Benjamin Hilton

It's been years since I created a professional DVD. Recently though, we are seeing a resurgence in desire to own physical DVDs for content consumption. (a lot of people are getting sick of the streaming networks)That being said we decided to take the plunge and release a new documentary on both digital download and DVD on our online store. After some research, I realized the only legitimate way to create a DVD menu and such today are the old professional (but discontinued) software giants with either Adobe Encore, or Apple's DVD Studio Pro. Apparently the professional DVD companies still keep a fleet of old computers running the old software as there are no modern alternatives. So I thought I'd detail my process here in case anyone else in interested in doing this too, I might be able to help out with any questions if I've run up against the same issue. This is my process so far: - Bought a Mac Mini on Ebay from 2008 for $50, it works surprisingly well. (unfortunately it was updated to OS Yosemite - Bought a copy of Snow Leopard on Ebay for $25, installed it on a partition with no issues - Bought a copy of Final Cut Studio 2 on Ebay for $30 that was supposed to include the serial number - Upon install I realized the serial number was hand written, and couldn't decipher it exactly even though I tried dozens of different combinations - I bought a second copy of Final Cut Studio 2 on Ebay for $50. Upon install I realized that it was an upgrade copy, not an original as advertised. Therefore I couldn't install it since an upgrade requires you to have an original serial number. (I returned this copy and got a refund) - With the printed serial number on the upgrade copy though, I was able to decipher the pattern of what a final cut serial number is supposed to look like. I was able to compare this to the hand written number from the original purchase and try a few more variations, it finally worked! - After a lengthy install process, DVD Studio pro and Final Cut Pro run no problem on the old Mac Mini, very snappy performance - I took my final video files and encoded them to MPEG 2 with Handbrake, Studio pro threw an error code on import, it said it couldn't recognize the file format - I tried a bunch of combinations with hand brake, no luck. I also tried a bunch of combinations with Shutter Encoder, also no luck. - I tried encoding with Apple's old compressor software that was included with the Studio 2. That worked fine, just really long encoding time due to the old mac, and the quality wasn't nearly as good as Handbrake or Shutter. - I finally got gave Adobe Media Encoder 2025 a try, and that worked! The quality wasn't quite as good as Handbrake, but a lot better than Compressor. I was able to play around with encoding settings and sharpening to find a happy medium for a final output that looks pretty good, even for SD - After that it was just a matter of building menu graphics in photoshop, importing and linking everything in DVD Studio Pro. It's surprisingly intuitive software to use, but very powerful at the same time. I'm about to burn my final DVD to send off to the duplicator, so fingers crossed everything continues to work.

I'd have to agree that the Sony A7R IV is the best bang for buck and all around useful camera on the market right now. It doesn't have any huge headline selling points, but it just does video and stills really well. No major flaws, and just a gorgeous image. If you need to go cheaper, I'm leaning on FX30s. Still a great image, good form factor, and just a solid camera for the price. The Canon R7 is a solid option too in this cheaper category. It's pretty cool these cameras exist in this price bracket, that for under $1500 you can get good stills, solid 4k with good DR, good color, auto focus, solid audio, the list goes on. No excuse to not be out there creating good visuals these days

My favorite right now has to be Sony. After years of squeaking by with old cameras from several different brands, with odd adapters and cheap lenses, we finally invested in a complete Sony package this year. Overall just a really solid offering when it comes to cameras, image and feature wise. The FX6 is the best documentary camera hands down IMO. E-ND, 4k120, 4 channels of audio, good ergonomics etc. We're pairing that with a couple of FX30s for studio work, solid image and great for static use. And an A7R IV, which has been an awesome camera for some light video combined with photography use. The really nice thing is we can use all of the above mentioned cameras in a multicam shoot if we want, and they will match decently in post.

