General Issues

What is Authoring?

Authoring is the process of collecting audio, video, menus, subtitles, etc into an interactive branching structure that will eventually become a playable DVD. You need DVD authoring software to make a playable DVD. There are several companies that develop this software, including Sonic Solutions, Apple, Ulead, Pinnacle, and more.

Which Authoring Program do I get?

There are numerous DVD authoring programs intended for a wide range of skill levels and budgets. We’ve divided them into four main categories: Consumer, Prosumer, Professional, and Corporate. Most applications fit into one of these categories, while a few blur the lines between two or more. You’ll also want to consider the following factors when making your decision:

1. Platform: Mac and PC are the two contenders here. There are many more choices and price points available on the PC but many new users find the Mac solutions easier to use. This can also depend a great deal on what systems you or your company already has and which NLEs you work with. It’s up to you.
2. Price – The most obvious and easily understandable difference is how much your bank account will be hurting once you plunk down the change for your shiny new DVD authoring program. While more doesn’t always equal better, you get what you pay for, and don’t believe everything you read. Expect to spend $250 to $1,000 for consumer to prosumer level and $1,000 up for the fullest featured programs.
3. Feature support – The DVD specification supports a lot of features, many of which are seldom used outside of big-budget titles. There are no commercially available authoring tools that support ALL of the DVD Specification's features. Sonic Solution’s Scenarist (priced between $15,000 and $22,000 for software) comes very close to that, supporting all features except seamless branching. The rest all support more or less of the spec. In general, more money equals more features.
4. Learning curve – How easy is it to become productive with this application? In general, the easier it is to use, the less powerful the tool is. This is not to say that powerful applications are hard to use, just that they take more of an up-front investment in time to become proficient with them. The balance of learning curve along with feature support and price has the most to do with which category an application fits into.
5. Proofing capabilities – It is only logical that while you are creating your title, you’ll want to review your progress. You could always burn a check-disk and play around with it, but this is time consuming and costs money. Most authoring software provides an emulation or preview to get an idea of how your finished title will actually work. The quality of this proofing varies wildly, from being a gross approximation that is really not reliable for checking with, to hardware-based decoders that are nearly check-disc accurate.
6. Formatting engine – Once you’ve finished authoring your disc, the program needs to multiplex the title and write an image or file and folder structure. This is a function of the formatting engine the product is built on, and is inherent in the software’s core architecture. The formatting engine of the software will, for better or for worse, effect the compatibility of your disc with the numerous DVD players and DVD-ROM drives that are in the marketplace. Authoring applications that are costlier and more mature tend to have the best formatting engines because they have had a longer time to develop, they were originally designed for the expectations of professional users, and because other hardware (DVD players, encoders, decoders, etc.) was tested against using these systems as a baseline.

Now that you have considered these issues- let’s survey the 4 categories of authoring software:

1. Consumer

   Consumer authoring software ranges from $50 up to around $250. They have a very limited set of features, with the basic requisite being the ability to put video on a DVD with some rudimentary chapter points and a menu. Priority is given to making the interface very easy to learn at the sacrifice of control. Most use a template-driven system where you choose a pre-designed interface and then customize it (within limits) to your tastes. The proofing capabilities are poor, and not to be trusted. Most do not have a very good formatting engine, so you should not expect to make discs that are going to have a high level of compatibility. However, this limitation of the formatting is offset quite a lot by the very limited features in most of these tools, which prevent you from implementing the trickier functions of the DVD spec that might otherwise cause problems. Examples: PC: Sonic Solutions MyDVD & DVDit!; Ulead Dazzle; Mac: Apple iDVD.

2. Prosumer

   Prosumer applications range from $250 to $1000 and in general are beefed-up consumer apps. They add some of the most-desirable and popular DVD features that are missing from their consumer brethren, such as support for 16:9 (widescreen) video, surround sound audio streams (Dolby AC-3 5.1), DLT drives, motion menus, etc. At the lower end, the learning curve isn’t much different from consumer apps. The costlier ones blur the line with professional apps and require a bit more time to become proficient, but it is worth it if you will use their features. Their proofing capabilities are still mediocre at best, relying on a software emulation that is still leaves you guessing at what your final title will really work like. Some of these tools have improved formatting engines, but many are using the same ones as their consumer equivalents. Given that they support more features, this may mean they make less-compatible discs because there is increased risk as you add more complexity. Examples: PC Sonic Solutions DVDit! PE; Ulead DVD Workshop; Pinnacle Impressions; Mac: Apple DVD Studio Pro.

