Is this the right method for making a DVD?

[Catsnkites]

Hello! I'm on my way to making a DVD of highlights of the year for my family. I've played around wit hEMC 8 and now 9 and I think I have many of my questions answered, but I want to make sure I'm on the right track.

 

First I'll capture my video tape as AVI files ... I saw a suggestion of capturing in 10 -15 minute segments to reduce audio out of sync.

 

Then I'll use VideoWave to edit my clips and add transitions. When I used my old software, I always did this is 10-15 minute segments and then rendered the segments, this also reduce the a/v sync problems ...should I do that with EMC 9?

 

To render the editted video, I'll send it to MyDVD. I know I should send it to an iso file instead of direct to the DVD.

 

If I do it in sections ... where do the menus come in? Can I do three or four sections with no menus and then a beginning section that has a menu that points to the other, already created iso files?

 

After I have my iso file(s?) created, I should use Creator Classic to burn the iso file(s?) to the DVD.

 

Once I have an iso file created, can I check that out for a/v issues? Using what program?

 

 

Thank you for all your help as I muddle my way though!

 

Susie

[drwho]

drwho....

For 'best' quality, keep any production under 1 hour for a single layer, 4.7 DVD. For dual layer, keep under 1 hr 58min.

 

Ok, I am doing that....I use the HQ setting but decrease the bit rate to 8 mb/s so it plays correctly on my home DVD player (the 9 mbps seems to make the video playback jumpy).

 

My issue now is: should I be fine in roxio to import an AVI (from roxio media import) that is 30 min long and be able to edit it in videowave, import the videowave files into MyDVD, and have MyDVD do all the final encoding to MPEG2?

 

The ATI AVI capture was possibly the problem with videowave not opening the file?

 

AND, Is it normal to get increased artifacts when a captured MPEG2 file is editted in videowave and re-encoded for DVD authoring in MyDVD?

 

Thanks

[Catsnkites]

For 'best' quality, keep any production under 1 hour for a single layer, 4.7 DVD. For dual layer, keep under 1 hr 58min.

 

OK, so I DON'T need to make my productions in sections? I can just make a 58 minute production and the a/v sync should be OK? I know I can mark chapters later if I want.

 

Thanks...

[ggrussell]

1: did you choose MPEG 2 for DVD 'best'? Anything other than that and the video must be compressed more. You can only get ONE hour of 'best' quality on a single layer, 4.7 gig blank DVD.

 

2:For ISO, you can use Disc Copier. Just select the ISO as teh source. In the right hand side at the top is a preview button (looks like a litte monitor).

[ggrussell]

All AVI files will have to be rendered because they are not DVD compliant. If you capture and edit MPEG 2 at 'best' quality, those will not render in MyDVD because they are already DVD compliant.

 

To address the quality issue, what type of AVI? DV AVI is normally captured from a digital camcorder and should give you excellent quality. If the AVIs were downloaded from the net, they are probably DivX or Xvid files and could explain poorer output.

[Catsnkites]

1: did you choose MPEG 2 for DVD 'best'? Anything other than that and the video must be compressed more. You can only get ONE hour of 'best' quality on a single layer, 4.7 gig blank DVD.

 

2:For ISO, you can use Disc Copier. Just select the ISO as teh source. In the right hand side at the top is a preview button (looks like a litte monitor).

 

 

I did choose MPEG-2 for DVD- best ... but in Windows Media player, it looks really bad ...

 

In Disc copier ... I should use the video compilation button, right? That's the only one where I get any kind of preview option. It isn't a little monitor ... it's a little film strip that says "preview/trim movie" when I hover the mouse.

 

My iso seems OK, but if I do several smaller 10-15 minute sections, do I come to Disc Copier to get them on one disc (I'd make sure it was less than an hour total) ... I thought I'd use MyDVD to get menus and such....

 

Thank you for helping me!

 

Susie

[ggrussell]

No , you don't use Video Compliation to burn. Use the CD/DVD Copy Tab.

 

On the Source side, select the ISO.

On the destination side, select the BURNER.

Click COPY NOW

 

This burns the ISO directly to disc as is. Sounds like Video Compliation was re-render to a different, lower quality format.

[Catsnkites]

No , you don't use Video Compliation to burn. Use the CD/DVD Copy Tab.

