• Adobe Premiere Pro

  2 hour SD DVD Media Encoder settings

  Posted by Brian Dawley on August 6, 2013 at 12:51 am

  Hello,

  I would have posted the following in the Media Encoder forum but it looks pretty bare over there. Can anyone recommend an MPEG-2 cocktail optimized for 2 hour SD DVDs? I’m coming straight out of a PPro CC sequence. Thanks in advance!

  Brian

  Brian Dawley replied 13 years ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Jeff Pulera

  August 6, 2013 at 3:07 pm

  Hi Brian,

  You will need to figure out the proper data rate to encode at when making longer DVDs like this, so as to fill the disc as much as possible, but not exceed the disc capacity.

  If you search the web for “dvd bitrate calculator” there are many that you can use online – nothing to install. Or just use 560/minutes=bitrate. I usually round down the result slightly to allow for menu overhead (if using motion menus, then you need even more space for those).

  For instance, 560/120=4.666 and I just encode at 4.5 then. If you want to use 2-Pass VBR for increased quality, then 4.5 is the target bitrate and you also need low and high settings, maybe 2.5 and 7 for instance.

  In AME, choose format as “MPEG-2 DVD” and then a preset that best suits your needs, such as “NTSC Widescreen High Quality”. Then just make the data rate adjustments.

  If downscaling from HD, then check the box at the bottom for “Maximum Render Quality” and that improves the scaling. Not needed for SD to DVD.

  Media Encoder will output two files, .m2v video and .wav audio. In Encore, use “Import > As Timeline” and grab both at once. If you have set DVD chapter markers in Premiere, these will import as well. Author and burn. By default, Encore will transcode the .wav to Dolby .ac3, so don’t be alarmed if at first the combined audio and video seem too big for the disc, the audio file size will be greatly reduced during the process.

  I believe it was beginning with CS6 that in AME, you can go under the AUDIO tab and change the export format to Dolby stereo, and then that file is ready for Encore. Either way is fine. Older Premiere versions offer Dolby as a trial of the SurCode plugin, do NOT use that, it’s mainly for surround sound. As I said, Encore will do it for you so not a big deal in any case.

  EDIT: I’ve not used CC yet, so not sure if the Encore chapter marks are even available in Premiere CC. If not, disregard that part and make them in Encore.

  Thanks

  Jeff Pulera
  Safe Harbor Computers
• 

  Brian Dawley

  August 7, 2013 at 5:11 am

  Thanks Jeff, that was helpful.

Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up