3. Professional

   Professional applications start at about $1,000 and range to upwards of $22,000. They support most all of the DVD specification’s features, including important ones such as copy-protection, region-coding, DTS surround sound, multiple title sets, GPRMs, cell/pre/post commands, sub-titling, etc. Because the objective is to satisfy the most-demanding, 40-hour/week author, they can be very deep tools to learn. The interfaces are much more literal, with more micro-management than consumer/prosumer tools. The proofing capabilities are often greatly improved, using hardware decoders that are very close to the experience of an actual check disk. This has obvious importance to a production-driven environment. The formatting engines do vary from product to product, but most offer the best compatibility to be had, even on complex titles. Examples: PC: Sonic Solutions Scenarist; Mac: Sonic Solutions DVD Fusion, DVD Creator; Apple DVD Studio Pro

4. Corporate

Duplicators & "Burners"

Which DVD burner/recorder should I get?

The current consensus among pro users is that you’re best off getting the latest Pioneer DVD-R General Media drive. That is what Apple uses for their "Superdrive", so if you have a newer G4 you already have what you need. Right now this is the A04/104 drive, although the A05/105 and above may be shipping by the time you read this. The older A03/103 drive is still perfectly good, albeit a bit slower on writing CDs. There are also a number of new drives coming out featuring DVD+R technology (or both) that may gain favor, but we’ll have to wait and see. Expect to spend $500 or less. Check with CNET.com for up to date information.

What about those VCR-style DVD recorders such as the Panasonic DMR-E30S?

These models are best suited to duplication applications, for example dubbing a DV or VHS tape directly to DVD for viewing. The clips created by these recorders can be used in an authoring program, but not without demuxing them first. See the question regarding taking footage off a burned DVD-R for details. Their authoring capabilities are usually quite primitive. For example, the recorder may automatically generate chapter points at a set interval. Some of the nicer ones will add chapter points whenever you pause recording, and assemble a simple menu of these chapter points. The quality of the encoding is also limited and less flexible, typically providing a choice of only 2 bit-rates (offering 1 hour and 2 hour record times for example.) This is inefficient if your program is not exactly one or two hours. If you want any kind of special features, advanced interactivity, motion menus, etc- you’ll need a dedicated authoring program.

What are muxing and demuxing?

They are short for multiplexing and demultiplexing, respectively. Multiplexing is the process of building a project in your authoring program so that it can be burned to DVD and read by a standard DVD player. This is normally the last step in making a DVD, though you will often multiplex to test the DVD as you author. Conversely, demultiplexing is the process of taking a burned DVD and extracting the original audio, video, etc. As you might expect, demuxing is controversial and can be illegal depending on which DVD you are demuxing. So please tread carefully.

MPEG, Encoding, Video Quality

What is MPEG-2?

MPEG stands for "Motion Picture Experts Group", which is the standards committee that dreamed up the MPEG-2 compression algorithm. MPEG-2 is the de-facto standard compression technology used for DVD video. Video must be highly compressed so longer programs can fit on a single disc. The longer the program, the greater the amount compression required fit it on the disc. Higher compression results in poorer video quality. That is why there is no standard bit-rate, or amount of compression, for DVD video. Instead, compressionists prefer to choose the highest bit rate they can (hence the lowest compression) that still lets them fit everything on the disc. The quality of a given MPEG encoder directly affects the quality of the video on the disc.

What bitrate do I use for my video?

Always stay below 9.1 Mbps video and try this bitrate calculator for specific settings:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/calc.htm

My final footage looks bad; do I need a better encoder?

You might, depending on how critical quality is vs. your budget. In general, the MPEG-2 encoders included with authoring programs such as Apple DVD Studio Pro and Sonic Solutions MyDVD can yield decent to good image quality with short programs (<75 minutes). However, they can be slow and the results can look sub-VHS at lower bit rates, which are needed for the longer programs. This reduces the amount of quality footage you can cram onto a DVD. To counter this, you’ll want a better encoder.

What do CBR and VBR mean?

