Do I Need Compressor for DVD Authoring from FCPX and iDVD '11?

Hey there guys,
I hope that this post finds you all in excellent spirits, and that you are having a great start to the week.

I am in the process of finalising an instructional video. The video has been edited in Final Cut Pro X and is now pretty much finished:

A. My planned next step is to create a .img of the project, load it into iDVD 7.1 and create a DVD menu.

B. I also have a few shorter associated videos which I am going to put on YouTube.

With A and B in mind, I have a couple of questions about Apple Compressor which I would be very grateful for any guidance on:

1. Do I need to use this for either A or B?

2. If so, at what point in the workflow does it come into play? Do I send the DVD project from FCP X to Compressor and then to iDVD 7.1?

The Apple Compressor manual is here, if that helps:

help.apple.com/compressor/mac/4.0/en/com...%20Manual%20(en).pdf

Thank you very much once again for any guidance!

I don't know much about iDVD, but ....and this advice depends how complex your dvd project is...

You can make a DVD (or Blu-Ray) directly in FCPX.

The options aren't as animated as iDVD but you can make it right there. You can create a basic menu - etc. Just select DVD in the share menu and then click settings to customize it.

If you don't see "DVD" as one of your options in your share menu - just scroll to the bottom and click "add destination" and you'll get a list of formats you can export to. Drag DVD over to the list on the left and you're set to go.

Hope this helps

iDVD and DVD Studio Pro will both convert your assets to mpeg2. In the olden days, when we were running FCP Studio and actually producing many DVDs, I learned to do the mpeg2 production in Compressor before importing the assets into DVDSP. Just made the operation much smoother.

There are only a few DVD authoring applications that run on Macintosh these days. They are not as simple as they appear and it takes many projects to get comfortable with the many programming and design options and the techniques.

I suggest you give yourself about ten times as much time as you had planned because each time you burn a test disk you will discover some new function that you'd like to use.

tedmcneil wrote: I don't know much about iDVD, but ....and this advice depends how complex your dvd project is...

You can make a DVD (or Blu-Ray) directly in FCPX.

The options aren't as animated as iDVD but you can make it right there. You can create a basic menu - etc. Just select DVD in the share menu and then click settings to customize it.

If you don't see "DVD" as one of your options in your share menu - just scroll to the bottom and click "add destination" and you'll get a list of formats you can export to. Drag DVD over to the list on the left and you're set to go.

Hope this helps

Thank you very much for this! The only issue with sharing to DVD from within FCP X is that there is no DVD menu customisation available at all: you just get a list of chapters in chunky white text on a black background. This is going to be a consumer product, so we need something more aesthetically-pleasing.

bogiesan wrote: iDVD and DVD Studio Pro will both convert your assets to mpeg2. In the olden days, when we were running FCP Studio and actually producing many DVDs, I learned to do the mpeg2 production in Compressor before importing the assets into DVDSP. Just made the operation much smoother.

There are only a few DVD authoring applications that run on Macintosh these days. They are not as simple as they appear and it takes many projects to get comfortable with the many programming and design options and the techniques.

I suggest you give yourself about ten times as much time as you had planned because each time you burn a test disk you will discover some new function that you'd like to use.

Many thanks for this! iDVD is actually fairly straightforward to use, but you need to know how to optimise the settings for the best results - in particular, ensure that in Project>Project Info>Encoding, 'Professional Quality' is selected.

We are going to try to go with FCP > Compressor > iDVD as the basic workflow.

For anyone looking for a quick overview of Apple's Compressor, Edgar Rothermich's guide to Compressor 4 looks much more digestible than the official manual:

www.amazon.co.uk/Compressor-Works-manual...othermich+compressor

AlexMaxim wrote: … ensure that in Project>Project Info>Encoding, 'Professional Quality' is selected.

We are going to try to go with FCP > Compressor > iDVD as the basic workflow.
…

iDVD was part of the iLive-suite of apps (iWeb anybody? ), meant to handle SD-video, .dv codec (no GOP) and/or appleintermediate-codec.

Being a consumer product, operation was dead-simple… Quality was determined by LENGTH of content (all content, e.g. add loops in menus to calculation).
The max. quality was reached by content <60min - then, the bitrate was raised to max the RedBook allowed, ~9mbps.
Next steps were <90min (6mbps) and 120 (4 mbps).
The three 'quality' options were for CBR and VBR encoding, Professional added 2-pass encoding = not meant for 'better', but for 'more' to squeeze on a disk.

sooo, 'best performance' (=CBR) plus <60min gives best results!

