Multi-Angle DVD FCP -> DVDSP3

[Psychoprick]

Hi,

I've been reading and reading....I wanted to make sure I follow a method that provides the best quality for my work.

Ok here we go.

I'm making a DVD with 2 angle's from 2 different DVD's.
I've exported both the streams to .DV (using mpeg-streamclip)
I've been editing in FCP.

Now I'm exporting the streams with QT export to Mpeg 2 to use in DVDSP.
I'm using QT export 'cause compressor gives non compatibable GOP structures. (I guess that's because the streams originate from very different quality sources)
QT export doesn't have this problem/function. So I can use the streams more easiely in DVDSP.

My question is however does QT export use the original .DV files on export (like compressor) or does it use the "render files".

If it does use the render files should I make shure the render files are 720x576 or will the standard 320x240 resolution provide the same quality?


Any other comments on my work scheme are welcome as well....


Thanx (again)

[terryj]

It will use the FCP project file, which contains all your edits,
fade/transitions, etc to create the mpeg-2 files.

So if something isn't/hasn't been rendered in FCP BEFORE
export, it can make it take a long time to export,
or cause it to "trip" up on a problem that you would have
found it you had rendered first.

You want to pre-define ( set) up your project to be DV NTSC,
before you start importing into FCP. By not doing that, you
can end up with final mpeg-2 files that will "jump" in Picture
ratios, or worse, try to conform to an aspect ratio ( blow up,
size down) that will distort your stream and make your
resulting picture look off ( squished, shrunk, stretched.)

What I do on mixed media imports into FCP is to
save out (export) through Quicktime to DV Stream,
after first rendering all footage in FCP, then I take that
DV Stream and let Compressor batch those overnight.

That way:
1. I find and fix any problems with my renders in the timeline.
2. I get all footage out to a compatible file type Compressor likes
with minimal loss of quality.
3. I can go to bed, and wake up with files ready to process
in DVDSP.

YMMV.

[Psychoprick]

OK nice thoughts thanx

I'm using PAL however (as the original stuff is PAL, and I live in Europe)

However wont I still have the same trouble with GOP stucture after using Compressor with your work method?
Or is the Compresor quality so much better than an exported MPEG-2 using Quicktime Export?

If compressor is is better but makes different GOP stuctures I really need to learn how to override that..... Darnnn video is so much more difficult than it looks.

[terryj]

Quality can be about the same, it's more a factor of "time"
when it comes to encoding video, and how much you
want to sit and wait on it. Compressor is good because
you can set what you need, and let it run unattended overnight,
getting the files done. With Quicktime, its one at a time, manually
watched.

Since in your QT export, you are flattening the Timeline
in processing to Mpeg-2, and thus forcing that timeline export
to render, the only difference between using Compressor and
QT export, at this stage, would be the differences
in encoding rates, variable or constant, 1 pass or 2 pass, etc,
which CAN affect your GOP....

Sorry I didn't notice your country of origin before!
my mistake,
I apologize!

for more on GOP, go here:
GOP and PAL settings, Compressor 2 and
read Waymen's posting.

and yes, *sigh*..video can be daunting..but a worthwhile pursuit!

[Psychoprick]

Thanx Terry,

No problem with the PAL/NTSC...never really sure if NTSC isn't slightly better and with most DVD-players being able to play both...might be worthwhile to turn to NTSC.

For this project I'll stick to Quicktime....2nd angle is only 19 clips of no more than 45 seconds a piece so that's doable.

Thanx for the link...I'll look into that.

[Psychoprick]

I've edited the title 'cause this might attrackt a bit more people.

@ Terry:
Thanx again for your post. In my first reply I hadn't lookded at the post you where reffering to. It was very very helpfull.

But I need some more help.

I'll explain a bit more about my project and what I intend to do.
I have an (official) music DVD of a live concert. However this film is not complete.
Some pieces are missing on the official film and I've obtained some second-angle camera shots.
As you can probably understand I want this film to be complete.
So I started my project.

1st I've extracted the video from all DVD's to .dv (PAL 4:3) and edited it in FCP.
2nd I exported every stream using QT Conversion (CBR 7MB)
3rd Imported that into DVDSP3.

This seems to work. However the quality of the video is poor.
The film has a lot of black in it (as it is shot in very dark concert hall). With the used conversion the darker edges of the screen turn to a pale black instead of a nice deep black.
It's not very watchable.
I was wondering is there a way of getting the quality up?
Maybe I should use another convertor?

Should it help If I exported the streams first out of FCP? But as what (.mov)?

Should it help if I made two complete streams (angle 1 and angle 2) instead of 1 main angle and multiple angle 2 clips?

Can I combine (in DVDSP3) compressor 2 compressed MPEG 2 video (where there is no second angle) with the QT conversion (where there is second angle)?

I know It's a lot of questions for a thing not done very much.
(maybe because of the limitations).

As a last resort (If no solutions come to mind) I'll put the second angle in main video track will be able to watch the second angle in songs where they are present. But with the short skipping of seaching for the right chapter pause.

Thanx

[OmegaSupreme]

You should try and do all of your color correcting in FCP with tools like the 3-way color corrector. Another option, that isn't as good, is to use the color tools in compressor with the split screen.

[Psychoprick]

Ok, I've found it.

Here's my solution to do 2 angle DVD:

In FCP make two sequences angle 1 and angle 2.
In my case angle 2 consisted of 19 small clips. I needed to edit these clips into the angle 1 sequence. I could not just have 19 small clips for angle 2, It needed to be 1 complete sequence.
I exported (without any markers) the 2 sequences to QT movie and import them back into FCP.

Than I could export the 2 sequences (again without chapetermarkers etc..) with 2 pass VBR using Compressor 2. DVDSP3 took these sequences pretty well. Minor problem is that you have to add chaptermarkers in DVDSP and that they can not be placed at every frame only at GOP endings (Am I right??).

This is my way to get an acceptable quality DVD with good working multi-angle feature.
Hope it will help some of you in the future.