question about compressor and dvd studio pro?
 

I just finished a hdv project in dvd studio pro and I cannot burn it to a dvd-5 because it is 7.2 gigs in size is there a way in dvd studio pro to build my finished project so that it will fit on the dvd-5 with out starting over and importing it into compressor first and compressing to h.264 then sending out to dvd studio pro. Basically can I save my exiting project and just make it smaller so it will fit. Thanks in advance Gary Williams

Gary,

to make sure we are talking about the same thing: you want your DVD to be viewable on regular DVD players, right? Since you mentioned h.264, I didn't want to rule out the possibility of creating a data file and storing that on a data DVD.

Either way, you will have to reencode your media with a lower bitrate to make the file sizes smaller. Did you create your media in Final Cut? You can use Compressor (stand-alone or invoked from Final Cut) to export and encode your media; there's a button to set "video" options which contains the bitrate settings etc.

Your description was a little vague in terms of what your project consists of and how it was created, maybe you can share a little more and we can make more detailed suggestions.

- Martin

I finished my project chapters and everything in hdv final cut studio 2 then exported a quicktime ref file to dvd studio pro then finished my titles chapters excetra in there, when I was done my file size was 7.2 gigs HD I wanted to record it to dvd-5 in HD but could not do to the size. How if possible can I make it smaller with out starting from scratch? I know if I start over I can import the quick time file from final cut into compressor and compress it to the H.264 to make it smaller then import that into dvd studio pro and title and chapter it over again and the build it and burn it with the new compressed file but I was hoping there was a work around to where I could take my existing finished chaptered titled and everything program in studio pro and just make it smaller if that make sense. Thanks in advance Gary Williams

First, you can't just encode using H.264 and put that on a DVD - not unless we are talking about a data DVD and you only intend to play the file on a computer (doesn't sound like that's your plan, though). So for normal DVDs, you are stuck with MPEG-2 encoding, and the only variable you can adjust to alter the file size is the bitrate - separately for audio and video. Final Cut Studio has presets for DVD MPEG-2 encoding for material of various lengths (90 minutes, 120 minutes, ...), so choose one that can cover sufficient length of source material. Also, for audio, use AC3 Dolby Digital 2.0 for compressed stereo sound to keep the file sizes small.

Second, to avoid the situation you are in right now, what I usually do is I define the chapter markers in Final Cut Pro, not in DVD Studio. Then from within Final Cut Pro, I export to Compressor, which stores the chapter and compression markers in the generated file. That way, if you have to do it again, your markers are still there.

I don't know if it's possible in DVD Studio Pro to just "swap out" the MPEG-2 files, i.e. replace the old, large asset with a new, smaller one but preserve the chapter markers on your DVD Studio Pro track. Maybe worth a try.

- Martin

I do the same thing you do set my markers in final cut first but I still have to chapter my dvd in studio pro though or I mean design the dvd. I guessI will have to do that over to bad.

Gary,

sorry, I had misunderstood that in your first posts. Yes, chapter/index menus...

Well, I am not sitting in front of my Mac, but you may want to try the following: In a backup copy of your project, in DVD Studio Pro, open the track that contains your feature. The timeline should have a video asset and an audio asset. Now, delete the video asset from the timeline. Then drag the asset back into the track timeline and see if your project still works, including the chapter menu buttons that link to that track.

If that works, my guess is you should be able to drag another asset (namely the one with a smaller file size) into the track. This should retain your chapter menus.

As I said, I haven't verified that this works, but I think it's worth a try.

- Martin

Thanks Martin, I will give it a try tomarrow hope it works, I will let you know.

I just ended up making the whole templete and saving it the customes folder so it takes about 5 minutes if I have to do it again. The HD file I made with 7.2 gigs, I will just archive til later and burn it when the HD burners come out or there is the always the possability of trying to burn to a DVD-9 dual layer disc.