The Compressor detour is completely useless, aka will fail if you choose mp2 as output: such a file doesn't offer separate streams for audio+video - what iDVD demands (.dv had A&V as separate streams)

Due to appleintermediate is obsolete, simply export a Masterfile - iDVD handles proRes superb …

just checked, omg!, my antique iDVD-website still exists :woohoo: :silly: :woohoo:
sites.google.com/site/idvdmodding/

LOL!!

Karsten Schlüter wrote: //full quote//

Many thanks for this!

The length of the instructional video is 144 minutes. Would ProRes not be really data-intensive? The project ultimately needs to fit onto one dual-layer DVD.

Quick Compressor introduction, since it was mentioned:
www.finalcutprox.guru/videos-main/compre...mpressor-vidoes.html

You may want to check out Toast for DVD authoring that won't break the bank.

Technically, you do have some customization options for a DVD via FCPX. Not much: you have 5 templates; can add your own background, logo, title image; can set markers as chapter markers. But yes, all in all, very limited.

One the very rare occasion (it's been about 2 years since the last one) that we ever MUST do a DVD, we used Toast. Pretty happy with it. It has its limits, but is worth the money.

AlexMaxim wrote: … Would ProRes not be really data-intensive? …

again: only LENGTH (hh:min:sec) matters.
the pores is just an 'intermediate', to transfer from FCPX >> iDVD. proRes is fast to export, best quality, keeps chapter-markers … and is, indeed huge :lol:

144min/duallayer … really? DL-media could be a bit … iffy on some stand-alone DVDplayers. And is a lot to watch, hm? I would split it into two disks … but give it a try.

I have the similar problem. I have done FCPX to DVD in the past and I know I exported to Prores but I can't for the life of me remember how I got the Prores file to DVD. I have both iDVD and Toast on my system but can't remember.

Both iDVD and Toast will ingest a ProRes file and convert it to the proper mpeg files for you.

FCPX.guru wrote: Quick Compressor introduction, since it was mentioned:
www.finalcutprox.guru/videos-main/compre...mpressor-vidoes.html

You may want to check out Toast for DVD authoring that won't break the bank.

Technically, you do have some customization options for a DVD via FCPX. Not much: you have 5 templates; can add your own background, logo, title image; can set markers as chapter markers. But yes, all in all, very limited.

One the very rare occasion (it's been about 2 years since the last one) that we ever MUST do a DVD, we used Toast. Pretty happy with it. It has its limits, but is worth the money.

Thank you very much indeed for this information! Do you happen to know:

1. If there is a blank template within FCPX?
2. If it's possible to customise the fonts within the template? and
3. Where in FCPX the DVD menu option is?

Hey Alex,

1. Yes, there is a blank template within FCP X. Actually there are several ones:



2. No you cannot customize the fonts of the default templates. But it's very easy to create your own template in Photoshop, Pixelmator or Affinity using your own images, fonts and anything you wish, and replace the default template with your custom one by adding the custom one as a background. Just make sure (for regular DVD) that the custom template is 1024 x 576 @ 72dpi (standard widescreen format for PAL DVD).

This is a custom template I created in 3 minutes in Pixelmator:



Then I added the custom template as a new background in the DVD settings menu in FCP X:



And here's how it looks in the DVD player once the actual DVD has been burnt:



3. If DVD is not shown as a default option in your Share Destinations:

Click the Share button in FCP X and press the Add Destination button. This will open the Destinations window where you will see the DVD icon. Just drag the icon onto the Destinations pane and close the Destinations window. From now on DVD will appear as a default option in your Share destinations:



If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

- Ronny

ronny courtens wrote: Hey Alex,

1. Yes, there is a blank template within FCP X. Actually there are several ones:

2. No you cannot customize the fonts of the default templates. But it's very easy to create your own template in Photoshop, Pixelmator or Affinity using your own images, fonts and anything you wish, and replace the default template with your custom one by adding the custom one as a background. Just make sure (for regular DVD) that the custom template is 1024 x 576 @ 72dpi (standard widescreen format for PAL DVD).

This is a custom template I created in 3 minutes in Pixelmator:

Then I added the custom template as a new background in the DVD settings menu in FCP X:

And here's how it looks in the DVD player once the actual DVD has been burnt:

3. If DVD is not shown as a default option in your Share Destinations:

Click the Share button in FCP X and press the Add Destination button. This will open the Destinations window where you will see the DVD icon. Just drag the icon onto the Destinations pane and close the Destinations window. From now on DVD will appear as a default option in your Share destinations:

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

- Ronny

Mr Ronny,
Thank you so much for this brilliant post! The information you have given us is extremely useful.

