The DVD Studio Pro Workflow

DVD Studio Pro, as part of the Final Cut Suite, is a unique program within the DVD authoring market. The program itself has been created to work in unison with Final Cut Pro and it has its best workflow when doing it this way.

Once you have finished your project in Final Cut Pro you must export the movie in the appropriate form. This means that you cannot just export it as a QuickTime or some other type of digital movie file, and instead it must be compressed to a smaller size. DVD Studio Pro usually only accepts file types that are those of a compressed movie file. Instead of just using Export in the File menu you will select Export Using Compressor.

This will open Compressor, another one of the programs gracing the Final Cut Suite, and the movie file will be open in the program. What Compressor will then do is to change the file type, shrinking it by removing tiny pieces of the film at specified points. Here you select a file type for both the video and audio. It is best to select the MPEG-2 90 Minute selection for video, and the Dolby Digital for sound. Now Compressor will compress both parts of the video separately, giving you two separate files.

Once you have begun creating your DVD you add a track, which is where you put the video. From the menu you create a button that links directly to the track, which when being played its selection will play the movie. In the track you have a Timeline that is similar to that found in Final Cut Pro. Once the video and audio are done compressing you import them into the Asset display in DVD Studio Pro. From here you will drag the video selection into the top track, and the audio into the bottom one. This is just as it is in the Final Cut Timelines, where the top tracks are reserved for visual media and the bottom ones are dedicated toward audio.

Now you are able to save and ‘burn’ the DVD. Make sure to do a link check before printing the DVD and always do a couple of run throughs to make sure that everything works with your DVD.