5 replies to this topic

[tjhamrick]

I am creating a DVD that will incorporate several Videowave files together.  I have burned the results I have so far and when it is played back on the TV, the quality is not as good as when I view on my computer.  Are there any of the settings that I am using that can be changed to get a better quality DVD when I am finished?  Also, when I am done with the DVD, I will be making 30 copies of it...so any suggestions for the best way to burn all of these should I copy from original burned DVD or burn from an ISO file?

Here are the steps I am using.

In Videowave:  
Created slideshows.  
Settings are 4:3 with an editing fram rate of 29.97 for NTSC.
Edit Slideshows.
After editing, Output as
    Destination:  Video File
    Purpose: DVD Playback, NTSC
    Video File Quality:  Mpeg-2, best quality
                                Normalize Audio is checked.

In MyDVD:
Copy in all Mpeg-2 files created in Videowave
Burn project to DVD with the following Project settings:
Format
    Menu Aspect Ratio 4:3
    Standard - NTSC
    Constrain button apect ratio is checked

Default Encoding settings
    Fit to Disc is checked


Thanks for your help!

[Beerman]

Try outputting to a DV AVI in VW then use that in MyDVD.
You will likely do better burning to an ISO then using Disc Copier to burn as many copies as you want to dvd.  If you have more than DVD Burner, you can burn more than 1 at at time.
Uncheck the Fit to Disc and let your ISO go to whatever size is needed then Disc Copier will transcode to best quality.  I've successfully done very well with ISO sizes just about 7 GB.

Edited by pcostanza, 28 April 2006 - 05:26 AM.

[james_pash@yahoo.com]

tjhamrick, on Apr 28 2006, 05:17 AM, said:

I am creating a DVD that will incorporate several Videowave files together.  I have burned the results I have so far and when it is played back on the TV, the quality is not as good as when I view on my computer.  Are there any of the settings that I am using that can be changed to get a better quality DVD when I am finished?  Also, when I am done with the DVD, I will be making 30 copies of it...so any suggestions for the best way to burn all of these should I copy from original burned DVD or burn from an ISO file?

Here are the steps I am using.

In Videowave:  
Created slideshows.  
Settings are 4:3 with an editing fram rate of 29.97 for NTSC.
Edit Slideshows.
After editing, Output as
    Destination:  Video File
    Purpose: DVD Playback, NTSC
    Video File Quality:  Mpeg-2, best quality
                                Normalize Audio is checked.

In MyDVD:
Copy in all Mpeg-2 files created in Videowave
Burn project to DVD with the following Project settings:
Format
    Menu Aspect Ratio 4:3
    Standard - NTSC
    Constrain button apect ratio is checked

Default Encoding settings
    Fit to Disc is checked
Thanks for your help!

If its not too late try changing to software encoding. It is much slower, however I've found that the quality is almost identical to the orignal video. I'm still trying to find out why however.

[ggrussell]

tjhamrick, on Apr 28 2006, 09:17 AM, said:

when it is played back on the TV, the quality is not as good as when I view on my computer.

And it never will because of the fundemental difference in how a TV works and how a computer monitor works. Although they are similiar if using a CRT monitor, they still display the raster differently.  Add to that the difference in resolution and just about anyone can see the difference.

Also HOW you have your DVD player connected will affect the quality to a degree.  For example, my mom has a DVD/VCR combo that is connected via RF cable.  Because the DVD must be modulated and then demodulated by TV, this 'can' affect quality.  If you have the DVD Player connected via RCA cables (composite) to the TV inputs, then this step is by passed and the image will be much better.

For the absolute best quality via connections, some newer TVs have a third connection labeled RGB. Instead of a single video cable (yellow RCA), this connection uses 3 RCA cables for video for the 3 color channels - Red, Green and Blue. The connections are usually colored accordly. If the DVD player and the TV set has these connections, this is will give you the best quality.

As for the program, do not put any more than one hour on a 4.7gig DVD. That's it.  You can play around with hardware/software rendering, but it shouldn't make a difference.  The way I understand it, Videowave and MyDVD only use 'hardware' rendering (offload to the video cards graphics processor) for the 3D transitions and effects.  All other segments are still rendered the same in both cases.

Edited by ggrussell, 21 June 2006 - 07:56 AM.

[james_pash@yahoo.com]

ggrussell, on Jun 21 2006, 07:54 AM, said:

And it never will because of the fundemental difference in how a TV works and how a computer monitor works. Although they are similiar if using a CRT monitor, they still display the raster differently.  Add to that the difference in resolution and just about anyone can see the difference.

Also HOW you have your DVD player connected will affect the quality to a degree.  For example, my mom has a DVD/VCR combo that is connected via RF cable.  Because the DVD must be modulated and then demodulated by TV, this 'can' affect quality.  If you have the DVD Player connected via RCA cables (composite) to the TV inputs, then this step is by passed and the image will be much better.

For the absolute best quality via connections, some newer TVs have a third connection labeled RGB. Instead of a single video cable (yellow RCA), this connection uses 3 RCA cables for video for the 3 color channels - Red, Green and Blue. The connections are usually colored accordly. If the DVD player and the TV set has these connections, this is will give you the best quality.

As for the program, do not put any more than one hour on a 4.7gig DVD. That's it.  You can play around with hardware/software rendering, but it shouldn't make a difference.  The way I understand it, Videowave and MyDVD only use 'hardware' rendering (offload to the video cards graphics processor) for the 3D transitions and effects.  All other segments are still rendered the same in both cases.

The way I've been comparing is to make multiple R/W DVDs with various settings and compare them using a DVD player connected via a component connection to a HDTV. My HDTV is very sensitive to any sort of distortion or inperfection (which is why I bought a new camcorder in the first place).

As far as I know I am not using any 3D effects or transitions. With that said rendering with the hardware setting runs about 2X faster than software, indicating that it must be doing something. An alternative explaination would be that it uses a different and slower codec to encode with software mode. Was the 3D effects and transitions a recent addition? I've seen posts where people have complaint about version 8 rendering with poorer quality than previous versions. Could it be that the a new, hardware-dependent codec was added?

[ggrussell]

Quote

Was the 3D effects and transitions a recent addition?

V7 had 3D transitions and effects, but it was only software rendering.

Like I stated earlier, it was explained to me that only 3D transitions/effects were offloaded to the graphics card GPU because they were designed specifically to do 3D rendering on the fly for gaming.  I don't thin the codec is 'hardware' specific, but rather uses the DirectX/Directshow commands that accesses the GPU.

I have done several tests and I didn't see any difference between V7 and V8 although my 80yr old mom thought V8 was better. LOL  It may depend on other software installed.  I have several other video editors which also install MPEG encoders, but I wouldn't think that Roxio would be able to use the other codecs.