iDVD NEEDS TO set this by it self

• No Chapter marks in or within two seconds from a transition

(Way around this last one - Export movie as QT full quality and NO Chapter marks

Import this into a new Movie-project and now You are free to set C-Ms where You want

them except at very beginning - still)

Material used to build movie

• video - I use streamingDV (or convert all other to this e.g. .mp4, .avi, .wmv etc)

• audio - I use .aiff 16-bit 48kHz or from Audio-CD (44.1kHz) - no .mp3 or direct from iTunes

• photos - I use .jpg - no .bmp etc

Trash iDVD pref. file and run Repair Permissions - and have a re-try.

from post ??

May not be relevant, but I had the same problem with iDVD, where burned DVDs showed a green screen. It was cured by quitting Quicksilver and Quickeys as well as disabling sleep and screen-saving

BTW - DVD is as standard ONLY - interlaced SD-Video ! ! and can not be any better !

• If You need more - then Blu-Ray

• FEEDING iDVD HD-material Will Not Improve ! AS iDVD does a bad job in DownScaling - So by feeding it interlaced SD-Video as from FinalCut or iMovie HD6 will give best possibly result. iMovie'08 to 11 CAN NOT DO THAT - any way known to me as they all discard every second line in the picture wnen going from Event's to Project's and this can not be repaired.

Yours Bengt W

Use COMPRESSOR and the BEST QUALITY settings for DVD. Bring the result into DVD Studio Pro.

#42 - Quick and dirty way to author a DVD

Shane's Stock Answer #42 - David Roth Weiss' Secret Quick and Dirty Way to Author a DVD:

The absolute simplest way to make a DVD using FCP and DVDSP is as follows:

1. Export a QT movie, either a reference file or self contained using current settings.

2. Open DVDSP, select the "graphical" tab and you will see two little monitors, one blue, one green.

3. Select the left blue one and hit delete.

4. Now, select the green one, right click on it amd select the top option "first play".

5. Now drag your QT from the broswer and drop it on top of the green monitor.

6. Now, for a DVD from an HD source, look to the right side and select the "general tab" in the track editor, and see the Display Mode, and select "16:9 pan-scan."

7. Hit the little black and yellow burn icon at the top of the page and put a a DVD in when prompted. DVDSP will encode and burn your new DVD.

THATS ALL!!!

NOW...if you want a GOOD LOOKING DVD, instead of taking your REF movie into DVD SP, instead take it into Compressor and choose the BEST QUALITY ENCODE (2 pass VBR) that matches your show timing. Then take THAT result into DVD SP and follow the rest of the steps. Except you can choose "16:9 LETTERBOX" instead of PAN & SCAN if you want to see the entire image.