• Blogs
• Forums
• Tradeshows
• Partners
• White Papers
• Events

HD to DVD

Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Steve Mullen

Tutorial: Getting widescreen HD material onto NTSC DVD using Apple DVD Studio Pro 3.

As I surf sites that cover HD and HDV production, I keep encountering the same question: “How to I get HD to an NTSC DVD?” Now that Sony has introduced a low-cost 1080i HDV camcorder, I realized I really needed to learn how to use Apple's DVD Studio Pro, if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity about how to get various flavors of HD to an NTSC DVD. (I have been very happy using Apple iDVD, so I'd never taken the time to learn DVD Studio Pro.)

Apple's documentation told me I could choose to create either a 4:3 or 16:9 DVD. The documentation informed me that I needed to work with anamorphic video. If you work with DV, this admonition seems perfectly clear.

When you want to shoot 16:9 DV, you engage Widescreen Mode in your camcorder. This yields a horizontally squeezed image, described as anamorphic. When you work with anamorphic video in Final Cut Pro, you'll notice the Anamorphic 16:9 box is checked in both Capture and Sequence presets. Thus, not only is the video squeezed, but also at each stage of a production it is flagged as anamorphic.

Our two HD formats, 720p and 1080i, both have a 16:9 aspect ratio. When you work with 1080i you'll find it exists in two forms: 1920×1080 as defined by the ATSC standard and 1440×1080 as defined in the MP@ML-1440 MPEG-2 definition used by 1080i HDV. Further complicating matters is that when you convert HDV to DVCPRO HD for editing in Final Cut Pro, you are working with 1280×1080 and 960×720 frames for 1080i and 720p, respectively. None of these formats is flagged as anamorphic.

Clearly, the DVD Studio Pro documentation was not going to help me through these issues. Therefore, I decided to attack them in parts. As I share my progress, you'll see the many capabilities provided by DVD Studio Pro.

I began this exercise by creating several types of 720p and 1080i movie samples using FCP HD. I did this by importing my HDV sources using the DVCPRO HD codec. I then used these samples with DVD Studio Pro 3.0.2.

I exported each timeline from FCP HD using three procedures. The obvious first choice was to export using Compressor. Next, I used the Export QuickTime Movie function to generate 720p and 1080i samples that used the DVCPRO HD codec. This would postpone MPEG-2 encoding until it was done in DVD Studio Pro, where one has very complete control over the process. However, I was not sure if DVD Studio Pro would import high-definition video. Although one can convert and edit HDV by using the DVCPRO HD codecs, the third option — one that offers maximum quality — is to work with 10-bit uncompressed video. Therefore, as an experiment, I used the QuickTime Conversion export option and selected the Apple 10-bit Uncompressed 4:2:2 Codec with an output size of 720×480.

Working in Widescreen

With my samples exported, I launched DVD Studio Pro and chose to use the Extended Layout that offers a Timeline in addition to the Assets, Menu, Palette, and Inspector windows. (If you are coming directly from iDVD, you might prefer to use the Basic Layout that doesn't display the Timeline.)

Imported, but un-encoded, assets would need to be encoded in DVD Studio Pro. Thus, my first stop was the Encoding tab on the Preferences menu. Here I defined the video standard as NTSC and set the aspect ratio to 16:9. Because I was working with a very powerful dual 2.5GHz G5 that Apple had kindly lent me for this article, I set the MPEG-2 parameters as follows: Encode Mode to Two Pass VBR with a Bit Rate of 4.0Mbps and a Maximum Bit Rate of 7.0Mbps.

Now I turned to the Palette window and selected the Video tab. My Movies folder was pre-selected and all my samples appeared as icons. The files that were not encoded to MPEG-2 appeared with thumbnail icons so I could see the first frame of each file. The encoded assets, however, displayed no thumbnail. (To my mind, a missing feature.) Worse, the MPEG-2-encoded icon under the Video tab is only the video resource. You will have to look under the Audio tab to find the stereo PCM file output by Compressor. Thankfully, DVD Studio Pro offers the ability to import files directly from the Assets window, which solves this problem.

To see my other visual assets, I selected the Stills tab. Now I had access to my iPhoto library as well as my Pictures folder. The iPhoto pictures will not be anamorphic because iPhoto offers only a “4:3 Constrained” crop and offers no “Image Squeeze upon Export” option. For this reason, you will likely use Photoshop to create graphics and pictures. For original graphics, begin with an image size of 864×480. These will be auto-scaled to 720×480 upon their import into DVD Studio.

The Audio tab was the path to my iTunes library. It is important to remember that a DVD uses 48kHz audio and not the 44.1kHz audio from CDs. Fortunately, DVD Studio Pro provides an automatic, high-quality resample capability. The resample function is also used with MP3 and ACC audio.