CBR stands for "Constant Bit Rate", while VBR stands for "Variable Bit Rate". Bit rate is a measurement of how much your MPEG-2 video is compressed. DVD video (not including audio or overhead) can be anywhere from 1.5Mbps (Megabits per second) to 9.2Mbps. When performing a CBR encode, all video is encoded to MPEG-2 at the same (constant) bitrate. When performing a VBR encode, the encoder intelligently varies the bitrate up and down as appropriate to the given video segment. VBR is more efficient, because different video segments are more or less complex than other segments. By using a low bitrate on some, the encoder can then using a higher bitrate on others. The idea is to only lower the bitrate when the video is easy enough to encode that you won’t notice the higher compression. As the compressionist, you define how much the encoder is allowed to vary the bitrate (typically by entering a minimum, maximum, and average bitrate).

In theory, you might think you should always use VBR because of its higher efficiency. In practice, however, encoders can make mistakes when they determine how much bitrate is needed for a given scene. If they guess to low, they can create ugly artifacts. For this reason, professional encoders offer features such as 2-pass VBR encoding and segment re-encoding to help reduce these errors. But professional encoders are expensive and 2-passes takes twice as long.

A good encoder using CBR will look great on shorter programs (up to about an hour). At some point, you will decide it is worth it to use VBR. There is no precise threshold for when to invoke VBR, but most programs that runs more than 70 to 90 minutes will benefit greatly from it.

What’s a software encoder vs. hardware encoder?

Software encoders- such as TMPG or the Apple encoder are programs you run on the desktop. Typically they are slower because MPEG-2 encoding is an extraordinarily complex task and will bog down even the fastest processors. Hardware encoders are typically add-in PCI cards that have the encoding algorithms included on-board. These encoders usually work in real-time. You plug in a video cable, hit play and have an MPEG-2 file when you are done playing. The main drawback to hardware encoding is cost.

Can I encode on a PC and author on a Mac?

Yes, and in fact this can be the best of both worlds. In general, the encoders on the PC are better and faster and you can then network or Firewire your encoded clip for authoring with DVDSP. iDVD cannot accept 3rd party encodes.

My video editing card "X" offers MPEG-2 export to DVD, how about that?

In general, the quality of this type of encoder is not ideal and you will still want to get a dedicated encoder for serious work.

What is the difference between 2-pass and 1-pass encoding?

If you read above about VBR vs. CBR encoding, you’ll recall that a VBR encoder will from time to time make mistakes when throttling the bitrate. If it goes too low, you can get some nasty artifacts. One feature found on professional encoders that helps reduce this problem is 2-pass VBR. In a nutshell, the encoder will make a first pass at encoding the video, then rewind and do it again. When finished, the encoder analyzes the results before finalizing. By using 2 passes and analysis, the encoder is less likely to err in choosing the bitrates. For the really picky compressionist, he can then use segment re-encoding to fix any errors.

What is Segment Re-Encoding?

Suppose you have a VBR encode and you find a glitch on a few frames – what are you to do? Go back and re-encode the whole video and hope for the best? If your encoder features segment re-encoding, you can tell it to grab just the frames (or GOPs, to be completely accurate) that have problems, and re-encode them at a new bit rate.

On big-budget titles like major movie releases, they will actually view the entire movie frame by frame looking for any possible problem during their quality-assurance process. As they find problems (you’d be surprised how many there are when you’re paying this much attention to detail), they mark them and set a new bitrate. When finished, they hit "go" and the encoder re-encodes just the segments they selected at the specified bitrates, integrating it with the existing MPEG-2 (sometimes as a reference file).

What are some of the encoders out there?

Software Transcoders:

Software transcoders encode only from video files on disk into MPEG2. You will need some other means of aquiring source from tape, such as a video capture card or a file provided to you buy your client on disk. The companies listed below are among those known to make software transcoders.

Apple - Their QuickTime encoder is included with DVD Studio Pro and iDVD. While it is the fastest software encoder we know of, it has relatively poor quality and efficiency and incapable of VBR encodes. Macintosh only (of course).

Discreet - Their Cleaner software is available for Windows or Mac, but we donot recommended it for DVD (MPEG2) encoding because it is extremely slow with no noticeable improvement over Apple, CBR only.

Innobits - Makers of Bitvice. More efficient than Apple, somewhat better image quality, slow.

Heuris - Somewhat better image quality than Apple, decent speed, very expensive.