 

OK, then where are you seeing the "preview" button? OH...WAIT .... The preview button is in the media selector part of the Disc Copier ...right???? OK, when I do that, the iso looks fine.

 

SO, back to my original stuff (can you just fly to Kansas and walk me through all this???)

 

Anyway ... I will capture using avi files, I will edit in VideoWave and I will output small sections, 10-15 minutes each to an MPEG-2 file. I will then go to MyDVD and make menus, assigning each file to a button and one button will be "play all".

 

My only hang up right now is that my MPEG-2 files look awful in Windows Media ... I don't want them to look awful on my DVD!

 

I saw somewhere that Videowave shouldn't need to render MPEG-2 files, just titles and transistions ... but mine do render ... I start with avi, so that may be the reason.

[ggrussell]

The reason we like separate threads...

 

Cat - Personally, I have not had out of sync issues (ever) when capturing to DV AVI regardless of video length. I do somehow end up with smaller clips for one reason or another like clips from different tapes, etc. The longest single file I've processed was 2hr (abt 26gig DV AVI).

 

drwho - edit DV AVI in Videowave and then Add the Videowave project to MyDVD. Thta is what I normally do. MyDVD will do the final render.

 

I won't comment on ATI captured files as I have no experience with those cards. However, others have posted in the past with similar problem(s).

 

Editing MPEGS - IDEALLY, only the places that get edited will re-render. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. What triggers Videowave/MyDVD to re-render the entrie MPEG file, I'm not sure. I stay away from editing MPEGs because there can be many problems.

[johnata]

Editing MPEGS - IDEALLY, only the places that get edited will re-render. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. What triggers Videowave/MyDVD to re-render the entrie MPEG file, I'm not sure. I stay away from editing MPEGs because there can be many problems.

 

I was told somewhere that if an MPEG 2 file is converted into a 352 x 480 pixels (Half-D1) resolution, that MyDVD would not rerender the file. Using TiVo files, under MyDVD8 this seemed to work although I used a third party tool to convert the Tivo file to the desired format. Is there a way to do this within Roxio?

[ggrussell]

Actually it has more to do with bitrate than resolution. MyDVD 9 only supports bitrates down to 3MB. If you preprocess with another application and the bitrate is lower than 3MB, MyDVD will re-render to 3MB or higher.

[Catsnkites]

To address the quality issue, what type of AVI? DV AVI is normally captured from a digital camcorder and should give you excellent quality. If the AVIs were downloaded from the net, they are probably DivX or Xvid files and could explain poorer output.

 

Hummmm...I captured from my Sony DV camcorder as AVI DV format... the avi files look just fine in everything I play them with., including any previews within EMC 9. When I sent my VideoWave production to MyDVD and output it as an iso file ... it also looked OK.

 

My concern is when I sent the VideoWave production out as an MPEG-2 file ... I thought this would be a good way to "section" it. The resulting MPEG-2 is cruddy looking.

 

I guess I should know if I really need to make my video in "sections". I used to use Studio7 and doing it in shorter sections resolved a/v sync issues.

 

I'm looking at taking maybe 5 tapes and doing a DVD that's just under an hour long. Should I just do the whole hour all at once?

[johnata]

Details:

 

jcbodin May 30 2006, 01:00 PM

QUOTE(jethrodesign @ Mar 2 2006, 11:08 AM)

- Anyone know of any way to convert the file more efficiently than Roxio's default decoder/encoder process? I just need to convert the file into some sort of DVD standard resolution and bitrate.

 

 

Since your TIVO files are not DVD compliant, EMC 8 (MyDVD) must re-encode the video into a proper DVD-compliant format. Unfortunately, re-encoding with EMC 8 takes a LONG time, as you have discovered. I have essentially the same problem you have, but I have found a work-around that is VERY efficient -- I use gui4ffmpeg (which is FREEWARE) to convert my non-DVD compliant files to a more friendly DVD-compliant format BEFORE I add them to my video project in MyDVD. You can find gui4ffmpeg here:

 

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=gui4ffmpeg

 

And here is a great little tutorial on how to use it (the tutorial says it's for converting DIVX/XVID to DVD, but it actually works for converting virtually ANY file -- avi, mpeg, etc. -- to an DVD-compliant mpeg file):

 

http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1345948

 