Also on the Palettes window are the Templates, Styles, and Shapes tabs. From my experience with tricking iDVD 3.0 into working with anamorphic video, I knew that all graphic elements for a widescreen DVD should have a 16:9 aspect ratio. This includes button shapes, design elements, and fonts. The question, of course: Does DVD Studio Pro provide any 16:9 templates, styles, or shapes?

The answer would wait until after I set up a DVD by selecting the Outline tab and clicking the Disc icon. The Inspector now offers many possible parameters to set: Disc Name, First Play to Menu 1, and Menu Display 16:9 to Letterbox (not Pan-and-Scan).

I found the Palette window's Templates, Styles, and Shapes tabs to be particularly complicated to use because they employ tabs, sub-buttons, and sub-sub-buttons in an effort to fit everything into one window. I would prefer a Template to be chosen from the Project menu. I also found that icons and thumbnails in the Palette window were far too tiny on the gorgeous 23in. Apple display. There should be an FCP-like View option to set their size — although the Zoom command can be used. Unfortunately, that fills the entire monitor with a window.

Rather than create a complex, multi-button DVD, I decided to create a prototype widescreen DVD that would be the basis for more advanced work. Looking at the templates, I didn't see any that were designed for widescreen productions. Therefore, I chose the Frames Cover template because, when horizontally stretched, the “picture frame” looked like it held a widescreen image. (See the screenshot on p. 36.)

DVD Studio Pro provides a library of shapes that can be used for creating drop zones as well as buttons. You can place either a still image or a video loop in a drop zone. The template I chose already had a picture frame element. I dragged one of my photos into this frame.

When I added text to my main menu, I used narrow fonts that look fine when stretched horizontally, such as Helvetica Narrow Bold and Futura Condensed.

Next, I modified the main menu to support two buttons: one that led to my 720p sample and one that led to my 1080i sample. To add a button, you first select the Styles tab in the Palette. Now click Apple and then Buttons. Choose a button and drag it to the menu, keeping the mouse button pressed down until the Drop Palette appears. Select Create Button — Set Style.

When you click on a button, the Inspector becomes active so you can modify button characteristics, if necessary. The Inspector window should have a “Basic” tab that presents only the most likely to be used options, such as the color for inactive, highlighted, and selected buttons. (I will admit this desire comes from my lack of interest in fiddling with a button to get it to look “just so.”) Moreover, the Inspector aspect ratio parameters for all objects and assets should automatically be set to match the project's aspect ratio setting.

Now, one by one, I imported my pairs of sample types by dragging them from the Palette to the Assets window. Each pair was used to create a DVD. The actual process took several steps. First, I added a second track using the Add Track button.

Deleting a track, however, proved difficult. I found I first had to enable the Connections window. When opened, this window displays all the menus and AV tracks used in your project. (A line connects each of these objects. An arrowhead indicates the connection direction. I really love this capability. I was easily able to spot a video track that was a dead end.) With the Connections window open, click on a Track object and you can delete it.

Next, I had to trim a few frames from the 720p sample, and I did so in the timeline. The timeline has much room for future improvement. First, whenever it is selected, the Viewer window should automatically become active. Moreover, the Viewer should have a complete set of VTR controls.

To associate an asset with a button, I held down the Ctrl key, clicked on a button, and then followed the path Target > Track and Stories > Start > Track 1 or 2.

I linked each 720p sample to the 720P button and each 1080i sample to the 1080I button. Next, I clicked in each of the Timelines, and for each I used the Inspector to set the Mode to 16:9. I also set the End Jump so that at the end of a track, the main menu (Menu 1) was presented again.

The Big Picture

Now I could use the Simulator, working as a 16:9 display, to check each sample DVD. The Simulator provides a typical DVD player's interface.

The simulations of my three DVDs were great. (The exception was the 720p DVCPRO HD sample, which appeared to have scaling artifacts that were apparent on vertical pans.) Thus I decided to burn each of my experimental DVDs, which was as simple as clicking the Burn button. I projected the DVDs onto a 6ft. diagonal screen with good results. I also played the DVDs using Apple's DVD Player application. Again, the DVDs played fine.

For those folks who see the DVD itself as a key element of a production, rather than an optical container for a video production, Apple's DVD Studio Pro 3.0 is an amazingly powerful application because it can create complex menu-driven content. Moreover, my experiments demonstrate that you can, with a bit of creativity, create widescreen NTSC DVDs from HD video productions.

---

feedback

To comment on this article, email the Video Systems editorial staff at vsfeedback@primediabusiness.com.

© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.