Canopus - Procoder offers very good image quality, is very fast, moderately priced ($699). It is also capable of transcoding between PAL and NTSC and encoding to/from just about any other video codec, such as web media and HDTV. They also make SoftMPEG Encoder, which is bundled with their nicer video capture cards but is not nearly as high quality or flexible. Available for Windows.

TMPG - Excellent image quality, efficient. Highly customizable, very inexpensive, but slow.

Cinemacraft - Comments: excellent image quality, decent speed, expensive.

Hardware Encoders:

Hardware encoders generally only accept input from external inputs, typically from a tape or digital video disk player. The inexpensive ones (<$4,000) have real-time speed as their main feature besides the flexibility of hardware input. Professional hardware encoders start at around $5,000 and rapidly move up in budget toward the six-figure range and bring a variety of special features to the compressionist, such as inverse-telecine, quality control features(segment re-encoding, a/b comparison), 2-pass VBR, and very high image quality. The companies listed below are among those known to make hardware MPEG2 encoders for DVD.

WiredStream - MediaPress Pro ($2,994 component YUV version, $4,495 SDI - Mac only) is relatively inexpensive for an entry-level professional encoder and has , reasonably good quality at moderate to high bitrates. No AC3 audio encoding capabilities.

Sonic Solutions - SD-500 ($4,999 for Windows) is a flexible entry-level professional encoder with good quality, 2-pass VBR, and AC3 stereo encoding through component and FireWire inputs. It will also encode real-time from DV files on disk and even acts as an OHCI FireWire controller for Adobe Premiere. SD-1000 ($9,999 for Windows/Mac) has excellent quality 2-pass VBR with SDI inputs. SD-2000 ($24,999 for Mac) is the same hardware as the SD-1000 but adds high end features such as segment re-encoding, inverse telecine, progressive scan option, and Sonic's multipass Constant-Q™ VBR technology.

Menus

How do I format stills and still menus for DVD?

Check the manual that came with your authoring program for details. In general, you’ll want to design at 720X540 then resize when you are done editing to 720X480 for NTSC and 720X576 for PAL. This is to account for the difference in pixel aspect ratios between computer monitors and broadcast monitors.

How do I make a motion menu?

First, make sure you have a solid understanding of how to make a still menu before you try to tackle motion menus. Next, check the manual of your DVD authoring software for step-by-step instructions. The most important concept to grasp is that everything in the background of a motion menu is a single movie clip. On top of this you have a static 2-bit (4 solid colors) sub-picture overlay, just as you do with a still menu. Let’s say for example you see a motion menu that has a still background with one or two small clips floating over it that play a looping movie. Those clips and the still background are all one piece - most likely a movie clip created in an NLE or a compositing program such as Adobe After Effects. Even if you only want to have a still menu with a tiny bit of motion on it, you’ll need to make it entirely outside of your authoring program. Some authoring programs will do the compositing for you, but for best results use a dedicated compositing program.

If motion backgrounds are a single movie clip, then how can the motion change when I highlight a different button?

OK, so you’re watching the latest cool DVD from Hollywood Video, and you notice that every time you move the button selection to a new button, the motion background changes. A popular design is to have buttons be still thumbnails that start moving when you highlight them. How does this jive with what we said above? Well, movie the button selection again, and this time do you notice the pause before the menu responds? Yeah, isn’t that annoying? What the author did was force the title to jump to a new menu every time you highlight a different button. That’s how they get around the fact that the background can only be one movie clip. Since the player has to load an entirely new menu every time you move buttons, there is that irritating pause. It’s up to you (and your client) to decide if the pay-off is worth the delay.

Audio

What is AC-3?

AC-3 is an audio compression codec created by Dolby Labs and is one of two audio formats that are universally compatible with all DVD players in all regions. The other is PCM, which is the same uncompressed audio signal that is on music CDs. Although "Dolby Digital" is AC-3 by another name, an AC-3 signal does not imply that the audio is in surround sound. An AC-3 signal can be mono, stereo, 4-channel surround, 5-channel surround, or 5.1-channel surround. By getting rid of sound information that humans have difficulty discerning, AC-3 is able to highly compress audio while retaining most of the perceived sonic quality. A stereo AC-3 stream typically runs at 192KB/second, compared to 1,536KB/second for uncompressed 16-bit/48KHz PCM audio. Even 5.1 surround sound in AC-3 format is typically encoded at just 224KB/second (surround sound is not supported in PCM format on DVD). Other sound formats found on DVD video include MPEG2 Layer 1 for legacy compatibility, and DTS for high-quality surround sound (neither of which have universal compatibility).

