| Page (1) of 1 - 08/25/08 |
 email article |
 print
page |
|
For the last of my three part series, I'm going to take a look at using Avid's Media Composer (MC) to edit with, and DVD Studio Pro to create your DVDs, and the process you will go through to create your DVDs.
First, we will need a finished show, and as luck would have it, I have one!
Next, we are going to create a template for our DVD export, so once your sequence is selected, navigate to FILE>SEND TO>MAKE NEW. Now we are going to create a new template so you can export QuickTime movies, and convert them to MPEG-2 files in Compressor 3 (C3). Since we are going to be exporting full DV QuickTime's, and we want C3 to open and MC to show us where the exported files are, your template should look like this:
Once you click "OK" to export the files, C3 will open, and you can drag and drop the exported QuickTime file into C3, select the preset that you want, export the file and it's ready for DVD Studio Pro 4 (DVDSP4). But wait, there's more! MC now has the capability to create and export .STL files from the MC editing interface, so lets see if we can import subtitles from my MC sequence into DVDSP4.
As you can see from the image below, I now have the same timeline with a V2 track that contains subtitles.
What I am going to do to get the subtitles out of MC is to select the first subtitle effect, go into effects mode and click "Export Caption Data."
Once you click "Export" a new window appears, and you have the choice to export as an "EBU N19 Caption File (*.stl)" or an "Avid DS Caption File."
For the purposes of what we are doing, we are going to export both, and see which one gives us better results. Here is a snapshot of both exports:
So, it looks like the Avid DS Caption file is the best alternative for us, as the EBU N19 Caption File is nothing but a garbled mess. There is still one problem. If you look at the Avid DS caption file, it is not configured quite how a subtitle file needs to be, and this is what happens when you try to import into DVDSP4.
So, a modification needs to be made. The only thing that needs to be done so that DVDSP4 understands this subtitle file is to put a comma between the two timecode values and one between the second timecode value and the description. Take a look below at what I mean.
Now, you can navigate back to DVD Studio Pro 4, and right click on my subtitle track, select "Import Subtitle File," and navigate to the file and click "OK." Now you have the subtitles almost the way they were in MC.
The only information that MC didn't export was the font and size information, but you can easily add that to the caption file before you import it into DVDSP4. To do that, you can check out my article on Complex Subtitling in DVD Studio Pro 4 by clicking here.
At the end of the day, Media Composer editors should not overlook Final Cut Studio 2, as it is an awesome package that not only delivers editing, but a team of applications that give you a start to finish solution for giving your clients (not only editing, but) excellent graphics, 5.1 surround mixing and DVD creation. For more information on Avid's Media Composer, you can check it out at www.avid.com, and for more information on Final Cut Studio 2, you can check it out at www.apple.com/finalcutstudio.
Page: 1
 | Kevin P McAuliffe is currently a Senior Video Editor working in HD post production in Toronto, Canada. He has been in the television industry for 12 years, and spends his days onlining on a Final Cut Pro HD. Kevin's high definition onlining credit list includes concerts for Coldplay, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Snow Patrol, Sum41, Paul Anka, Il Divo and Pussycat Dolls, to name a few. Also, Kevin is an instructor of Advanced Final Cut Studio 2 at the Toronto Film College. If you have any questions or comments, you can drop him a line at kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com |
Related Sites: Creative Mac , Digital Producer , Digital Video Editing , Audio Video Producer , Corporate Media News , Digital Post Production , DVD Creation , Presentation Master , Oceania , MacVideoPro , MacDVDPro , DVD Studio Pro , Avid , BN - Avid
Related Newsletter: DMN Newsletter , Timeline Newsletter , Mac Alert Newsletter , KNews Newsletter , Digital Media Net , DVD Viewpoint , DMNForums , Tutorial Finder
To Comment on This Article, Click HERE
Most Recent Reader Comments:
Click Here To Read All Posts
Must be Registered to Respond (Free Registration!!!, CLICK HERE)
