[Jeff Pulera]

Michal,

If you know the duration of all your assets and use the correct bitrate to start with, then things ought to fit the DVD. Calculators are nice, but for DVD I just use 560/minutes = bitrate, and usually round down the result a little for safety. For example 560/120 = 4.66 so I encode at 4.5 and everyone is happy. Formula is for 4.7GB DVD media only.

You mentioned encoding to MPEG-2 for Blu-ray. While MPEG-2 can look just as good as H.264 at high bitrates, for longer programs at lower rates, then H.264 has the definite advantage and should be the codec of choice.

I do have a workflow for great HD to DVD quality, but it is not for the faint of heart. Involves installing several pieces of free software, and some extra time and labor during the conversion process, but I love the results. Just search for “HD2SD” workflow. Beyond the scope of this forum to cover the whole process unfortunately.

Basically, I’m exporting an HD .avi file from Premiere using the lossless Lagarith codec. That HD file then gets converted to SD using the “HD2SD” script in VirtualDub, and the resulting SD avi file is then encoded to MPEG-2 using HC Encoder. Then Encore for authoring. I get spectacular results with 2.5 hour dance recitals on one 4.7GB DVD.

PM me for specifics

If you can post any screen grabs of your encoding settings, that will be most helpful to analyze the situation.

For a workflow where you’d bring a clip over to AME or Encore from another NLE for final encoding, export to a lossless codec like the free Lagarith, or I think Grass Valley has a decent 4:2:2 codec with EDIUS you could use. You don’t want to use a lossy intermediate such as H.264 though.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Abhi,

So what kind of video are you importing, from what camera? There’s sequence presets for most every occasion and you should very seldom get into a situation where you need to actually create a custom profile.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Wow, delivering 5+ hours of footage – Indian wedding?? Would love to know how you edit a wedding in one hour, that deserves its own thread.

The 9.8 max bitrate of DVD is not what is limiting the “crispness” of your DVDs – rather, it is most likely the fact that you’re comparing the results to the HD master, and DVD is SD. Of course, the quality of the downscale plays a part as well. If that is handled poorly by the encoding software, then all the bitrate in the world won’t help. In fact, I should mention that it’s not a good idea to “max out” the DVD bitrate, since DVD-R discs may not play as reliably as Hollywood DVDs when burned at a high rate. Most folks limit themselves to 7 or 8 when encoding. Honestly, 7 or 8 will look very good and you’d be hard-pressed to see any difference going higher, while risking playback compatibility with some players.

If using AME for any encoding tasks, be sure to check the “Max Render Quality” box when downscaling the output. If you DO use AME at all, but are editing in other apps, how are you getting the footage to AME, in other words what intermediate codec did you use?

I’d say you were misinformed about Edius “not rendering”. That might be in reference to some sort of “Smart Render” feature, in particular for exporting AVCHD direct to Blu-ray perhaps. Much better quality? No. Faster, sure. But regardless of what NLE you use, if you are editing HD footage and want to export for DVD, the video MUST get rendered! How else would you get from AVCHD 1080p down to MPEG-2 DVD for instance? Two completely different formats/codecs, has to render.

According to a bitrate calculator I tried, 165 minutes for Blu-ray would encode at 18750, but that doesn’t allow for motion menus and other overhead. Might want to go a little less for safety margin. And for best quality, use an H.264 Blu-ray encoding preset, better than MPEG-2 at low bitrates.

https://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php

For DVD, if using DL discs, then TWO would be enough. As a customer, I would be aggravated to have to keep getting up and changing discs to see different parts of the wedding, so I’d use as few discs as possible. Whether using two DL DVDs, or four standard DVDs, an average bitrate of 6.9 should do nicely for the 5 hour 15 minute video if divided equally.

Regarding letting Encore figure the bit rate automatically, I never use that workflow – I always manually encode my assets in AME – so am not positive, but I thought that if for example you import an AVI movie into Encore, it will do the transcoding automatically for you to fit. Maybe the auto-fit was only with Dynamic Link. Dunno.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Jef,

What kind of show? I would agree with you that stereo is the most common audio for non-Hollywood DVDs. Unless you’re putting together some really high-end concert video (that was miked/recorded to make a surround mix) or similar, then there is no point in trying to make a 5.1 Surround track.

I’ve produced hundreds of DVD titles over the past 14 years and have always used stereo and have never even been asked once about surround.

Most folks don’t have surround at home, and even if their gear supports it, the average person doesn’t have it properly set up or calibrated or would appreciate it anyway, unless they are an audiophile/home theater guru.

But it will help to know the nature of the production, and who the audience will be.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Michal,

Help us to help you, we need more details of the workflow.

Length of the video?

How did you get the video from Vegas or Edius over to AME? You must have encoded it to some other format first, what was it?

What preset was used in AME, H.264 Blu-ray or MPEG-2 Blu-ray?

Encoding data rate?

What do you mean by “red screen”? If you can post screen grabs of the red screen issue, as well as the AME export settings panel, that would be most helpful.

Thank you

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Ed,

From what everyone always says on the forums, PAL DVD players will all play NTSC DVDs, as the capability is built into the players. I would just supply the NTSC DVD you already created. Changing the frame rate in Adobe will likely create substandard results.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

EDIT: This assumes you started out with NTSC

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Michal,

Even if you encoded the file to a proper H.264 Blu-ray or MPEG-2 Blu-ray format before importing to Encore, it would still need to transcode IF the file is too large to fit the media. You said the file is 50GB, which is probably too large for even a dual-layer Blu-ray since the media in reality holds less than the advertised 25GB or 50GB capacity.

What is the length of the program? While MPEG-2 can look very good at high bitrates, H.264 has the definite advantage for longer programs that must be encoded at lower bitrates, so you might consider using the H.264 instead for best quality.

I don’t change ANY settings in Encore – I encode my DVD and Blu-ray assets in Adobe Media Encoder and just Import them into Encore and they always work. As soon as one starts changing a bunch of settings (with the best of intentions), it causes issues more often than not. Use the defaults to start with for best results.

Also, is your clip multiplexed? Meaning audio and video in one file together? Encore would want separate video and audio files.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Quite simply, choose “H.264” for the output format and then scroll through the presets down to “YouTube”. Do not modify any settings, just export.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Kawin,

What is your source footage?

What is the intended destination – Blu-ray or web or what? Strange to use anamorphic for export if the source was square pixel. Let me know the workflow please so we can help you

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Steve,

Basically, Premiere takes all audio and conforms it to a high-quality format and uses that behind the scenes. Should only do this the first time you import the clips, and not when re-opening the project later.

This brings up another point, over time these files can really build up and then you want to Clean the Media Cache.

https://provideocoalition.com/ssimmons/story/Clean_those_adobe_media_cache_files

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers