Blu-ray Playback Problems ?

After reading a few emails with people having issues playing back their Blu-ray discs created with Encore (or most other BD-R authoring apps), I thought I should mention a few basic 101 tips to help people just getting started with BR authoring.

FIRMWARE WARS - if you are making BD-R’s for yourself or for your customers, it a good idea to get to know the more popular Blu-ray players. WHY? Most of the older Blu-ray players (if not 100%) need a firmware update to play BD-R or BD-RE (re-writeable). WHY? I’ve heard arguments ranging from constant changing of the Blu-ray spec to copyright issues. Either way it will effect all of us at some point that are burning Blu-ray video from desktop applications like Adobe Encore.

Intro to PremierePro CS3 and XDCAM, XDCAM HD, and XDCAM EX support
For Intel Macs and Windows XP/Visa (Version 3.2.0)

What’s New ?
With Premiere Pro CS3 and the 3.2.0 update, you can now natively Ingest, and Edit Sony’s XDCAM (DVCAM), XDCAM HD, and XDCAM EX format. Just as you would expect from Adobe and the Premiere Pro team, just drag and drop directly from the card into the Project Panel and start editing. No need to transcode your video with “wacky” single platform codec’s and no need to worry about .mov and .avi files – just edit ! There are also more updates to the MPEG-2 (HDV) editing modes. For more info jump to the “What’s New in the 3.2.0 release?” section and read about new Fixes, Known Issues, and more.

To Learn More ………..Click Continue Reading

Creating MPEG-2 Output Files for Blu-ray with Apple's Compressor 3

I've been getting a lot of questions from FCP Users on how to create "Blu-Ray legal" MPEG2 files using Apple's Compressor version 3.02. Here are a few simple steps to get you started as well as few tips for the new Blu-ray author. For the record, I have been able to get the H.264  AppleTV setting to play on some players but it is not 100%. My engineering team says that the version we tested (3.02) does not create true legal H.264 Blu-ray. Looks like 3.03 was recently released and has new AppleTV settings - not sure if anything changes in 3.03 yet - My guess is no.

During our internal CS3 beta cycles of Adobe PremierePro CS3 and Adobe Encore CS3 , I spent most of my efforts on HDV and Blu-ray workflows while prepping for NAB 2007. The idea was to come up with a simple workflow allowing the user to ingest HDV and end up with a playable Blu-ray disc for the Sony Playstation 3, which is currently the least expensive Blu-ray player.  In the Adobe booth we demo’d Blu-ray authoring on an Intel QuadCore Mac and playing burned media on a Playstation3. We had 2 Blu-ray discs, one encoded as MPEG2 Single Pass (draft mode) and a H.264 Two Pass (High Quality Mode) ** UPDATE ** Since this article was written last year, I have spent my early 2008 efforts on working with Panasonic P2 footage and Blu-ray and have been very happy with the workflow. P2 footage to Blu-ray works amazing well with Encore. Look for an upcoming article. Once you go tapeless , it's hard to go back to tape. I'll also be working with Sony EX tapeless footage this year as well - Stay tuned.

In the Sony booth Blu-ray area, a Sony Rep was demoing and burning Blu-ray discs from EncoreCS3 via a Sony burner and Dell machine. He was taking the burned BD-RE Sony disc from the Dell Desktop and playing it in the PS3.For time sake, they were also encoding in MPEG2 Single pass “draft mode” and using a standard DVD size project (720x480). This allowed them to demo a complete “click to burn” cycle in just a few minutes. They wanted to show a complete Blu-ray workflow from PremierePro’s Timeline to Encore to Auto Erase to burn, and lastly, playing in the PS3. It was a great demo. The video quality was so so, but keep in mind that the idea was to show the workflow, not wait for a long H264 Encode for the highest quality.

Read on to learn more .......

The AfterEffects CS3 8.02 update is NOW available. To update, launch any CS3 application and go to the Menu option Help>Updates. The Adobe updater will scan your CS3 apps and start downloading. Once it starts downloading, make sure you close all of your web apps and any open Adobe apps. There are STILL EXPORT ISSUES WITH QUICKTIME 7.4.Hopefully we will see a quick update for QT from Apple as many AE users have been crippled by 7.4.For mac users the 8.02 update includes OSX Leopard support.

Read on to learn more about the 8.02 update .......

Watch This:

As promised here is a quick workflow video showing the new support in  After Effects CS3 for Panasonic P2 MXF.You will see this P2 feature as part of the next free update (v8.02) which is due to be released before the end of 2007.

A few key points:

AE Importer P2

Just a quick note on After Effects CS3 and P2 support:

Premiere Pro and P2 support

for Intel Mac OSX and Windows XP/Vista

 (version 3.1)

What’s New?

With the new Premiere Pro CS3 and the 3.1 update, you can now natively Ingest, Edit, and Export the Panasonic P2 format. All you need to do is to shoot your video and simply drag ,drop , and edit – it’s that easy. There is no need to transcode your video with an intermediate codec in order to use them on the timeline, and there are no AVI or Quicktime wrappers – just native P2 format.

Premiere Pro CS3 will actually allow you to edit directly on the P2 card. This means you can shoot your video and start making a quick rough cut on your laptop while going to your next shoot. Once you get back to your desktop Premiere Pro workstation, you can copy the P2 clips onto your desktop workstation and continue editing. For those of you with a Matrox Axio, you’ve been asking for a laptop based solution to use with your Axio and it’s finally here.

If you use or plan to buy any of the AJA or BlackMagic products, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with their support for Premiere Pro CS3 (v3.1) as well. More on that later….

Watch This:

I have created a quick Intro to Premiere Pro CS3 and P2 video. This video shows you our P2 support in action.

TO LEARN MORE .....click Continue reading

HDV Editing:      A different take…

Over the past few years, HDV has given us lightweight and affordable cameras. Just ask anyone who shoots video for a living why they like these new cameras. These range from small palm corders to lightweight shoulder cams.The next time you see a professional video shooter, look at the camera they are using. Chances are it’s a small high quality HDV camera from Canon, Sony, or JVC.

From the Beginning:

 I have had the opportunity to work with HDV from the beginning. With our 3rd party plug-in partners, we actually had support in earlier versions of Premiere (6.5) with excellent codecs like CineForm’s AspectHD (still my favorite software based HDV solution for Windows users) and later on, MainConcept’s MPEGPro and the NEW MPEGProHD.

One of the most popular questions I get from various Final Cut Pro users is what can they expect to gain from installing Production Premium CS3 and what will it mean to their future workflows. One thing that is perfectly clear is that the FCP users should expect to view Production Premium CS3  as an add-on to their current software and not a replacement to their favorite NLE editing app. The same would be true for any longtime Avid Xpress Pro or  Avid Media Composer Mac user as well. 

For some, Production Premium CS3, and more specifically, PremierePro CS3 OSX (MacTel) will do everything they need from an NLE stand point , but for many FCP and Avid users they will want to continue to use the app they’ve been using and trusting for years. Many FCP and Avid Mac users will more than likely end up buying Production Premium strictly from a price/value standpoint and later realizing that it’s a very capable mac video suite on it’s own and when you add it your current workflow you’ll be surprised what you can do.

Read more to learn and watch workflow video