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Sorry – One More DVD Encoding Question – What should I expect?
I’m sorry to ask yet another question about DVD encoding in Premiere Pro 1.5. I am quite new at this and I am not sure even what I should expect.
I have used a Sony VX1000 mini dv camera to take a friend’s daughter’s elementary school’s graduation. I am successfully able to edit it in Premiere Pro. It looks very smooth in the monitor window. The video is just under two hours.
Unfortunately I don’t think I have been successful in the DVD encoding and burning from within Premiere?
In general, how much of a drop in quality should I expect on this two hour DVD versus the original footage I took? I am not a purist by any means, but there is quite a large drop in quality between the master mini dv tapes I shot and the DVDs I ultimately burned. I used to export the timeline to a Sony larger case 120 minute mini dv tape to burn VHS copies from. That deck is now broken and I was hoping that I could create a master DVD to burn VHS copies from.
I have tried quite a few of the different encoding presets in Premiere, but there are a lot of artifacts and anywhere there is motion, things are even worse. In order to get the two hours two fit on a 4.7 DVD-R I really have to reduce the settings.
What are some general settings you think I should start with? In order to fit the video on the DVD, I find myself always having to select “maximum bitrate”. I’m not sure whether to select “force variable bitrate” or not?
Any feedback on whether I am expecting too much or what I might want to try would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Jim -
3 Replies
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There should not be much of a difference in quality from DV to DVD. Encode by the MPEG2 DVD preset at the highest possible bit rate (7 MB/S I think). Then author your DVD to an image file, then use a free program like DVDShrink to reduce the file size via compression to 4.7 GB, then burn your DVD to disc.
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Well, I think using DVD shrink might not be such a good isea, since you are recompressing a second time, where it really isn’t needed.
Mpg2 compression in itself is actually better than DV, so your loss usually really occurs in noisy areas, unless you pick a really low encoding setting.
Now, your solution will depend on whether you are just doing a DVD dump (Without any menus, chapters, etc) or actually authoring in a separate DVD app.
If you are doing a DVD dump, use the Premiere export to DVD option (Not the media encoder)
That will create the highest possible quality within the allowed DVD space.
If you are encoding for DVD authoring, then it is best to export as uncompressed (If you have the space, about 100 gigs and change per hour of standard def video)
You then let you DVD encoder (Encore does a good job at it) choose the appropriate encoding setting.
Your last alternative is a little bet of math 😉
You mentionned a VHS import that I didn’t quite understand.
Cheers,
Vince
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For best results for a 2 hour movie you will need to create a custom preset. 2 pass variable bitrate;
Minimum 2 mbps
Target 4.4 mbps
Max 7 mbpsAlso move the quality slider to about 3.
This will take about 6 hours to encode.
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