Dynamic range was certainly better on some of the best film stocks for quite a while, but I don't think you're seeing much of an advantage over the Alexa sensors these days. (most other high end digitals aren't far behind) Plus with most decent cameras a good highlight rolloff isn't hard to pull off in post if you know what you're doing

Yeah the original film probably has more resolution than what you're seeing in the final production today. That being said, I think we're long past the argument that film has any technical advantage over digital. It's a look, one that can be nearly replicated in post with the right technicians to perfection, or a look that can be partially copied while still retaining some of the advantages of digital. I think that's the future right there for most projects personally. I really have very little interest in perfectly replicating the "film look" in many of my projects. I bring in some of the characteristics of film in my grading, but leave out others. This "hybrid" look is what we're seeing in a lot of modern films and such and I think it's working really well.

Yeah digital's been able to easily match and/or exceed that of film stocks here for a while.

I think the issue is not the potential for Black Magic cameras, but just perception in the industry. It's really hard to change norms that have been norms for so long. It would be really cool if they can agressivly push them with younger dp's, then maybe they'll get more accepted with time.

Or better yet, a ungraded clip or two?

I've always been interested in the Red One, not professionally but purely hobby. Have any stills from stuff you shot on it you'd care to share?

Very true. Cameras are really good these days, it really comes down to the user experience and which small niche set of features work best for you. Should you pick up a Lumix because they're cheaper, or a Canon because you own EF lenses? Do you want the overall feature set of the Sonys, or are you trying to mix and match with something else? Those the real considerations these days. I'm working on a show right now that we shot with an R7, S1, GH5, Gopro 7 and the DJI Air 2. Everything looks fine in post, it's just a matter of working out their individual quirks. The S1 is overall the best image, the cleanest and best DR. The R7 and GH5 look about the same DR wise, but the R7's color is a bit nicer. The gopro looks good, but a bit of over sharpened compression mush. The DJI isn't too bad, just some wonky magenta shifts that are a pain to deal with. At the end of the day though, no one would watch the final show and think a specific camera stands out, they would just judge the show to be what's interesting to them or not.

I would love to see a show of hands of anyone that is doing actual client work outside of feature films at prores 422 HQ 4K on a regular basis...as fun as that sounds, practicality always calls the shots. Also, the return on investment is very very low for shooting raw or prores on most cameras. You can get 95% of the same flexibility shooting a good compressed codec with 75% less headache, it's one of the best trades you can make IMO.

Yeah in a way. Netflix has that standard, but outside of that I have yet to see people really care. Don't get me wrong, I prefer 4k all around, all my deliveries are in 4k for our clients. But that being said, I don't think I would have a single person I work with even notice if I delivered in 1080p. The same way none of our clients would notice if I didn't do that extra hour of fine tuning on the color grade an so forth. At the end of the day I guess I do it for myself not for them.

I love 4k as a viewing format, but overall it's not that much better than good 1080p. And I do agree, for the way most people view movies, they wouldn't see a difference. If you have the option though, it is a good sweet spot IMO for delivery, especially for future proofing. Just starting out though, it's not something I would spend money on over good 1080P. I do think that 6k is probably the most practical medium for shooting in these days. I really have no desire to ever go above that unless it's a specific product I'm selling, like 8k TV wallpaper or something

Use the two cameras side by side for a full day of filming and you'll know what I mean. The FX30 is a professionally built camera, the ZV-E1 feels kind of like a toy in a lot of ways. No specific issues other than bad rolling shutter, overheating, and a toy of a camera body. Depending on what you're used to, that might be fine. Just for me personally I would have a really hard time trying to do any kind of serious work with the ZV-E1 unless I absolutely had to.

I think you're misunderstanding me. By downgrade I mean it technically achieves its look from introducing artifacts. Generally softer resolution, stretched flaring, squished bokeh and so forth. Now it is a really desirable look to many people, but that often is the affect of tastefully introducing artifacting or "downgrading" an image. I used the terminology in response to zlfan's original post when he said that anamorphic was created to increase the resolution of an image. Just pointing out that it in fact does the opposite. That's not a bad thing, in fact it can be quite good. Personally I'm not a huge fan overall, but there are cases when I think it's been used quite nicely.