Burning DVD's

[Gug]

Sometime back I asked what was my best option for the above. One of you came back and said use the DIVX format for better quality. I have seen for myself that the JPEG format seems inferior in quality. I also understand that using the DIVX format takes up alot less room than JPEG. So much more efficient that 2 hr. of video will fit on a 4.7 gb DVD.

What do I need to do this? I have a HP computer media center with Sonic software now. I already have almost a 100 GB of files burned onto the HD. Any help would be appreciated.

[STill Fiddlin]

MPEG-2 is probably more common than DIVX, but either should give you 2 hours on a single layer DVD.

www.divx.com will sell you burning s/w

Pinnacle Studio (www.pinnaclesys.com) is what I use - and, yes, I know it's buggy and it p*s*es me off more than it satisfies me, but it also works.

Don't know what Sonic s/w you have. Some only copies/burns data. If your source is AVI, you need something to render it to the compressed DIVX or MPEG files and also create the DVD menu structure, if you're going that far.

[Gug]

Keith,

Thanks for the feedback. The Sonic SW is OK but I can't put 2 hr. of Hi-8 onto a single DVD in JPEG format. I was looking at DIVX being I hear it will comfortably put 2 hr. onto a single DVD with room to spare and higher quality as well.

[STill Fiddlin]

I'm still confused that you keep saying JPEG, when that's (usually) a still format lossy compression (and the amount of compression can be varied to change filesize). MPEG-2 is what DVDs are encoded in. If you want to make a DivX-encoded DVD to send to the grandparents, you need to make sure they've got a DivX compatible player, or a DivX codec on their PC. Otherwise it will be a nice coaster.

Quality judgements about MPEG-2 and DivX are subjective. I mean, we're all watching DVDs and nobody's complaining that much about MPEG-2.

If you render your Hi-8 video to an NTSC, MPEG-2 file on the PC, how big is it?

[mshihrer]

you can use Nero to burn DVD's also. Works great if you already have video files ready to go. Also, check out Ulead media for some decent authoring software.

[mshihrer]

And if you want to make "backups" of DVD's that you own, you can use a great freware program called DVD Shrink. It will allow you to re-author a DVD, so you can strip out all the menus, subtitles, bonus stuff, foreign soundtracks, and get an entire movie to fit on a single layer DVD, with little to no loss in quality. You back up your movie to your harddrive, then use Nero to burn it.

[Gug]

Sorry for the confusion folks. I believe it is MPEG rather than JPEG. I also found out Keith first hand that DIVX is not compatable with my Panasonic. Now where to go????

Any ideas folks on what format will compress this, play on a DVD player and not lose the quality? Or does it even exist.

[mshihrer]

Sorry for the confusion folks. I believe it is MPEG rather than JPEG. I also found out Keith first hand that DIVX is not compatable with my Panasonic. Now where to go????

Any ideas folks on what format will compress this, play on a DVD player and not lose the quality? Or does it even exist.

single layer DVDs can hold around 4gb of video. If your file(s) are less than 4gb, just copy them straight to a DVD with something like NERO. If you are using some sort of video editing software, and the final video file in MPEG-2 format is greater than 4gb, then you can either save it with a different compression setting, but quality will go down. OR, if your DVD burner supports it, you can buy some Double Layer DVDs and burn up to 8 gb on those. If your file is bigger than that, it must be an epic. 4gb of mpeg-2 video with stereo 5.1 soundtrack is over 2 hours. MPEG-2 will play on any DVD player. Is your video from a camcorder or what?

[STill Fiddlin]

There's no way to put 2 hours of video on a DVD without employing some kind of "lossy" compression. Encoders are not all created equal, is all I can say, so maybe Ulead would work better than Sonic, but it's not likely to be hugely different. Again, I'd just keep it simple, and create a clip that's 1 hour long - no menus, chapters, etc., and then just render it down to a NTSC MPEG-2 file on your PC. See how big that is. I'm going to take a 1 hour AVI (just captured 8mm) clip and use Pinnacle Studio 10 and tell you what it creates.

Input is 1:00:00 AVI, 720x480, 29.97fps. Studio 10 estimates the output size at 2.67GB, so, yes, 2 full hours would require going to dual-layer. My notebook can burn those, but not my desktop. Nobody's going to watch 2 hours of my home movies, anyway, so I've not had to worry about the issue.

