I wonder if anyone yet knows whether we can deliver our XDCAM EX HQ footage direct on a Blu-ray without the need to transcode it from MPEG2 to AVC (H.264) in FCP7? This could be a real time saver as the HQ modes are supposed to be compatible with the Blu-ray spec.

No you can't do that.

I think this is a real pain. H.264 takes so long to render out. I think I will stick to Toast at the moment which is far faster and gives just as good results. H.264 is great but the render times are murderous.

Sad that Apple didn't do this - such an obvious thing to do! Thanks for your responses.

An Elgato Turbo.264 HD Encoder/Accelerator ($129 on Amazon) will cut your h.264 encoding time by more than 1/2. But yeah, it would be cool if you could just transfer the raw clips to blu-ray. Not sure if that will ever happen though. (you sure it's really possible?)

Blu-ray can be either H.264 or Mpeg-2. Toast does Mpeg-2 so why not Apple?

Really the facility is FCP7 is very poor and for screeners, not full authored Blu-ray dvd. The Sony Vegas package can do fully matered Blu-ray dvd, as can Encore. Why not FCS3?

This latest version of Final Cut Studio is a complete let down.

Try Matrox CompressHD in Compressor. BLAZING FAST and has Blu-ray presets. My encodes are a bit faster than real time. 60 minutes of video to any H.264 format including Blu-ray is UNDER 60 MINUTES to encode.

BTW it's a professional tool with professional results (at least matches Apple's H.264 quality) unlike the Turbo.

Thanks for the heads up on that Craig. I have a lot of HD content going out on Blu-ray at the moment and one of these will save me a lot of time.

Hi Guys

I am not sure where you have all got your info from, but who ever it was they sold you a total dummy in that you can most defiantly export your timeline in the new version of FCP7 to a Blu-ray disc direct. Don't believe me? go to the link below which is a selection of movies from Ripple training, covering some of the new features in FCP Studio 3. The last one on Final Cut 7 covers how you can export from your time line direct to... Blu-ray.
The truth is out there if you look hard enough.


Ripple Training (http://www.rippletraining.com/provideoapps.html)

That's a re-encode/transcode.

EX MPEG-2 35mbps VBR meets Blu-ray spec (I was told this by a significant person at Sony) and only needs to be re-wrapped/packaged, NOT re-encoded. FCP/Compressor export apparently can NOT do this. Not even FCP 7, Compressor 3.5. It will re-encode the file which is lossy.

In theory it can be done without any additional loss . . . but not in Final Cut Studio.

Hi Guys

I am not sure where you have all got your info from, but who ever it was they sold you a total dummy in that you can most defiantly export your timeline in the new version of FCP7 to a Blu-ray disc direct. Don't believe me? go to the link below which is a selection of movies from Ripple training, covering some of the new features in FCP Studio 3. The last one on Final Cut 7 covers how you can export from your time line direct to... Blu-ray.
The truth is out there if you look hard enough.


Ripple Training (http://www.rippletraining.com/provideoapps.html)

This might help. Click to enlarge. It's exporting (an EX 1080p30, VBR sequence) for blu-ray in H.264

Listen to this, the podcast gives in-depth info on the new version of FCP and how blu-ray is implemented in the new version. It should answer any questions you have both on the new version and the Blu-ray question.


http://www.digitalproductionbuzz.com/Archives/buzz_09_07_23.m4a

This might help. Click to enlarge. It's exporting (an EX 1080p30, VBR sequence) for blu-ray in H.264

correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that 1080p30 wasn't legal blu-ray spec - whereas 1080i60 and 1080p24 are?

I am resurrecting in this post after so long as I now have a BD writer. Thanks for all your responses so far.

I am finding the situation quite frustrating as I don't want to go to the trouble of re-encoding/transcoding material. Is there any easy way, preferably Mac but I'm willing to try PC, that will re-wrap (rather than re-encode/transcode) my video so it will work on a BD. I am getting brilliant results when changing my films to AVC but its a waste of valuable time waiting for what should be an unnecessary render.

