Blue ray export question
 

Hi, I have FCP 7 and have a HD1080i50 project. I've been asked to export the sequence for blue ray, yet have had no experience in this whole 'blue ray' thing before, which is why I thought I'd check here to see if anyone can help me.

I've been asked to provide a Apple HDV 1080i50, 1440x1080 (1888x1062) file...

So, wanting to know what export settings to use, as I believe there are many options.

It has been suggested to me that I export via compressor and choose the 'h.264 for blue ray' preset and that will give the client exactly what they have asked for. I've also been recommended to export just a quicktime movie 1080i50 via FCP or export as ProRes.

Suggestions please? Clarification needed.

not sure if i can give you exactly what you need since i'm starting out with blu ray on the mac. i just switched to mac from pc this summer and used adobe cs4 with encore on pc's before then. i have heard that for blu ray, mpeg2 for blu ray will work great and look great. i HATE MPEG! it does look good but to me, wasn't striking. i took the chance and exported as H.264.... IT LOOKS OUTSTANDING! it kills the mpeg, which to me, looks completely generic. H.264 is supposed to be of the same quality while being a smaller file size...more compressed. It also takes 4 times as long to render out / export. A 100 minute movie took about 14 hours to export as an H.264 on my quad core. I also used constant bit rate, as I also hate VBR. the blu ray disc I made was outstanding! Some of the shots were from a day at the zoo and the Lions outside on the rocks were breathtaking, along with the wolves outside in their dens. i shot with a canon HV30 and edited in premiere pro CS4, burning and encoding via encore. i will use the encore version for apple for blu ray. i will try exporting to H.264 and hi rez quicktime file. not sure which way is better for quality...exporting a hi rez QT file will take A LOT LESS TIME!

If you've been asked to deliver an HDV 1440x1080 file, why would you deliver an h.264 one? The HDV spec is a specific MPEG2 -- if you mess with that it will be a Frankenstien. So why mess with it ..? Is the client confused? What do they want -- an HDV file, or a Blu-ray disc? Typically a Blu-ray file would be 1920x1080, though the specs do allow for a 1440 option, but never an MPEG2 option far as I know ...

Cheers,
GB

Hello,

I have been asked to provide a Apple HDV 1080i50, 1440x1080 (1888x1062) file which will then be burnt for blue ray. I am not burning the disc, just providing the footage.

Am I right in assuming:

file - export - quicktime movie - HD 1080i50 setting?

Will that be what they are after?

Black and white language please

No.

If they've asked for HDV, I assume that is what they want.

The settings you propose are not HDV.

I don't know how to be plainer -- either you are to give them what they specifically ask for, or you can change their request ... but your proposal here does NOT deliver what they've asked for.

Cheers,
GB

Glen what are your project sequence settings?

EXAMPLE 1
If, for example [and keep in mind I'm NTSC] they are:
Frame size 1920x1080
Pixel Aspect Ration: Square
Field Dominance: can be None for progressive (P) or Upper for interlaced (I)
Editing Timebase: can be 29.97, 23.98
QuickTime Video Settings:
Compressor: can be Apple ProRes, XDCam EX, DVCProHD 1080i50 - but not HDV
Audio Setting can be what ever you want them to be...

This would be an example of an 1080HD file you would render to your codec of choice.

EXAMPLE 2
If your sequence settings are:
Frame size 1440x1080
Pixel Aspect Ration: HD(1440x1080)
Field Dominance: can be None for progressive (P) or Upper for interlaced (I)
Editing Timebase: can be 29.97, 23.98
QuickTime Video Settings:
Compressor: WOULD be HDV 1080i50
Audio Setting can be what ever you want them to be...

This would be an example of an HDV project.

The reason I point this out is to just make sure we're talking about the same thing. It doesn't do much good to state that you have an HD1080i50 project - I would take that to mean that your sequence settings are like Example 1, if so it a BAD idea to export that to a 1440x1080 HDV file. If this is the case do the people who are asking for the file know that it is a true HD (1920x1080) project? If they do and they're asking you to export an HDV file then they don't know what they are doing.

If your project is like Example 2 then just render out a Quicktime file and choose same as project and give them that, let them worry about encoding it. I think what Steve was referring to was which Blu-ray codec to encode to, MPEG-2 or H.264.

If your project is like Example 1 then ask them (again) what can they except, ProRes would be my first choice but a lot of DVD authors have never heard of ProRes, I have delivered XDCAM EX quite often.

I have no idea what "(1888x1062) file..." would be for, it has nothing to do with Blu-ray.

I hope this helps.