Hi, I would like know the best way to convert an HD master QT movie shot on HDV 720p to SD so that it can be put on a SD DVD, whilst preserving maximum picture quality. I have tried taking the HD master file straight into DVD Studio pro, but the result was not satisfactory when the program compressed it from within. There were some flickering light issues and the darker end of the gray scale towards black was pixelated and burned out.

Is it better to export it with quick time conversion before importing it into DVDSP. If so, with what settings. 10bit uncompressed SD for example?

Export from FCP using compressor, use one of the SD DVD presets...and then tweak the setting. Exported files should then cut out the re-compression faze when building in DVD studio, thus a much better compression is achieved.

If anyone has more experience please butt in! I'm always looking for the 'better way'...