With the latest version of gui4ffmpeg (version 1.3) you will find an "Options" menu selection between the "Batch" and "?" selections at the top of the giu4ffmpeg screen -- if you select "Options" and then un-check the "Presetting" selection, the "width" and "height" selections will be un-grayed, allowing you to type in custom height and width settings directly. Since you're dealing with 480 x 480 TIVO files, you would want to re-encode the files with gui4ffmpeg using a 352 x 480 pixels MPEG2 (Called Half-D1) resolution -- this resolution will give you EXCELLENT quality video that will be virtually indistinguishable from the original TIVO source, and you never gain anything from trying to make a small resolution file larger ("stretching" a 480 x 480 TIVO file to a "full-size" 720 x 480 Full-D1 resoltion will gain you nothing in terms of picture quality). The encoding time using gui4ffmpeg is VERY fast -- I can do 5 or so 23-minute cartoons in around 30 - 40 minutes (I'm using a meager Athlon XP 1800+ CPU with 768 MB of RAM). Then, once the encoding is completed, I create my DVD project by adding the re-encoded 352 x 480 mpeg files to my MyDVD project.

 

The ONE thing you have to remember when using this method is that you MUST go into the File --> Project Settings menu in MyDVD and change the video resolution under the Default encoding settings section -- click on the Custom button and set the resolution to 352 x 480 and adjust the bitrate to fit the needs of the file you're re-encoding. You must do this in order to prevent MyDVD from re-encoding your files yet AGAIN (note that if you use the "Fit To Disk" selection, then MyDVD will also try to re-encode your new DVD-compliant mpeg files). If your video is using MP2 audio instead of AC3 audio, I believe you will also need to select the MPEG button under the audio section. I'm working from memory on this part because I don't have EMC 8 installed on this machine, so I can't double-check the required menu settings in MyDVD. I'll try to verify and update this post later after I have a chance to check out all the necessary settings. [EDITED TO ADD: I double-checked my settings and the info listed here is correct]

 

Anyway, using this method, once I create my project using DVD-compliant files, EMC 8 no longer tries to re-encode when creating an ISO file and the whole process takes about 25 - 35 minutes. After that, I simply burn the ISO file to disk, and I'm up-and-running in a little over an hour-and-a-half total. This method is still a bit of a pain, but it REALLY speeds up the process when trying to create a project in MyDVD using files that aren't DVD-compliant.

 

Hope this helps a bit!

[drwho]

All AVI files will have to be rendered because they are not DVD compliant. If you capture and edit MPEG 2 at 'best' quality, those will not render in MyDVD because they are already DVD compliant.

 

To address the quality issue, what type of AVI? DV AVI is normally captured from a digital camcorder and should give you excellent quality. If the AVIs were downloaded from the net, they are probably DivX or Xvid files and could explain poorer output.

 

 

 

I am dealing with a similar situation as CatsnKites. First let me say I am new to DVD authoring and video capture. Also, this is my first forum post and I apologize in advance if I am breaking any posting rules of thumb...

 

I have (through trial and error) found that it seems the quality of the end DVD is poor when you capture to Best MPEG2 for DVD in media import, edit in Videowave, and author the DVD in MyDVD by importing the *.dmsm files. I assum it is becasue the video is getting encoded to MPEG2 twice.

 

By the way my source is a VHS tape.

 

I found that either not editting the MPEG file or encodeing as an AVI works the best for end DVD video quality. The later is more reasonable as editting in my case is a must.

 

My specific issue. I encoded an AVI with my ATI (I have an ALl in woder graphics card) MMC software thinking it might be better than the EMC9 codecs (and like that it will not stop recording when my VHS tape goes to fuss for a second.) It was a 30 min tape and produced a 33g file. Should this import in videowave or MyDVD?

 

(I have a P4 2.8 Ghz, 1g ram, 200 g HD, winXP, SP2, ATI Radeon ALl in Wonder 64 mb ram.)

 

I can't get the file to play or be imported into videowave. I am wondering if this is a result of the ATI codec or the size of the file? I have used smaller ATI encoded files with success btw.

 

Is what CatsnKites says about splitting the AVI up the best route??

 

With all this said, I am looking for the best method for cpature, editing and authoring; stressing importance on maintaining the best DVD video quality. Thoughts?

[mark22]

What are the relative pros/cons of capturing video as DV-AVIs versus MPEG-2?

