Re: Compressor settings

Dear Eric

Adobe's slogan for Encore (which I see every time it reopens after a crash) is "come for the blu-ray, stay for the flash". That may well be true if you have a PC, but it sure ain't if you have a Mac.

I was asked by a client if I could produce a Blu-Ray as well as a DVD version of a very simple disk. Honestly, unless it was a single menu with a 'play' button, it's hard to see how this one could have been simpler. I told him it was new to me, but I read a lot on Encore (mostly from Adobe) and I noted that the solution has been around for some time now. These are not 'early days' for Blu-Ray. I already produce a lot of DVDs, and was very comfortable with the interface in Encore.

Prior to starting work on this project, I spent two weeks learning the software and simulating disks. I was satisfied (since I am used to the simulator workflow on DVD-SP) that I could probably deliver. I continued to reassure my client, though warning him that it was still an unknown quantity to me.

After an initial build, and a successful DVD encode, several days ago, all was well. Then I moved to testing the Blu-Ray.

Hardly any element of it on playback was totally correct. The encoding (despite trying various settings) coped badly with the frame rates required (although I am happy to admit some of the mistakes were mine - ones I allowed extra time for anyway) so I have switched to Compressor. The buttons did not appear, and the routing was incorrect. All of this I have detailed above.

So I bought a product I had every reason to suspect would fit my needs, was not in it's early days, that I had taken the time to learn and (I thought) test and it simply is faulty. And you're wondering why I'm annoyed? If you bought Photoshop from Adobe, and all your exports were the wrong colour, what would you do?

And here's the rub - I'm not the only one having this problem on a Mac - others have responded exactly the same.

There's a limit to how careful I can expect to be with new software. I run a busy company, so I spent time on my holidays doing everything I could to ensure delivery. AND I bought software from the industry leader at a not inconsiderable price to make sure I gave myself the best chance of delivering. This is sofware marketed at small businesses like me - if I was a larger concern, I would have Scenerist or similar at far greater expense.

As far as law suits go, I said I would be seeking a full refund. If that's not forthcoming, then yes I would consider being part of a class-action lawsuit, since there is NO advice on Adobe's website not to purchase Encore if you have a Mac running Leopard, apart from a note from December last year promising an update in January. That's not good enough.

If you can show me how my project is wrongly constructed such that it works on the simulator, works on the DVD encode and doesn't work on the Blu-Ray then I would be delighted to hear from you. Otherwise, I'm not sure what your comment was in aid of.

Ben




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