What format should I use?

[D. Eric franks]

Just a rough guess: 720p (1280×720), MP4 (I use MainConcept AVC), maybe 4-6 Mbps. That’ll look very good and fill the screen nicely.

More details on the destination laptops would help and, even better, being able to test one, because you never know. You could go higher to 1080p at 10Mbps, but it’s unlikely the laptops have 1920×1080 screens unless they are really nice and that data rate is pushing it for a DVD player. And if the laptops are really old tradeshow veterans, you could even go lower with DVD-video standard SD video in MPEG-2, which will have a higher data rate, but will be more friendly to slower processors.

Another idea to consider: since the content is only 3-4 minutes, you can definitely squeeze three versions on the disc, say an SD version at 2 Mbps, the 720p at 5 Mbps and the 1080p at 10 Mpbs.

[Jerry Katz]

Hi Eric,

If I use (1280×720), MP4 (I use MainConcept AVC), 4-6 Mbps. How would I get that onto a DVD being I’m using Sony DVD Architect Pro 4.5.

Once this format is on a DVD would it work with windows media player and most other pc players?

Thanks, Jerry K

[D. Eric franks]

Ah, I see: you want DVD-Video (I thought a DVD data disc might suffice on a laptop).

Well, then, this is much easier, because the DVD-Video format is much more standardized and limited. You’ll be forced to render 720×480 widescreen MPEG-2. Some options might be 2-pass VBR, ~6 Mbps is a pretty healthy data rate. Since this is all standardized, I’d just select an appropriate template from the list.

Now, that said, MPEG-2 is a licensed encoding format (read: it costs money), so while DVD-Video discs are widely playable on most systems, it is not necessarily playable on ALL systems and, without the proper license (and codec), DVD-Video discs will not play in the Windows Media Player by default for free. There are commercial/shareware players that will play DVDs and many (many) computers come pre-installed with DVD playback software by default.

Considering it isn’t 100% universal, that may be a reason to go with another format, such as I recommend in my first post. Or, again, why not do it all? Create a DVD-Video disc with a separate folder that contains your other renders. You’ve got plenty of room on a 4.5 GB disc, so I can’t see a downside to doing it this way.

[Danny Hays]

If their going to be played on laptops only, they dont have to be DVDs. They also limit the resolution to 720 – 480. Try rendering to WMV, 6 Mbps HD 720-30p video. Windows media player playing this full screen will look way better. Hope this helps, Danny Hays

[Jerry Katz]

Hi Eric & Danny

Thanks for your help. I think a data DVD might work best. Once I have the job completed I will give it a try.

One more question. I’m going to having the master tapes of this job converted to a file and put onto
my external H/D for editing. I’m still up in the air what format to convert to. I believe 1280 x 720 is good
with about 15 to 24 mbps. using a .mov or mpg-2 file. Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks Jerry K

[Dave Messinger]

D Erik – re: Create a DVD-Video disc with a separate folder that contains your other renders.

What have you found to be the easiest way to do this ?

Dave Messinger
https://VideoByDave.com

[Odd Magne nilsen]

Why not use your original media source?

1920×1080, Sony AVC 17Mbps burned on a DVD. VLC will play it from your PC.

odd magne nilsen

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