What authoring software are people using to create Blu-Ray discs? My first thought was Adobe Encore in CS4 but before shelling out hard earned dosh & risking a battering by `er indoors I thought I`d pose the question.

Ideally, I`d like to be able to create discs comprable or better than that which I currently do within Liquid by authoring off of the timeline.

Thanks in anticipation :-)

Look at this. Many Liquid users have reported great results using this program. It can directly import HD timeline fuses making for a simple workflow.

Thanks Lew! Do you know if you can choose after authoring a disc if you can select whether you output to DVD or Blu-Ray, for example, let`s say I`ve just finished editing a wedding shot in HD & fused, I then import into the authoring app. I now want to create 2 versions, 1 in Blu-Ray & another on DVD, can I do so without re-exporting from liquid? I believe this can be done from Encore CS4 but couldn`t find a reference on TMPG.

Cheers

AFAIK, you can. Also, don't forget that Liquid does an excellent job of creating a standard DVD from an HD timeline (I do it all the time). You can download a free trial version of Authoring Works and try it for yourself and see if it does what you want.

Thanks Lew, I`ll try it!

Barrymore:

What authoring software are people using to create Blu-Ray discs? My first thought was Adobe Encore in CS4 but before shelling out hard earned dosh & risking a battering by `er indoors I thought I`d pose the question.

I use both Encore and Sony's DVD Architect pro. Both excellent programs with a few differences here and there

Encore has a fairly easy workflow to it and is nowhere near as re-compress  happy as DVDa is. DVDa follows a fairly narrow path on what it considers a "compliant" video so you have to be quite selective on what you feed into it or it re-compresses. I do find however that DVDa handles subtitling much better than Encore does. Encore on the other hand I think handles a wider slection of audio/video formats in a native form. Encore will accept DTS and multichannel wav files for example whereas DVDa won't.

In the end though I would be hardpressed  to label one better than the other. Both programs have their pluses/minuses and I think together they make a good pair as a result.

Ok, I want to move up to BluRay and have a few basic questions:

I have a final movie that I shot 90% in HDV and 10% in SD (Shot with a Sony HDR-HC1 and a Sony TRV30).  The production has only a basic menu, and I burned it to a standard DVD that plays fine.  From what I've been reading on the forum I can output files from Liquid, import them into one of the programs discussed here and burn a BluRay disk.

1.  Does the fact that I have both HD and SD in one sequence make a difference?

2.  What do I output from Liquid and do I have to remove the menu or anything else such as transitions etc before I output?  When I look in the Output Wizard, I see 2 choices under MPEG-2: HD 1080i and HDV2 1080i.  Which do I use?

3.  Do I just hit the "OK" button for the "Loaded Sequence" or do I need to fuse something?  If I need to fuse, what do I fuse?

4.  Will this generate just 1 output file that I then import into Encore?  If not, what other files do I need?

5.  Are there any settings in the Output Wizard that I need to check or set a certain way?

6.  Are there any BluRay burners that are problematic for one reason or another?  Do the output files have compatibility issues with any burners?  In general, is there a burner you'd recommend?

7.  If it's obvious from my question that I'm forgetting something or need to know something else, please tell me.

Thanks!

 

JohnnyQuest:

Ok, I want to move up to BluRay and have a few basic questions:

I have a final movie that I shot 90% in HDV and 10% in SD (Shot with a Sony HDR-HC1 and a Sony TRV30).  The production has only a basic menu, and I burned it to a standard DVD that plays fine.  From what I've been reading on the forum I can output files from Liquid, import them into one of the programs discussed here and burn a BluRay disk.

1.  Does the fact that I have both HD and SD in one sequence make a difference?

You can do one sequence but because your time line (and output) will be HD you will have the pillar effect on the SD parts

2.  What do I output from Liquid and do I have to remove the menu or anything else such as transitions etc before I output?  When I look in the Output Wizard, I see 2 choices under MPEG-2: HD 1080i and HDV2 1080i.  Which do I use?

Your output from Liquid needs to be mpeg2, 1080i, (1440 or 1920). No menus... this will be done in your author program. You *MAY* get some re-compressing in your author program depending on how well (or how badly) it accepts output from Liquid)

3.  Do I just hit the "OK" button for the "Loaded Sequence" or do I need to fuse something?  If I need to fuse, what do I fuse?

