EXPORTING professional quality video to DVD

[Jarheck]

I need a little bit more information on your project before I can help. First, what is the length of your project, as this affects the bit rate you will encode at. Secondly, what are you using to encode your MP2 (Cleaner, Adobe Media Encoder, your DVD authoring software?). Finally, what program are you using to create your DVD?

[Perry Cheng]

bravov,
if you are using 6.5, most likely you are using the MainConcept Encoder to generate your .m2v file and .wav file. Have you updated to the latest MC codec for Prem 6.5? I think it is like 1.4? Although depends on the viewer’s perception of what is good quality, color, clarity, smooth… various codec produce various results. MC, at least in 6.5, does not produce a good result even in the highest bitrate, in my opinion. I was using TMPGENc for that. There are other programs, such as Pro-Coder… can produce much better results in a much faster rate, some argues. (I hope you are not encoding the exported .m2v again via the burning program, such a Nero. This will definitely degrad the quality.) Last is the viewing media, when you say the quality is bad, are you seeing that on TV or on your computer screen? They are 2 different animals.

Perry

[Bravov]

Wow, I’m enthusiastic about the support you guys are lending!

I am using Adobe 6.5, capturing using Adobe from my JVC handycam on a firewire connection. I edited using the Adobe 6.5, then exported as a Quicktime movie which I saved in my documents. Then, I fired up MyDvd (burning program), added that movie to that project, and created a DVD that way. The movie looks fantastic on the computer, but not on TV.

I did make on change. In Adobe 6.5, you can check the Settings Viewer. I did this, and saw that the screen size for export was not the same as the ones where I captured and imported. So I changed that, it was like 780 X 420, I believe. The new image came out better, less underwater and pixelated, but still not as good as I want it, not as good as the computer.

I know the DVD authoring software does something called transcoding when it makes the DVD…

Also, I don’t know what version of codec to use, basically I do not know anything about codecs or what they do. I know the first couple I exported using the Planar RGB one, and I can’t remember what I used most recently.

Are those codecs you spoke of free to download somewhere?

Thank you all for the assist on this!!!

-bravov

[Jarheck]

I don’t know if that was a typo but the correct export settings should be 720×480 29.92fps (standard DV NTSC). Codecs are what is used to encode and decode (COde-DECode) audio and video files, there are literally hundreds of different ones of varying quality and file sizes. I am not too familar with Premier 6.5 so I don’t know if you can export an Mpeg 2 file (type of file required to create a DVD). So I would recommend exporting a quicktime file and setting it to the DV/DVCAM codec (should be under compression settings/type in the quicktime options). As far as MyDVD goes, when it is transcoding it is actually taking that movie you exported from Premiere and converting it into an Mpeg 2 file to create the DVD. Some where in the program you should have the option to adjust the transcode settings (aka Bit Rate, Quality, Single/Dual Pass). Now to maintain the highest quality these settings must be adjusted to the length of your program, the lower the bit rate the more you can fit on the disc but the quality also degrades. If you are under an hour I would recommend a bit rate in the neighborhood of 7-8mb/s (7000-8000kb/s). I also don’t recommend more than 2hrs on a 4.7GB disc.

[Bravov]

Awesome! You guys are great! I am learning alot! Thanks!

Right now I have been exporting to Quicktime, but now I think I will export as an MPEG-2 (I think I have the capability) and then add that to the dvd create project. Maybe I won’t have to wait the thirty or so minutes it usually takes to transcode a 14 minute video!

Right now I have been making the DVD with a 14 minute or so video, and a 10 minute gag reel. Holy cow. I didn’t know you could fit like 4 hours on a 4.7 gig DVD. Do they sell DVDs bigger than that? Also, does the write speed of the DVD burner make a difference.

Yes, that was a typo, with the picture size. You are right, it was 720 x 480. I don’t have the 4:3 aspect ratio box checked because this makes it come out to be, like 720 x 484 or something. Does that make a difference?

Also, which is better quality? MPEG or Quicktime.mov?

Thanks all for the help!!!

“The suspense is killing me. I hope it’ll last…”

[Jarheck]

When you export your file be sure it is 720×480 (for NTSC DV footage) with a .9 pixel ratio, Premiere should have a preset for this as it is standard for NTSC video. Exporting other sizes may cause MyDVD to re-encode your video (reducing the quality), DVD playback issues, and/or distorted picture (stretched tall or wide).

If you export as an Mpeg 2, your transcoding will be much shorter in MyDVD if at all (it may transcode your audio into a Dolby Digital form). As I said before I would export with a 7-8mb max bit rate.

For your future reference, I would never put more that 2 hrs on a 4.7GB disc, as quality begins to take a real hit. You can get larger discs aka. Dual-Layer 8.4GB, but they are expensive and many dvd players have a big issue reading them (they lock up when changing layers).

[George Socka]

Agree – export directly to MPEG DVD which will generate an m2v and a wav file. Then author in myDVD or DVDit or whatever came with your burner. Since the source was DV, exporting a file as DV avi, then opening a new project to export that as mpeg may save time especially if there are few transitions and you have previewed the whole project already. The quality of DV is 5 – 6 times better than DVD so little will be lost, and DV is the right speed and size. I can see no value and many many many headaches to creating an intermediary QT file in an XP environment.

[Bravov]

Great! Sounds good. I will have to try this out when I get home. Make another copy to Mpeg 2 and see how the experience differes. Less transcode time would be good. I ended up being 19 min late for the contest deadline due to my first burning of the DVD failing!

Do you also think that if I used a 3 chip camera instead of a 1 chip camera, that my video would turn out alot better? …

[Justin Hawley]

3ccd Cameras are almost always better quality, but the quality is not really with artifacts like you would find with bad encoding/decoding. It is more with color reproduction and overall picture quality than anything else. Chip size also makes a difference (the larger the better). So yes and no. I’ve had a chance to use everything from 1-inch beta sp cameras to Canon XLs to my current Sony DCR-VX2100, and I would never go to back to a single ccd in any form. BTW, for a great overall camera I HIGHLY recommend the Sony!