I see what you mean about creating a template file in Photoshop etc. The one query that springs to mind is this: say I create a background file which contains text information about DVD chapters (Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc.) and load it into FCPX. Would FCPX recognise the text in the file, and could I allocate DVD chapters to this text?

Unfortunately the answer is no.

You can only use a custom background for the Main menu. The chapters and chapter names will be derived from the chapter markers you have added to your FCP X timeline, and they will appear in a separate menu called the Chapter Menu. In the Chapter menu the audience will be able to select each chapter they want to watch. Unfortunately you cannot change the font for the Chapter menu.

To set chapter markers and create a chapter menu for your DVD, watch this tutorial from our good friends at Ripple Training. It was made for FCP X 10.0.6, but the part about chapter markers is still valid: www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/tutorials/1120-...x-without-a-dvd-disc

As a sidenote (but important): if you want to export a DVD from within FCP X I would strongly advise to update to the latest version of FCP X (10.3.3). This version produces DVDs with better image quality, and it improves the look of any default text used in the Main and Chapter menus: support.apple.com/en-us/HT201237

OTOH, if you want to create a DVD with a Main menu including chapters, and your want to customize the fonts, you will need to do this outside of FCP X. As others have already mentioned, iDVD would be a good option to do this. But this application has been discontinued and is very difficult to find online. If you don't have iDVD and you want to use it for this project, I still have it on an older machine somewhere and I will be happy to send it over to you tomorrow. Just drop me an e-mail: ronnycourtens@mac.com


- Ronny

Toast...

And for what it's worth, iDVD still works just fine in Sierra with one exception: over time (and various OS updates) some of the fancier animated DVD Menu choices have gradually broken. There are still quite a few that work, but you'll need to test them to make sure which ones you can still use.

ronny courtens wrote: Unfortunately the answer is no.

You can only use a custom background for the Main menu. The chapters and chapter names will be derived from the chapter markers you have added to your FCP X timeline, and they will appear in a separate menu called the Chapter Menu. In the Chapter menu the audience will be able to select each chapter they want to watch. Unfortunately you cannot change the font for the Chapter menu.

To set chapter markers and create a chapter menu for your DVD, watch this tutorial from our good friends at Ripple Training. It was made for FCP X 10.0.6, but the part about chapter markers is still valid: www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/tutorials/1120-...x-without-a-dvd-disc

As a sidenote (but important): if you want to export a DVD from within FCP X I would strongly advise to update to the latest version of FCP X (10.3.3). This version produces DVDs with better image quality, and it improves the look of any default text used in the Main and Chapter menus: support.apple.com/en-us/HT201237

OTOH, if you want to create a DVD with a Main menu including chapters, and your want to customize the fonts, you will need to do this outside of FCP X. As others have already mentioned, iDVD would be a good option to do this. But this application has been discontinued and is very difficult to find online. If you don't have iDVD and you want to use it for this project, I still have it on an older machine somewhere and I will be happy to send it over to you tomorrow. Just drop me an e-mail: ronnycourtens@mac.com


- Ronny

Thank you so much once again for more incredibly useful information!

We managed to get iDVD via Amazon in the UK a couple of years ago, but thank you very much indeed for your kind offer!

We are going to proceed with iDVD.

Does anyone happen to know of an absolutely blank iDVD template that we can use? We have tried the following links :

1. blag.samandshannon.com/?p=51 (which does not seem to work) and
2. www.geocities.ws/idvd_blank/ (which is not truly blank).

We have also tried using the 'Full Frame' template in iDVD7. This is not bad, but there is a semi-transparent line across the middle of the screen which would be great to get rid of, if possible.

Any ideas would be gratefully received!

AlexMaxim wrote: …Does anyone happen to know of an absolutely blank iDVD template that we can use? …

use any of the 'first', legacy templates, iDVD came with …
Not completely blank, but preinstalled content gone the moment you add your content. Have a look at my (stoneold ) website:
sites.google.com/site/idvdmodding/backdrops-and-background



in the next chapter, I demo, iDVD allowed even to put movies into bg...

… haven't maintained that site for years, surprised by its content myself … hahaaha

Karsten Schlüter wrote: …
use any of the 'first', legacy templates, iDVD came with …
…

Thank you very much indeed for this! I will check it out in more detail over the coming days.