Blu ray and macs

[olijen]

I have an HD camera. When I download movies to my MAC desktop and then burn them onto DVD, the movies are not HD. Apple does not sell anything that would fix this problem. I was told to buy a blu ray drive and blu ray disks to solve this problem. Does anyone have any suggestions. I am very frustrated b/c I spent a lot of money on this HD camera and I haven't had any good results. Does Blu ray work with MAC and what devices do I need? Thanks

[SeanMF]

There is a external blu-ray drive for mac that some company was promoting. You could just install windows on your mac using boot camp and go about it that way. There may be a way to have it on your dvds as hidef....that I can't help you with.

[Chevypower]

You can still edit and master your videos in full HD. Eg in iMovie, first be sure to import 1080i video in full 1080x1920 with no downconversion. When you create your project, set it for 16:9, then when exporting the project, click on Settings: Compressor- "None", Quality: "Best" Frame Rate: "Current", then go back a step, Size: "1080x1920 HD" go back to the previous step, Audio Settings: "PCM 48khz 16 Bit Stereo" Then you can take that master MOV file to a PC laptop that has Quicktime, a Blu-ray authoring program, and a BD-Rom drive and make your movie. Where I would select 1080x1920 AVC codec.

[jmkoch]

Is there no such thing as an external BD player / burner that will connect by USB2 or eSATA to a MAC, be accompanied by a disc with MAC-friendly drivers, and work?

Are both iMovie and FCP (or their plug-ins) devoid of any utility to burn BD or any other high definition discs? Are the file export options for iPod type devices strictly for dinky screens, or might any have enough resolution and bitrate to look good on a big HDTV?

[CptGreedle]

Right now there is no Apple release software or hardware to burn Blu-ray discs.
I know, cause I am a big mac-head, and have been waiting for this upgrade for over a year now.
However, despite the lack of support offered by Apple, the OS is capable of supporting it with 3rd party products.
There are now several 3rd party external BD-players, and some BD-burners, available for the mac. They range from $99 to over $300 from what I've seen.
As for burning one. Well, the software Apple provides does indeed support HD video, but only processing it. You can not author an HD disc, only the movie file itself. So, to fix this, you need to get Adobe Premier and Encore. Premier is Adobe's competitive product against Apple's Final Cut Pro. Encore if Adobe's version of Apple's DVD Studio Pro.
Encore provide limited Blu-ray authoring. This means that you won't have full access to all the abilities that Blu-ray has to offer, but you will be able to make a Blu-ray disc complete with HD audio, HD video, and pop-up menus. I don't think it supports more complex BD-J programming yet, but I have yet to try it out myself.

So if you want to use Blu-ray on a mac, buy an external burner, and Adobe's Premier and Encore.

Good luck.

[CptGreedle]

Here is another way of burning BD discs...

http://www.mcetech.com/blu-ray/

for $499, this drive is internal for the Mac Towers.

You can also use Toast 9 with the HD/BD plug-in. This will not let you create the dynamic and well designed menus that Encore will, but you can still make a BD movie.

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Not to slam you or anything buddy, but Get a PC!!!!!!!!!

Seriously my friend, Bluray on MACS blow. This is the 4th thread i've seen on bluray.com about his exact same subject. MACS are more hassle than help, and i use to have a MAC. I always had to end up finishing projects on my PC anyway.

If you want an external drive to burn blu's with a MAC, i've seen them as cheap as 750$! But you'll still need to buy Toast and the HD Plugin (99$ for Toast + 19.99 for the Plugin, for just a minimal movie on a bluray disc)

And even after spending all that money, you still won't even be able to play the disc back on your MAC but only the original files... you'll have to use a PC or bluray player to see the disc results.

Buying a bluray burner for your mac, the software people here have recommended for making the menus and such, you'll spend close to like 1200-1400 bucks dude! (800$ for Premiere/Encore, and 500-900$ for an internal or external burner) That's crazy. What a hassle...
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I have a Sony internal bluray burner, that came with all the software i need for $199! My Vista PC only cost me 715$.

Which HD camcorder you have? I have a JVC that i absolutely LOVE!
I edit my HD videos in Sony Vegas Pro 8, then burn them with the software from my Sony Blu Burner.
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Savvy?

[jmkoch]

Originally Posted by ObiTrentKenobi

Not to slam you or anything buddy, but Get a PC!!!!!!!!! Seriously my friend, Bluray on MACS blow. Savvy?

