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Large uncompressed VHS file to DVD. Advice needed.
For this project I need to transfer 90 minutes of uncompressed VHS footage onto DVD. I’ve captured the footage into Premier Pro CS6 using the ‘component out’ of a pro VHS deck (with built in TBC), into a AJA D5D Analog to SDI converter, and from there into an AJA IO Express. As you can imagine, the file size is rather large. I’m going to be using Adobe Encore CS6 to build the DVD. What would be the ideal settings for retaining as much of the original quality (or lack there of) of the uncompressed file. Should I transcode it in Adobe Media Encoder first or should I send it directly into Encore using dynamic link, and build the dvd from there? I will not be adding any menu’s or titles as this will be an “auto-play” dvd only. Thanks
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3 Replies
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Hi Johnny,
Sorry I missed this post earlier.
Not a fan of Dynamic Link – just go to File > Export > Media and choose “MPEG-2 DVD” as the Format, and then choose an appropriate preset for your needs, such as “NTSC High Quality”. The only adjustment you would then need to make in settings is the Bitrate, to accommodate the program length.
For a 90 minute video, a setting of “6” will work fine. This will export two files, audio and video. In Encore, choose “File > Import > As Timeline” and select both files together. If you had placed any DVD chapter points in Premiere sequence, these will copy over to Encore timeline at the same time automatically.
Thanks
Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers -
Thanks for the info, Jeff. Alternately, if I have a vhs capture that is only 30 minutes long (DV AVI roughly 6gb), is it a good idea to bump the bitrate way up when transcoding to mpeg2 to get the best dvd quality, or will this just stall the player? Using the 560/30 method produces a very high bitrate. Thanks
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Hi Johnny,
Good question – depending where you read it, DVDs have a combined audio/video bitrate of around 10, but personally I keep my max video bitrate to 7 to ensure compatibility with all players, as older players can choke on higher rates on burned discs. If you want to push it, 8 will work for the video encode, but there is a point of diminishing returns – will your eyes see a noticeable difference between 7 and 8? Highly unlikely.
On shorter videos, I just use CBR encoding as I don’t see an advantage to VBR – there is no need for “bit budgeting” when there is not enough material to fill the disc even at max quality setting.
Thanks
Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers
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