NTSC/PAL

I’ve made an NTSC DVD; can people in Europe play it?

This can be a complex issue. DVD players in Europe are technically capable of playing an NTSC DVD as long as it’s encoded with all regions or at least region 2 selected. The viewer must also have an NTSC compatible or multisystem TV to actually see the DVD. PC-based DVD players do not have this limitation. Quite a lot of Europeans own multisystem TVs, but not all. To guarantee European compatibility, you’ll want to re-author the DVD in PAL. This requires two things: re-encoding video assets and reformatting menus. Video should be professionally converted from the source tapes at a pro dub house for best quality and then re-encoded to PAL MPEG-2. This will also resolve any potential audio conversion/speed issues. Menus have to be reformatted from 720X480 to 720X576. Make sure the critical elements are still within title safe. This is a good reason to hang onto the original Photoshop files you used to create menus, as they are normally designed at 720X540 and can be quickly resized for PAL. As you might guess, re-purposing an NTSC title for PAL (or vice-versa) can be a lot of work, so don’t underestimate the cost or time investment.

I’ve made a PAL DVD; can blokes in the States see it?

Contrary to Europe, almost no consumer electronics sold in the US support PAL. US users will be able to play it on a computer DVD-ROM player, but that’s about it. If you need more compatibility than that, you must re-encode and reformat for NTSC to make it playable in the U.S., reversing the steps outlined above for NTSC to PAL conversion. Make sure you select all regions or at least region one for U.S. compatibility.

Ripping / Extraction / Media Issues

How do I extract footage from a DVD-R and put it into a new project?

Caveat: you MUST have the rights to such footage otherwise you are breaking the law. For more info, see these sites:

www.vcdhelp.com

www.riphelp.com

What if I want to go back and re-edit a DVD?

Archive all the original media and project files, otherwise you cannot easily re-open and re-edit a burned DVD. An exception would be Sonic Solution's OpenDVD™ technology, which allows supporting authoring software to write metadata to a disc so the project can later be extracted from a DVD you have authored. Currently DVD Producer and MyDVD are the only authoring tools that support it, but it is new.

Is DVD good to use for an editing master?

Not really- MPEG-2 video might look extremely sharp playing off the DVD but it is highly compressed. Most NLEs cannot edit MPEG-2 video so you would need to recompress it back to DV or whichever codec you normally edit with. You might find the quality hit and time involved detrimental to your workflow. DV or Digibeta tapes are still the better mastering formats. DVD can make a fine viewing copy though.

DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW- what do I get?

DVD-R and DVD+R are the more compatible of the recordable formats. Keep in mind that no recordable format is 100% compatible because of older DVD players still widely in use and newer ones that haven’t included support. The RW formats are nice because you can reuse the media over and over but again they have lower compatibility. For more details, check out vcdhelp.com.

Why doesn’t my DVD work on "X" player or PC?

Check out the compatibility reports at http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers and make sure your player is listed as compatible. Otherwise there is most likely an authoring mistake such as no startup action or a menu that doesn’t jump anywhere.

How can I make my DVD 100% compatible?

There's no such thing as 100% guarantee. There is always a player out there that might have a problem with a certain feature you author. However, you can get very close to 100% if you replicate your DVD. Most replication facilities have a minimum order of 1000 discs.

What is Duplication?

Duplication is simply making more DVD-R copies of your DVD. They are quick to make and cheap in small quantities but less compatible than replicated DVDs.

What is Replication?

Replication is an industrial process where your DVD-R or in some cases DLT tape is used to create a glass master. That glass master is then used to physically stamp copies out like a cookie cutter. Those replicated DVDs are as compatible as any DVD you buy in the store. The downside is cost. Most replicators require a minimum run of at least 500 and you can expect total costs to be at least $1,000. See www.dub-it.net for some example pricing.

What’s a DLT tape?

A somewhat aged recording format which records data to large tapes. These drives are very expensive and usually require a SCSI interface. Some replicators require a DVD project to be delivered on DLT tape. This is only necessary for anything about a DVD-5. You should be able to find a replicator that accepts DVD-R as a master. This will be much easier and cheaper to create unless you happen to already have a DLT drive. Some replicators will accept a built project on a Firewire drive, removing the need for DLT entirely.

