10 replies to this topic

[Frankie]

Okay...my situation is a bit complicated, so stick with me. I'm trying to back-up my DVD-RAM disks that are being recorded on a Panasonic DMR-ES15. The main purporse of this is to have the ability to play back the disk on any DVD player. As of right now, the disk can only be played on the Panasonic. So I import the .VRO file into Toast and I'm wondering what file type I should export as so I can create chapter markers in iMovie. My first attempt was exported as a .divx. The problem was, I previewed the file in iMovie and there was some blocky sections of the video which wasn't very appealing. On top of that, the file was about 35 gigs. My only option for getting this file on the disk was to burn it as a divx disk. Can someone please explain the pros and cons of the different file types in Toast so I can get the most out of my purchase? Thanks in advance!  

[tsantee]

DVD video is the format that plays on all DVD players. Select the titles on the DVD-RAM disc using the Toast Media Browser and drag them to the Video window with DVD video selected as the format. When Toast finishes extracting the videos from the disc, edit the text you want in the menu and choose your menu options. Then burn your new DVD to DVD-R media or DVD+R media (the former is supposed to have slightly more compatibility with various players.

The only reason to involve iMovie is if you want to use the editing features in iMovie. If you do want to simply cut out some sections (such as deleting commercials) then you should get MPEG Streamclip which also requires Apple's MPEG 2 Playback Component. You can open the Toast-extracted videos (they are in the Roxio Converted Items folder) with Streamclip, make the edits and choose Save. Then drag the newly saved MPEG file to the Toast Video window in place of the one you extracted from the disc.

[Frankie]

Well the reason I'm trying to involve iMovie is to create chapter markers. I just realized after about 5 hours of encoding with divx, that the video file did not keep the chapter markers that I set in iMovie. I see that in Toast I am able to create chapter markers in certain intervals, but I'm kind of picky and want to be able to set them where I want them. I would prefer not having to pay any more money because I have already spent $150 on software and feel like that was way too much. Is there a way for me to create chapter markers without losing any of the quality of the original video?

[tsantee]

Toast will automatically place chapter markers every 5 minutes in an MPEG file that doesn't already have markers present.

Doing all the conversion to iMovie just to place specific chapter markers is a pain. Toast will respect those markers when you choose DVD video as the format. DivX, as you've seen, does not keep the markers.

There is another DVD authoring application that lets you place specific chapter marker points directly to MPEG files. It is CaptyDVD2. The cheapest way to get it is to buy the LaCie Fast Coder from the LaCie Web site for $50. You don't need the Fast Coder itself, but buying the application separately from its developer costs $70. When I use CaptyDVD I save as a VIDEO_TS folder and use the DVD video from VIDEO_TS in Toast's Video window to burn the DVD. I use this with concert videos I record.

[Frankie]

tsantee, on Dec 8 2006, 08:00 AM, said:

Doing all the conversion to iMovie just to place specific chapter markers is a pain. Toast will respect those markers when you choose DVD video as the format. DivX, as you've seen, does not keep the markers.

I agree with the fact that it is a pain, but I'll do it if I have to. Like I said, I really don't want to spend anymore money (sorry, I'm poor   ). If I were to create the chapters in iMovie and bring them into Toast, how can I ensure that the video will fit on the disc. As stated in my earlier post, the original file that I exported from the .vro file was somewhere around 35 gigs. Any help is really appreciated!  

[tsantee]

Frankie, on Dec 8 2006, 05:10 PM, said:

I agree with the fact that it is a pain, but I'll do it if I have to. Like I said, I really don't want to spend anymore money (sorry, I'm poor   ). If I were to create the chapters in iMovie and bring them into Toast, how can I ensure that the video will fit on the disc. As stated in my earlier post, the original file that I exported from the .vro file was somewhere around 35 gigs. Any help is really appreciated!  

Toast fits about 2-1/2 hours of video to a DVD when it does the encoding (such as from an iMovie source) using Toast's default settings. It also retains the iMovie chapter markers. If your movie is longer than I recommend choosing Save as Disc Image in Toast to may write an image file for a dual-layer disc, then use Toast's fit-to-DVD feature when burning the image file to a single-layer disc in the Copy window.

[Frankie]

One more question for you and I should be all set.    I am not able to bring my .vro file directly into iMovie. My only option for adding chapter markers in this video file is to convert it into another file type (done by exporting the video file to an external harddrive in Toast). Which file type is the best for video playback quality? As stated earlier, it took apporixmately 5 or 6 hours to convert/encode the video into a divx file. Any suggestions?

[tsantee]

Frankie, on Dec 9 2006, 01:26 AM, said:

One more question for you and I should be all set.    I am not able to bring my .vro file directly into iMovie. My only option for adding chapter markers in this video file is to convert it into another file type (done by exporting the video file to an external harddrive in Toast). Which file type is the best for video playback quality? As stated earlier, it took apporixmately 5 or 6 hours to convert/encode the video into a divx file. Any suggestions?

The best and fastest way to export for use in iMovie is to export as DV. The problem is its file size, but as long as you have the hard drive space this will be the fastest export, the best quality and the easiest to edit.

Converting video from one compressed format (MPEG 2) to another compressed format (any of the other options available) and back again causes some loss of quality. DV is the least compressed format of the options so it will have the least quality loss.

Here is another option that costs only a little. Get MPEG Streamclip and Apple's MPEG 2 Playback Component. The first is free and the second is $20. You can use MPEG Streamclip to split the long MPEG into separate MPEG 2 files for what would be each chapter. You also can delete commercials this way. Drag each of the "chapters" you exported from Streamclip to Toast. They will appear as individual titles (you can have as many as 99 on a DVD). Choose continuous play as a setting and the titles will play one after the other, but still are individually selectable from the menu.

This is much faster than what you're trying to do.

[Frankie]

tsantee, on Dec 9 2006, 07:39 AM, said:

The best and fastest way to export for use in iMovie is to export as DV. The problem is its file size, but as long as you have the hard drive space this will be the fastest export, the best quality and the easiest to edit.

Converting video from one compressed format (MPEG 2) to another compressed format (any of the other options available) and back again causes some loss of quality. DV is the least compressed format of the options so it will have the least quality loss.

So...if I export as DV, edit the file in iMovie, import the file back into Toast, and burn the disk image, the file size will be very large like you said. In that case, Toast is going to compress the file, right? If so, will it compromise the quality a reasonable amount?

[tsantee]

Frankie, on Dec 10 2006, 11:34 PM, said:

So...if I export as DV, edit the file in iMovie, import the file back into Toast, and burn the disk image, the file size will be very large like you said. In that case, Toast is going to compress the file, right? If so, will it compromise the quality a reasonable amount?

To clarify, you will drag the iMovie Project file to Toast's Video window. That file will be large in GBs but what matters is how long in time is the video. Presuming it is less than about 150 minutes, Toast can encode and burn that to a single-layer DVD. If it is longer than that the disc image may be too big to fit a single-layer disc without using Toast's Fit-to-DVD feature when burning the disk image using the Image File setting in the Copy window.

The quality will be very good. Toast has an excellent MPEG 2 encoder. For best quality, turn on Half-Pel in the Custom Encoder window.

[Frankie]

Thanks so much, tsantee! You've been a big help and I really do appreciate it!