You know full well that a niche of people make a living editing in Final Cut Pro on MACs. They will no more switch to PCs than change their religion or their gender. Derrogatory comments will persuade them only remove one from their invitation list or job networking circle.

If $500 for an external MCE BD burner-player, in conjunction with Toast, will enable a MAC Pro owner to burn BD discs, that seems more savvy than to burn bridges.

[MacLover]

Toast will burn HD to BD's and Adobe Premiere will burn/author it as well to BD.

@ObiTrentKenobi, jmkoch it is Mac not MAC

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Originally Posted by MacLover

Toast will burn HD to BD's and Adobe Premiere will burn/author it as well to BD.

@ObiTrentKenobi, jmkoch it is Mac not MAC

MAC.

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Originally Posted by jmkoch

You know full well that a niche of people make a living editing in Final Cut Pro on MACs. They will no more switch to PCs than change their religion or their gender. Derrogatory comments will persuade them only remove one from their invitation list or job networking circle.

If $500 for an external MCE BD burner-player, in conjunction with Toast, will enable a MAC Pro owner to burn BD discs, that seems more savvy than to burn bridges.

That's beautiful. I know there's a number of people out there who believe MACS are "better" than a PC for video/photo editing.

But the truth is, they're both just as good!

However, you'll find it much cheaper, and more compatable on a PC with technologies and software than a MAC. i.e, BLURAY. In fact, 'Starburn' is a great program for the PC that offers bluray burning, and is totally FREEEEEEEEE. I use starburn for most of my data burning, dvd video burning and bluray burning.

I said nothing derrogatory towards olijen, or anybody else on this thread. I said derrogatory comments toward the MAC platform in terms of bluray support. I offered olijen 3 options to solve his dilemma.

I merely was suggesting that olijen consider switching over to a PC, much like the "niche" of MAC users love to think about PC users switching over also.

Also, being a former MAC user, i understand that many MAC afficionados don't realize the potential of PC video, audio and photo editing. Which is something i love to do as a major hobby of mine.

With the right hardware, a PC can be as good (or even better) than MACS in terms of their video/photo editing capabilites (and at a cheaper price usually)

________

Have a good day!

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Originally Posted by jmkoch

You know full well that a niche of people make a living editing in Final Cut Pro on MACs. They will no more switch to PCs than change their religion or their gender. Derrogatory comments will persuade them only remove one from their invitation list or job networking circle.

If $500 for an external MCE BD burner-player, in conjunction with Toast, will enable a MAC Pro owner to burn BD discs, that seems more savvy than to burn bridges.

I burn bridges that lead to unsatisfactory outcomes, high costs and user frustrations.

[MacLover]

Originally Posted by ObiTrentKenobi

MAC.

Incorrect once again. Go to Apple.com and read how they spell it.

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Originally Posted by MacLover

Incorrect once again. Go to Apple.com and read how they spell it.

yup... it's spelled M.A.C.............. MAC. I had all three letters correct.

Oh, you mean stop capitalizing them??? (Sarcasm) It's a proper noun, so there is no reason why i cannot capitalize it. I had an apple computer for almost 2 years, i know how they're spelled.

If you want to correct people's grammar, look at your own. "Incorrect once again" is not a complete sentence, it's a fragment. And you don't need to capitalize the A in apple.com, since it is a website address. You don't capitalize website addresses when you type them in, do you? No.

Please get off your high horse and stop being annoying with correcting other people. Thanks. Have a wonderful day!

[CptGreedle]

"MAC" suggests that each letter stands for something. It doesn't. Mac is short for Macintosh, a type of apple. Hence the play on words. But who cares, capITalIzE iT hOw EvEr YoU wANt!

I will say that I work with both mac and pc and there are good and bad things about both. I have seen far more compression errors occur from PC software in video editing, than on a mac. PCs do tend to be cheaper, while Macs are usually pricier. However, for the software and hardware, they are actually very similar despite a lot of the claims some people have.
I use my PC for playing games, and browsing the net, and not much more. I use my mac for all my work, my art, a few games, my music, my movies, my animations, and my real life stuff.
But to each his own. I know that a lot of people use PCs for imaging and video, but I also know that the mac is indeed used more often in these fields (although authoring is more often a workstation/pc thing).

Still, he did not ask about burning on a pc, he asked about it on a mac. Therefore, to do it on a mac, this is what it will take right now. Purchasing Toast, purchasing a BD burner for $199-$799, and using editing software like iMovie, Final Cut, Premier, etc.