You don't need to fuse anything. Output as mpeg2 as above

4.  Will this generate just 1 output file that I then import into Encore?  If not, what other files do I need?

You can choose to output one single file or multiple files depending on what you want as an end result on the final disk. One file will play through as a single movie (with chapters if you wish) while multiple files will play through as individual movies with slight breaks in between (or a return to the menu if that's what you wish). Usually one output file is fine unless you wish to change resolutions... bit rates.... etc, at certain points (Both Encore and DVDa support multiple resolutions on the same disk)

5.  Are there any settings in the Output Wizard that I need to check or set a certain way?

That depends on your author program and what it likes. If you output an "un-compliant" file from Liquid then your file will be re-compressed (re-rendered) in your author program (You should study up on acceptable formats for Blu Ray). TmpGEnc is not as compress happy as Encore and DVDa and is probably the most universal (not really optimized for any one NLE) but it's also quite a simple program and is not as flexible (won't do AVC either), while DVDa and Encore are pretty powerful author programs but more optimized for Vegas and PP (respectively). Probably the most universal and accepted formats for non re-compress though are separate video/audio files (M2V/AC3)

6.  Are there any BluRay burners that are problematic for one reason or another?  Do the output files have compatibility issues with any burners?  In general, is there a burner you'd recommend?

I have the LG GGW-H20L and I've done over 200 disks... it hasn't let me down yet. As for the others I can't speak.

7.  If it's obvious from my question that I'm forgetting something or need to know something else, please tell me.

The biggest problem you will have is finding the right output file to match up with your author program which will not re-compress. You want to avoid this because it takes a lot of time and you lose some quality in the process. Liquid wasn't really meant for this so it's not an ideal match for any of the author programs mentioned. So you will need to experiment with the output file a little. Usually though a M2V file and a separate AC3 (both Blu Ray compliant) will not re-compress.... but you may have to play a little to find the right combination. I would do a little experimentation with a 2 minute test strip and import to your author program and see how in handles.

Thanks a bunch!  A couple more questions:

What's the "pillar effect" and is there anything I can do to avoid it?  I did a search and found nothing.

Can you give me a link on where I can study up on acceptable formats for BluRay?

I'd like to avoid creating a seperate audio file since I assume re-syncing it with the video will be a pain.  Will fusing the whole sequence before outputting allow me to avoid dealing with seperate video and audio files?

It sounds like you've tried various programs and have had the best luck with TmpGEnc.  Since what I'm trying to do is pretty basic, I think I'll try that.

Thanks

The "pillar effect" more commonly known as black bars can't really be avoided when placing sd on a hd time line... unless of course you want to zoom your sd to fit a hd resolution (you will lose the top and bottom portions of your video), or distort the picture by forcing an unequal resizing.

 

This will give you a basic understanding of Blu Ray and its specs:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

Separate audio/video files are not hard to "re-sync". In fact there is no re-syncing at all. When you import these files to your author program and put them on the time line, the author program will align them for you..

The program I use the most for Blu Ray is Sony's DVDarchitect. I think it's about the best, but that's just one man's opinion. You can't buy it separately though... it comes bundled with Sony's nle package.  TMPGenc may be more your speed though. It's a bit simpler to understand and will most likely work better with Liquid since it's not optimized for any one nle in particular.

 One bit of final advice... although blu ray disk prices have fallen quite a bit, they are still too expensive to screw up on. Buy yourself a re-writable blu ray disk and use that for practice. I in fact still use re-writables for testing each project before a final burn.

Thanks again.  I really appreciate the help.

I think I'm going to buy a second HD camera and shoot my next trip totally in HD before I venture into the BluRay world. I use one camera in a housing for underwater shots and one for above water.  I have until May for my next trip.  Who knows, maybe the rumored next generation of Liquid will be out by then.  If not, I will follow your tutorial.

The pillar effect would ruin my video so I'm going to hold off for now.  With up-convert they are already pretty good.  If I buy a new camera and then burn in BluRay, when my wife sees the results she will think I spent my money very wisely! :-)

Yes, when I first started burning DVDs they were >$5 each!  It was quite painful to ruin one after another!  Now that they are almost free, I never ruin them!

You were a great help!

 

If you get into a new cam you might want to think about avchd. There's not much left in the tape/hdv industry... Avhcd has pretty much sucked the life out of the hdv industry on the consumer side of things inside of 2 years.... pretty amazing when you think about it. Panasonic USED to be the only ones with a pro level avchd cam out, but now Sony has just unveiled theirs. Canon will no doubt follow in an attempt to remain competitive. HDV for all intents and purposes now is dead since there is no more advancement in that field... both with the cams.... and the software. Avchd on the other hand is advancing at an incredible pace. Better cams... better image stabilization, better sound... etc.

Yeah that's the debate I'm having with myself right now.  I shoot almost entirely underwater, so a new camera means a new housing for more than the cost of the camera.  And the fact that Liquid doesn't recognize AVCHD means new software (and all the associated headaches) too.  This is like having a drug additions!  I know I'd be better off without it and I'd save a lot ofmoney, but I just can't seem to kick it.

Would having part of the movie shot with HDV and the rest with AVCHD cause any problems with BluRay burning? 

 

Well HDV is 1440x1080 while avchd is now 1920x1080 and there are always a few extra steps involved  when dealing with 2 different resolutions, but it is quite workable. As for the software.... Liquid is a EOL (end of life) product, so change the software now.... or change it later.... but you are going to have to change at some point.