I am making a DVD by exporting the video and metadata from Xpress Pro > Sorenson > to the Sonic DVD application.  I then import the .mpeg files and the metadata for the chapter markers and get a warning that some of the chapter markers are not lining up and that they will be re-postioned to the nearest frame.  What is happening is that that they are being repositioned incorrectly, like in the middle of a scene.  I have tried to repostion them but the marker will not go to the frame I designate, but jumps to the wrong one.  I have tried deleting the marker and adding one at the right place but the same thing happens.  This is incredibly frustrating and the client is getting annoyed.  Please help!

Thanks, Barton

The thing to remember is that markers work on gop, not frames.  You cannot position a marker frame acurately, I am afraid.

The warning that you are getting is letting you know that the markers cannot be placed on the frames that you have designated.

If possible, place a few frames of black (about 6 in PAL to be safe) between your scenes and place your marker accordingly.

If this is not possible, you will have to settle for where they are positioned.  This is not a software issue, rather a dvd issue!

It is possible to get the chapter points exactly where you like them. I have not used Avid DVD but I use Encore. I'll use the workflow in Encore as an example and see if you can find a way to do this in
Avid DVD. The example I am about to use I believe also applies to DVD Studio Pro, but again, I don't use DVD SP.

Encore example:

1. Export the timeline as a movie file.

2. Import movie file into Encore.

3. Make a timeline and put the movie file in it.

4. Mark the chapter points exactly where you need them.

5. Transcode the video

6. Finish the rest of the authoring

7. Burn

The reason why you can put chapter points anywhere is because by marking up the timeline before transcoding lets the software examine where those points lie and transcodes the video so that the GOP structure aligns perfectly.

So you'll have to try to see if you can do this in Avid DVD to solve your problem. But as I said before I don't use Avid DVD so cannot tell you if it's capable or how to do it in that program.

At the very least I hope that the example may give you some ideas about how to solve this issue.

I tried adding black and it still jumps the wrong place sometimes (it's like it is grabbing on to the first frame of video...) and this makes the resulting DVD look unprofessional.  I'd like to have faith that this is not a software issue, but I find this AVID DVD by Sonic program a bit buggy and poorly designed.

Incidentially, I am working in a company where they have a Final Cut Studio 2 system as well as the AVID and the DVD authoring program it comes with does not seem to have this problem.

Thanks for you help.

I don't have access to Encore, though I note it an Adobe product so I am confident that it would work, as Adobe is really one of the best software company's in the world. 

Incidentially, I have noticed in my travels that Premier Pro is showing up in more post houses.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Hi, if you have Apple's DVD Studio Pro you'd probably be better off using that and I think a lot of Avid editors on Macs do. Encore is still a young program so not fully mature but very powerful. That's a very good PC option in my opinion. Especially since it's integrated with Photoshop and After Effects. Equally, I think Studio Pro has a good relationship with Motion.

Hope you managed to make your client pleased after all this.

I am going to use DVD Studio Pro next time, as it is definitely a better product.  As a matter of fact, now that we have FC Studio 2, the AVID gets used less and less.  I don't know what is happening with AVID, but they seem to be loosing a lot of market share to Final Cut these days. 

Thanks for your help.

Barton