Specifications
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1 Using Apple Applications
for Your DVD Studio Pro Projects
It doesn’t matter how good your movie is if nobody can see
it. The Apple post-production applications provide invaluable
tools to help you author your DVD Studio Pro project.
DVD Studio Pro makes it fast and easy to create professional DVDs in a variety of styles.
Every aspect of authoring is customizable, but when you’re in a hurry, you can modify
one of the included template designs to finish your DVDs even faster.
Turning Your Final Cut Pro Project Into a DVD
Once you have finished editing your movie in Final Cut Pro, you can start authoring a
DVD based on it. While making a simple DVD from the movie is quick and easy, you will
have to take into consideration several issues:
 You need to convert the movie into DVD-compliant assets. With the exception of an
HDV-based movie, your movie’s video and audio will have to be transcoded into
DVD-compliant assets. There are several approaches you can take; however, most
often the best method is to export from Final Cut Pro using Compressor. This
provides the most options and the greatest control over the process.
 If your movie is HD, you need to choose a DVD standard. You can choose to create a
traditional DVD using standard definition (SD) assets, which requires the video to be
converted to the SD frame resolutions, or a specialized DVD using high definition
(HD) assets. The advantage of creating an SD-based DVD is that it plays in the current
DVD players. The advantage of creating an HD-based DVD is that you are able to
retain the HD quality; however, you will have limited methods of playing it (one of
your playback options is the Apple DVD Player). One answer is to use Compressor to
encode suitable assets so you can author both DVD standards.
 You need to decide what else your DVD will contain. For a simple DVD, you will most
likely want a menu to be the first thing that appears when the disc plays. You may
also decide to add some deleted scenes or other bonus movies that may require you
to do a bit more editing before you can author the DVD.