 

I know that DV-AVI file are much larger. I thought MPEG-2 is the same level of detail that is used in DVDs. So I thought MPEG-2 captures might not have to be re-rendered by either Videowave or MyDVD.

 

Are there any other issues to consider?

[ggrussell]

Need to back up a step.

Rendering to file is done in Videowave.

Final render with menus, etc., is done in MyDVD.

 

Personally, I have had little out of sync issues when using DV AVI files regardless of length. However, smaller files do aid in editing simply because there is less splitting and trimming. Also takes Videowave less time to create the proxy files making the program more responsive.

 

You have two choices when you are finished EDITING:

1: use the Videowave project in MyDVD (MyDVD then has to render the Videowave project)

2: render the Videowave project to an MPEG 2 file (MyDVD only has to render the menus)

 

Either should work. You can then Create a new MyDVD 9 project and add the Videowave project that will create a menu with a button.

or

Create a new MyDVD project and add the MPEG 2 file that you rendered in Videowave. That will create a menu with a button.

 

When finished designing your menus,etc., you can burn directly to disc, to ISO file or to a video folder on the hard drive. Some people experience problems burnig directly to disc. That is why we recommend burning to ISO or to video folder. Either can be tested for audio sync problems before final burn to disc.

 

Yes, Creator Classic can burn ISO files, but most of us like to use Disc Copier. Once you select the ISO or video folder, there is a preview button. A video folder can also be played back by CinePlayer or most other DVD player software.

[ggrussell]

As long as you you don't have to edit, capture to MPEG2 should be fine. Editing can be slow because the files have to be decompressed first and proxy files made for editing/preview. Some people have more problems with out of sync issues with MPEG 2 than with DV AVI. With lots of edits, transitions, over lays, etc., will force the file to be RE-rendered losing some quality.

[MattGreer]

Forgive me for hijacking this thread, ggrussell, but am I to understand you recommend that, if quality is of utmost concern, capture files as DV-AVI?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Matt

[ggrussell]

yes, DV AVI is the original format from the camcorder. Only during the final stages of rendering is the video compressed to MPEG 2 for a video disc.

[Catsnkites]

<<Personally, I have had little out of sync issues when using DV AVI files regardless of length. >>

 

So, do you capture as MPEG-2 files?

 

<<2: render the Videowave project to an MPEG 2 file (MyDVD only has to render the menus)>>

 

Is this the "Output as" from the file menu? I would then select Video file, All purpose, MPEG-2 and then ...what does "normalize audio" mean?

 

<< A video folder can also be played back by CinePlayer or most other DVD player software. >>

 

I opened CinePlayer ... and I can't get CinePlayer to find my iso file.

 

Thanks!

 

Susie

[ggrussell]

My concern is when I sent the VideoWave production out as an MPEG-2 file ... I thought this would be a good way to "section" it. The resulting MPEG-2 is cruddy looking.

When you 'output to file' in Videowave, did you select 'MPEG 2 for DVD (best)'? If not, then use that option. If you did, then that is the best it gets. Because of the compression, the MPEG 2 version will have less quality when compared to the original DV AVI. There just isn't a way around that in ANY software.

 

drwho....

With all this said, I am looking for the best method for cpature, editing and authoring; stressing importance on maintaining the best DVD video quality. Thoughts?

For 'best' quality, keep any production under 1 hour for a single layer, 4.7 DVD. For dual layer, keep under 1 hr 58min.

[ggrussell]

Personally, I have had little out of sync issues when using DV AVI files regardless of length.

I capture from digital camcorder to DV AVI. I try not to ever edit MPEG 2.

 

Is this the "Output as" from the file menu?

Yes, you can also click the little icon to the left of the DVD, above the preview that looks like a film reel. Normalize audio is suppose make the volume level. I never use it.

 

CinePlayer does not play ISO, but it will play a video folder. Two different things.

[Catsnkites]

<<<<Yes, you can also click the little icon to the left of the DVD, above the preview that looks like a film reel. Normalize audio is suppose make the volume level. I never use it. >>>>

 

Ok, I tried that and the mpg file looks really bad in Windows media player! What did I do???

 

 

<<<<CinePlayer does not play ISO, but it will play a video folder. Two different things.>>>

 

So, then HOW do I look at an iso file to see if it's OK a/v-wise? I don't get the "play and video folder" thing.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Susie