Probably be tomorrow before my 5 year-old PC completes this task, though.

[Gug]

Thanks Folks! It appears that dual layer is the way for me to go. Most of my 2 hr. Hi-8 tapes are 5-6 GB each. Too much for a standard DVD, of course unless I edit it. That might be an option.

[mshihrer]

There's no way to put 2 hours of video on a DVD without employing some kind of "lossy" compression. Encoders are not all created equal, is all I can say, so maybe Ulead would work better than Sonic, but it's not likely to be hugely different. Again, I'd just keep it simple, and create a clip that's 1 hour long - no menus, chapters, etc., and then just render it down to a NTSC MPEG-2 file on your PC. See how big that is. I'm going to take a 1 hour AVI (just captured 8mm) clip and use Pinnacle Studio 10 and tell you what it creates.

Input is 1:00:00 AVI, 720x480, 29.97fps. Studio 10 estimates the output size at 2.67GB

Probably be tomorrow before my 5 year-old PC completes this task, though.

mpeg-2 is a compressed format. you can select options like VBR (variable Bit Rate) that will give you excellant quality and make smaller files. You can get 2very high quality hours on a single layer DVD, I do it all the time.

[STill Fiddlin]

Thanks Folks! It appears that dual layer is the way for me to go. Most of my 2 hr. Hi-8 tapes are 5-6 GB each. Too much for a standard DVD, of course unless I edit it. That might be an option.If your tapes are 5-6GB, they are already in a compress format. When you transcode from one lossy format to another, results can be less than satisfying.

[STill Fiddlin]

mpeg-2 is a compressed format. you can select options like VBR (variable Bit Rate) that will give you excellant quality and make smaller files. You can get 2very high quality hours on a single layer DVD, I do it all the time.What software do you use? I don't think I have VBR option for MPEG-2 with Pinnacle. I work with a guy that uses Vegas, but too expensive for me!

[mshihrer]

I use Adobe Premier and Ulead Media Studio Pro 7. When I save my videos as MPEG-2, I have an option under compression to set the data rate. I can choose between constant or variable bit rates, and set the rates up to 9000 kbs (I think this is the max for a DVD video stream). VBR will create smaller files.

[STill Fiddlin]

I use Adobe Premier and Ulead Media Studio Pro 7. When I save my videos as MPEG-2, I have an option under compression to set the data rate. I can choose between constant or variable bit rates, and set the rates up to 9000 kbs (I think this is the max for a DVD video stream). VBR will create smaller files.Hmm. This morning I checked the settings, and Studio 10 does let me select VBR, but it's really the bitrate that seems to affect the filesize. I have to set that below 3.5K (more or less) to get 2 hours on 4.5GB. Changing CBR/VBR doesn't affect the *predicted* filesize, but I don't have the time to actually test this today. I guess the question is, what bitrate is required to get decent quality, or how dependent is that on the source material? For DVD-compatible output (NTSC) I can't affect the frame rate, which would be the other factor, I suspect, in filesize.

[mshihrer]

ok, found this site, maybe it'll help. You'll probably have to create a mpeg at the 3.5 kbs setting and see how it looks. Also, another way to cut down file size is your audio settings. Check out this site:
http://www.videohelp.com/calc
you can reduce sound to a lower stream setting and pick up some increase in video stream. Most mp3s for music are 128kbs or above, so I personally don't go below 128kbs.
also, read the description for DVD media, in general.
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&N=200698&Ne=200000&product_code=302879&Pn=4x_DVD_RW_Media

[ligito]

I also copy Jpeg's to DVD, the DVD will hold a lot of still pictures and makes a good backup media.

What DVD media will hold more than 120 minutes, for recording from TV?

[mshihrer]

more good info.

http://www.signvideo.com/d-athr_pt2.htm

looks like 4-6 kbs is the goal. Use VBR settings and at least 2 passes for best quality. Use compressed audio, not PCM.

[DeSTy]

it depends on whether you wish to simply have the file stored on a DVD as a storage device, OR, as a DVD video disc playable in your loungeroom DVD player etc?.

There are literally hundreds of DVD authoring packages out there that will take your 2 hour video, and convert it into a nice neat DVD image that you can then burn and watch.

Personally when I take DV footage, the sequence is...

Capture -> Adobe Premier Pro
Editing -> Ulead Video Studio 10
Authoring -> WinDVD Creator Pro 2
Burning -> Nero Burning ROM