NOOB ADVC110 Question

[maclamb]

I just purchased this (will arrive next week) and hope to use it with my Mac/FCP to display rendered video from FCP onto my Color TV.
Some questions:
1. To "get" the video out to the 110, I assume I use Print to Video from within FCP.
2. Will the quality seen on the TV from the 110 be : Equal to, Lessor or Better than what will be seen when I burn the footage to DVD and play that via a DVD player (SD, not HD)?

Meaning, once I render in FCP I have to export and then the footage is encoded by DVD Studio Pro. How will the image compare to what the 110 displays? Or, should I export as DV ( I believe DSP encodes to DV) and play that back via quicktime? Or FCP itself? If I play back via quicktime, will the video come out via the 110 box to the TV?

3. What connection: composite or S-video will give the closest look to what the DVD will look like?
These are crucial issues as these DVDs are for clients.

thanks!

[GrassValley_BH]

1. Yup, it's just like exporting to DV tape.
2. Better, because MPEG-2 compression for DVD is "more" compressed thatn DV.
3. S-Video is a better signal transfer than composite and will yield a better picture except in very specific cases, DV sources not being one of those.
4. "If I play back via quicktime, will the video come out via the 110 box to the TV?"
   Not sure if it's QuickTime DV. If it's not QuickTime DV, you need extra software that Kenneally can hopefully point you to.

[maclamb]

Great! Thanks ;-)
Can't wait to try.

[GrassValley_BH]

Just to clarify, the DV "Export to Tape" preview from FCP out to TV via the ADVC (wow, that's a tongue-twisting acronym-filled sentence) will be same or better than the video quality of the resulting DVD.

Since DVDs use MPEG-2 compression, the quality of the encoder matters, and more bits = better quality, but be careful not to exceed DVD specs (total bitrate of 9.1 Mbps). The general advice is to keep the video bitrate to 8 Mbps, but of course the final rate will depend on how long (time-wise) the video is, and whether you're using single or dual-layer DVD media.

[maclamb]

1. "If I play back via quicktime, will the video come out via the 110 box to the TV?"
   Not sure if it's QuickTime DV. If it's not QuickTime DV, you need extra software that Kenneally can hopefully point you to.

I meant - If I export to DV out of Final Cut - so I can see what the exported/compressed file will play like ( vs. the rendered, not exported/compressed stream from within FCP with Print to Tape) - if I play the DV via the quicktime player on the mac, will it also play out via the firewire port to the 110 - or would I import the DV file back into FCP and use Print to Tape to force that footage out via FCP?

[GrassValley_BH]

That one's more of Kenneally's realm of expertise as I don't have a Mac...

Print to Tape from FCP should be identical to export to QuickTime DV file and use whatever means necessary to play DV out the FireWire port.

I'd think it's a little easier to stay withing FCP and do the Print to Tape, but I guess it depends on your workflow.

[GrassValley_KH]

The utility for FireWire output out of Quicktime is here:

http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/SimpleVideoOut/index.html

[maclamb]

this looks like a link to source code -

[maclamb]

That one's more of Kenneally's realm of expertise as I don't have a Mac...

Print to Tape from FCP should be identical to export to QuickTime DV file and use whatever means necessary to play DV out the FireWire port.

I'd think it's a little easier to stay withing FCP and do the Print to Tape, but I guess it depends on your workflow.

Print to tape is easier for sure- wanted to make sure what come sou of FCP will mirror what it will look like after exporting to DV and burning a DVD

[GrassValley_KH]

this looks like a link to source code -

The "Download Sample" link for the DMG file is what you want.

More info here: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/orei...video_out.html

[maclamb]

thanks - I'm on a pc right now and couldn't check out the dmg -

[GrassValley_BH]

Print to tape is easier for sure- wanted to make sure what come sou of FCP will mirror what it will look like after exporting to DV and burning a DVD

After exporting to DV - yes, definitely.
(then) burning a DVD - yes, as long as the MPEG-2 compression is good enough to remain visually equivalent

In the real world, that last bold statement doesn't hold up unless you can keep the bitrate at 6 Mbps or higher, or you have a really good MPEG-2 encoder. Even at equivalent bitrates, there's a big divide between the boys and the men as far as MPEG-2 encoding quality goes.

[maclamb]

thanks guys - the box and the software work great. Thanks for your prompt and insightful help.
Joe