What’s a DVD-5, DVD-9, etc?

There are many different capacities of DVD. The one used by consumer DVD burners is a DVD-5. It has one side and one layer- making its total capacity about 4.2 GB. When we say layer we mean that a DVD surface can actually have two slightly different layers that can be read by the player’s laser. In general, most Hollywood DVDs are DVD-9s: one side, two layers with a total capacity of 8.4 GB. So you can see right off the bat it’s much harder to cram a feature-length movie onto a ‘homemade’ DVD because of the smaller capacity. There are also DVD-10s with two sides and one layer per side and finally DVD-18s with two sides, two layers- but both are quite rare. Normally Hollywood DVDs will simply go into a double or triple disc set of DVD-9s.

What about those 9.4 GB DVD-Rs I see advertised?

These are basically two DVD-5s sandwiched together- one on each side. They have to be authored separately- you can’t span one project across both sides. Might be useful for putting a feature on one side with special features on the other but a double disc set would be just as good and you would retain the ability to put cover art on the side without data.

What about printed DVD labels?

Professionals disagree on the effects of DVD labels. Some pros have reported performance issues and even playback failures with stick-on labels. Others have no trouble at all. You will want to experiment. If you decide to use labels, make sure they are firmly stuck on- no bubbles or overhanging edges. There are also several DVD label printers that can print directly onto the surface of special printable DVD-Rs. These printers can be expensive but these discs are much more reliable than stick on labels and can look highly professional with good artwork design.

DVD Studio Pro Issues

My audio is out of sync when I preview.

This is due to a bug in DVDSP’s timecode implementation. In general everything will be in sync on the final disc if you created your audio and video streams according to the manual. The quickest way to make sure is build the project and preview the video_ts in Apple DVD player. If it is still out of sync, burn a DVD. If that is still out of sync then you have a problem. Go back and carefully redo your encoding steps and make sure you are matching the video to the right audio track.

What data rates do I use for audio and video?

The absolute max for a viable DVD on the Apple encoder is 9.1 Mbps. To be safe you might go down a few Mbps, especially if you are not replicating which will give you a bit more headroom. For stereo audio, encode to AC-3 in A.Pack at the 2.0 setting at 192 Kbps. The higher settings are for surround sound, which normally won’t come up in most DV-originated projects.

Do I need Toast?

Toast Titanium is quite helpful for burning additional copies of built DVDSP projects. It’s much more user friendly and straightforward and can also be used to copy burned DVD-Rs to new DVD-Rs. You can also use Toast to record data-only DVD-ROMs for backing files up, etc.

How do I create DVDSP markers in FCP?

Check the Apple website for the latest procedure and make sure you have the latest updates for FCP, DVDSP and QuickTime.

Is there any advantage to compressing to the Animation or None codec before going to MPEG-2?

For footage that started as DV, typically there isn’t any advantage. It can sometimes make a slight difference when creating CGI footage or motion menus out of AfterFX. It is also a good idea to avoid additional compression when exporting footage from a PC for use with the Apple encoder. Experiment for best results in your own workflow.

How do I preview a built project in Apple DVD player?

Make sure the choose video_ts option is checked and then select the video_ts folder of your built project to play it. You’ll need Apple DVD Player 2.7 or greater to do this.

My AC-3 audio level rides up and down in when I play it in Apple DVD player.

Make sure the Dolby Encoding and Line Out options are checked in Preferences and consider upgrading to the latest version of Apple DVD player. The final DVD should sound fine.

I made some cool FX/Text layers in Photoshop but they disappear in DVSDP.

Any text or FX layers you create in Photoshop need to be rendered. To do this, create a new blank layer and merge it with the text or FX layer. Do this for each layer you want to bring into DVDSP. Make sure to save a copy with the unrendered layers first so you can still go back and make changes in Photoshop.

I use a Media 100 for editing and my QuickTime files are 704x480, what do I do?

You need to render them up to 720X480 or they can get distorted once they get to MPEG-2. The easiest way to do this is to feed your Media100 s-video out to a DV deck and tape it. Then capture this tape and encode it to MPEG-2 in QuickTime. The quality is surprisingly good. FCP allows you to go direct to MPEG-2 which is much faster.