1st time burning Blu Ray (Transcode before sending to Encore?)
 

So first off, I am still using CS4 (yikes) and looking to burn my first Blu Ray. I had an issue early on but found a Roxio patch I needed to install which got me past the step of selecting Blu Ray (before that it would stall).

So I build my menu & hit Build, and it's been 12 hours so far. My computer is pretty fast, 16GB Ram don't recall all other specs & I'm at work right now, albeit a bit dated (graphics card) plus I am using an external Blu Ray burner. I've read where it can help to Encode the file first in AME to H.264 or MPEG-2, then import that file into Encore. Is this correct or a decent workflow?

A big question is chapter menus, currently I set the menu in Premiere & they remain as is in Encore. Should I write down the times that they are so that I can easily find and set them in Encore? And as a worse case scenario could I export the video to H.264 or MPEG-2 & find someone on Craigslist to burn that onto Blu Ray? I don't see myself needing these often, and eventually I should look to upgrade my Adobe CS.

Thanks,

Re: 1st time burning Blu Ray (Transcode before sending to Encore?)
 

Hi David,

I would absolutely create your assets with Media Encoder first and NOT let Encore transcode your footage. One nice thing about this workflow is that after hours or days of editing, you get a break while it encodes, then you come back fresh and jump into Encore to author, and the actual building/burning goes fast since you are not transcoding, so you get to test the results sooner.

While H.264 is a newer, more efficient codec than MPEG-2 and will look better at lower bitrates, MPEG-2 can look very good if you can keep the bitrate up. Since it sounds like you have an older computer, MPEG-2 will certainly encode a lot faster than H.264, so that might be something to consider.

From Premiere, export using either the "H.264 Blu-ray" or "MPEG-2 Blu-ray" preset. If not sure how to set the bitrate, try a bitrate calculator such as this one - DVD-HQ : Bitrate & GOP calculator

Be careful though, as getting one number wrong in the formula throws off the end results. The idea behind getting the bitrate correct is so that the encoded clips fit the disc without transcoding again.

When you export, you will get two files, video and audio, and just import both into Encore. There will be two more files, which you don't need to import, but those have the chapter mark data from Premiere and Encore will automatically see them and use that info.

A tip: I never burn directly from Encore, rather I will build an "Image", which is an .iso file. Benefits are that you may be able to preview/test that file on the PC without burning a disc, to check menus and such. I've not done a Blu-ray in some time, but with DVD for example, I just use the free VLC Media Player to play the .iso file to check things before actually burning. Not sure which software might play a Blu-ray Image (if you have Blu-ray player software, you may be able to build to Folder and that might preview in the PC). Then use a burning software such as "Burn Aware" to burn the disc image to the actual media. Building to an Image goes VERY fast (at least with DVD), taking just a couple of minutes for a 2-hour DVD! Only the audio needs to transcode to AC-3, and the rest just flies.

Of course your mileage may vary depending on computer hardware (mine is 4.5 years old Core i7).

Thanks

Re: 1st time burning Blu Ray (Transcode before sending to Encore?)
 

Thanks much Jeff. Wish I fully knew all this before my first try at it, but after hitting 'Build Disc' it was a runaway train at that point. Didn't want to cancel the build either.

I'll redo it following your steps. So as far as chapters to I need to import the other 2 files to keep them? Is it just as simple to write down the times & set them in Encore onto the files timeline anew?

Re: 1st time burning Blu Ray (Transcode before sending to Encore?)
 

Yup, exactly this.

Re: 1st time burning Blu Ray (Transcode before sending to Encore?)
 

Well by golly it burned a-ok. Even played iin my own player. Not bad, and to think about a month ago I didn't even own a Blu ray player, now here I am, burning them, playing them lol. 5 years after I got CS4 but hey, it's good to learn & try new things.

Thanks for your help tho, I got 1 r two tweaks (didn't set menu to first play), but I'll probably redo this one in Encore again, then run a test or trial run exporting in AME. Thanks Jeff & Bruce.