In response to previous posts:

Elgato Turbo.264 HD - only encodes 1080p up to 10Mbps far too compressed for large screen viewing

Matrox Compress HD in Compressor - an interesting solution but my footage should already be BD legal without re-encoding/transcoding

1080p25/30 are supported in the BD spec through progressive segmented frame in 50i/60i containers so all XDCAM EX HQ modes on my EX1 and 3 are compatible

I second that question for PC, please. Is there a way with Adobe CS4 and/or TMPGEnc (or any other payable encoder) to rewrap EX footage 1080/50i to meet the Blu-ray spec?

Till now I encoded in H.264 on an i7 CPU which works fine, somehow, but if one can eliminate the reencoding for demonstration purposes for the clients it would be great.
For any delivery of a "final" Blu-ray I have to reencode anyway because of cutting, blending and slight picture filtering...

Yes, I do it all the time.

For a pc user, you use Sony clip browser to export the mp4 as mxf. Vegas Pro smart renders the mxf, encoding only a few frames on either side of the edit points, or any clips that you've color graded. Once your editing is finished, Vegas Pro smart renders the output using the Sony MXF encoder. Next, strip away the mxf wrapper from the mpeg-2, author it to BDMV and burn to disk.

Of course, if you just want the clip to go straight from the cam to blu-ray disk, you can skip the Vegas Pro steps. Just use Clip Browser to export the mp4 to mxf, then remove the mxf wrapper. I use the Snell and Wilcox MXF desktop for this.

This subject has been covered many times.

I use the Snell and Wilcox MXF desktop for this.

Then you are lucky. Searching the web shows no link to find this product. Any past links to it now go to a page proudly telling that Snell & Wilcox has merged with another company.

So, for the rest of us, how would we remove the MXF wrapper?

I even searched the web for the file structure of the MXF wrapper, so I could write my own software to remove the wrapper. No luck their either. I would have to buy an unspecified CD, or CDs, from SMPTE, but their web site does not say which one(s). So much for setting standards you only want industry insiders to know.

Sorry about that. I think you can still request the file from Amber Fin. PM me and I'll try and help get you pointed to this program.

Then you are lucky. Searching the web shows no link to find this product. Any past links to it now go to a page proudly telling that Snell & Wilcox has merged with another company.

So, for the rest of us, how would we remove the MXF wrapper?

I even searched the web for the file structure of the MXF wrapper, so I could write my own software to remove the wrapper. No luck their either. I would have to buy an unspecified CD, or CDs, from SMPTE, but their web site does not say which one(s). So much for setting standards you only want industry insiders to know.

Also for those of us Using FCP7 how might we do this on a MAC?

For what it's worth, I seem to have found the current SMPTE MXF file format specification (http://store.smpte.org/product-p/smpte%200377-1-2009.htm) if anybody has too much money and wants to write his own application. I, however, will pass at this time.

Try Matrox CompressHD in Compressor. BLAZING FAST and has Blu-ray presets. My encodes are a bit faster than real time...BTW it's a professional tool with professional results...

Thanks for the report on the Matrox card Craig. I have been looking at this card for a while but wondering how "professional" it is and if it lives up to its claims. I render out long form video every week from HD material. Now if there is a solution to speed up the timeline render I would be pleased as punch. Nothing like having your primary workstation tied up for 6 hours while the timeline is being rendered.

Thanks all for further information I'll keep chipping away at this until I get it to work on my Mac!!! Just spent 12 hours rendering a 2 hour programme and, although I get a beautiful result through Compressor as AVC, it drives me mad. I can't sleep properly knowing its rendering - sad but true!

I have the CompressHD card an am loving it. Great for Blu-ray and web encoding. Makes great Vimeo and YouTube videos. Cranks them out in real time give or take. A couple of times I've upped the data rate to make a video look a little better but for the most part the default settings work fine.

Forrest

Thanks all for further information I'll keep chipping away at this until I get it to work on my Mac!!! Just spent 12 hours rendering a 2 hour programme and, although I get a beautiful result through Compressor as AVC, it drives me mad. I can't sleep properly knowing its rendering - sad but true!

For all the wonderful things that can be done on the MAC not in dispute, using the pc and vegas to smart render XDCAM footage going straight to BD is hugely satisfying and to see what the native XDCAM XQ 35 mbps looks like unmollested.

If I was a MAC user, it's compelling enough to get a PC and Vegas just for that benefit. What a timesaver.