Saving Files For Later Blu Ray Burn

[cajunbubba]

I want to convert large Full Quality FCP (Quicktime 1080p) files to later be able to burn to Blue Ray. How do I compress so I can later mix and match various home movies on a Blu- Ray disk. I have Toast, Blu Ray Burner, etc.... I just want to get rid of the FQ movie files and do the conversion now without loss of quality when I do build and burn a Blu Ray disk.

[tsantee]

I'd choose a high-quality h.264 export. You might go to kenstone.net to see what advice is there.

[cajunbubba]

That's what I have and it is huge. The HQ H264 format, but that is not the final blu ray ready format to build a blur ray video disk later with

[tsantee]

Your question intrigued me. So I did an experiment that worked out well. When Toast makes the Blu-ray video it will encode the video regardless of how you saved it in FCP. So if you want the smallest saved file that doesn't compromise quality it makes sense to save it in whatever way will prevent Toast from needing to do any more encoding. Here's what I did:

 

I added the videos to the Toast Video window with Blu-ray video selected as the project. I make certain that MPEG-4 AVC is set for Toast's conversion and not MPEG 2. Next, I chose Save as Disc Image (from the File menu or from the Destination list at the bottom of the Toast window). Toast proceeds with its encoding (which takes a long, long time). Now I have the video saved in the disc image. When the time comes to make a final version of the Blu-ray video disc I choose Mount Disc Image from the Toast Utilities menu and select the disc image. I then drag the enclosed BDMV file to the Toast Video window. Toast locates and adds the enclosed video files. Going to the custom encoder settings window I check that Never Re-encode is selected. When I proceed to burn my Blu-ray video (or create a new disc image) Toast quickly multiplexes the video rather that encodes.

 

It seems to me that a good way to save a final edit of a video for later use in a Blu-ray video is to have Toast prepare it to Blu-ray specs in this manner.

[cajunbubba]

Thanks for the info. Now if you have video A, Video B, Video C, Video D, etc all bout 5 - 15 minutes in length, and you save them this way is it possible to then select a couple of them an create a Blu-Ray Disc. In other words I create short videos, Edit in FCP, then export in Full Quality 1080p, then I want to convert them to Blu-Ray format for building a Blu-Ray Disc later. A Blu-Ray Disk will have a menu that allows me to pic witch short Movie to access. Confused?

[tsantee]

Thanks for the info. Now if you have video A, Video B, Video C, Video D, etc all bout 5 - 15 minutes in length, and you save them this way is it possible to then select a couple of them an create a Blu-Ray Disc. In other words I create short videos, Edit in FCP, then export in Full Quality 1080p, then I want to convert them to Blu-Ray format for building a Blu-Ray Disc later. A Blu-Ray Disk will have a menu that allows me to pic witch short Movie to access. Confused?

Yes. If video A, B, C and D are each in their own disc image, you can mount any or all of them at the same time and drag in their file to the Toast Video window. Once in Toast you can rearrange their order, edit the menu text and tweak the menu style. You should be able to select a frame from each video to use as the menu thumbnail image, too.

 

Toast has a "Roxio Video Player" in the Extras menu that will play the video from the mounted disc image (or from a burned Blu-ray disc) for you to preview on the Mac. However, it doesn't present the menu except as a non-interactive screen so you can at least see how it looks. Roxio Video Player has an icon in its playbar area which you click on to see a popup for selecting which video you want to watch. The last item in the list is the non-functioning menu screen.

 

When you are ready to burn your final Blu-ray disc you still may want to choose Save as Disc Image so you can mount it and preview how it looks before burning to disc. Disc images are burned to disc by selecting them with the Image File setting in the Copy window.

 

P.S. You don't have to have each video in its own disc image. There can be up to 98 in any disc image, room permitting.

[cajunbubba]

Thanks again. Last question I promise. Can these files be used in Encore with out further re-processing?

[tsantee]

Thanks again. Last question I promise. Can these files be used in Encore with out further re-processing?

I don't know. I don't have Encore. My guess is the answer is yes but you may need to control-click on the BDMV file and choose Show Package Contents. From there you can access the enclosed .m2ts video file. In other words, you may need to access the video file itself whereas Toast will find it in the BDMV file. Maybe Encore will do that too.

[boilinthebag]

Very interesting and informative. I am a complete newb (64). When I try to burn a blu ray disc I get file not supported. I have converted the file to MPEG-4 AVC so where do I go from here? Thanks

[tsantee]

Very interesting and informative. I am a complete newb (64). When I try to burn a blu ray disc I get file not supported. I have converted the file to MPEG-4 AVC so where do I go from here? Thanks

Walk me through this. You get file not supported when you drag a video to the Toast window. What file? You indicate you have the Blu-ray video setting in the Toast Video window, correct? If you are following my tip about dragging in the BDMV file, make sure you've mounted the disc image and dragged the BDMV file itself from the Finder into the Toast Video window. The .toast disc image is mounted by either choosing Mount disc image from the Toast Utilities menu, selecting the disc image using the Image File setting in the Toast Copy window or control-click on the disc image in the Finder and choosing Mount It from the contextual menu.