Newbie here...DVDStyler to IMGBurn good freeware solution?

[mccake]

I am new to DVD authoring. All I really want to do is author basic DVDs of home videos of my daughter to send to the grandparents.

I really just want a simple, reliable solution to take the source video files from my Canon HD camcorder, and import them to a free DVD authoring tool to later burn to DVD for basic playback on a DVD player. Music in the background would be nice, but definitely not required.

I just downloaded DVDStyler and IMGBurn based on some research I did looking for a free, simple solution. I imported a couple test mpg or avi video files into DVDStyler, and tried to play a preview through Media Player Classic Cinema, but it would not play.

Is there anything in particular I need to do to preview projects before burning? Can I make DVDs that will play on most DVD players using the original mts files from my camcorder, or do they need to be converted first?

Any suggestions for this workflow or suggestions for a different freeware workflow would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[yoda313]

I can't comment on dvdstyler as I haven't used it before.

IMGBURN is the only burning program you should use. About 99.999999% of the users on this forum will recommend it.

What kind of output did you make with dvdstyler that you are trying to test? In MPCHC you should select file- open dvd and point it to the video_ts folder that you created with the program.

Personally I use avstodvd to make dvds. But the choice is up to you. (I still have tda 2.0 but since I do a lot of h264 video off the net and stuff I have to convert it anyway so thats why I use avstodvd when I do dvds mostly as it can convert directly from a wide range of inputs).

[mccake]

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for my slow reply. I have a desk job. So on many days, the last thing I want to do when I get home is sit at my computer

Anywho, I was simply using the preview feature in DVDStyler and after it generated the file, and tried to open it in Media Player Classic, it couldn't open it. I was just doing a quick test with some mpgs I think....
I'm not sold on DVDStyler, it just seemed simple and had done decent feedback on the web. It does seem like a lot of people here prefer AVStoDVD though. Do you have any concerns/ complaints about the program?

Thanks

[usually_quiet]

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for my slow reply. I have a desk job. So on many days, the last thing I want to do when I get home is sit at my computer

Anywho, I was simply using the preview feature in DVDStyler and after it generated the file, and tried to open it in Media Player Classic, it couldn't open it. I was just doing a quick test with some mpgs I think....
I'm not sold on DVDStyler, it just seemed simple and had done decent feedback on the web. It does seem like a lot of people here prefer AVStoDVD though. Do you have any concerns/ complaints about the program?

Thanks

DVDStyler allows provides more options for creating menus than AVStoDVD, but requires DVD compliant video and audio. AVStoDVD only allows basic menus to be created, but converts video and audio to be DVD compliant, if necessary, and can re-encode over-sized files to fit on the selected DVD media.

[videobruger]

DVDStyler .... requires DVD compliant video and audio.

Which is not true. DVDStyler re-encode your source video to be DVD compliant and to fit a specific target size just as AVStoDVD. It MAY use a copy-mode to use DVD compliant files without re-encoding.

I'm not sold on DVDStyler, it just seemed simple and had done decent feedback on the web. It does seem like a lot of people here prefer AVStoDVD though. Do you have any concerns/ complaints about the program?

Both are fine programs and I believe it's a matter of personal preference which to use. I prefer DVDStyler as I find it offers me more flexibillity in creating menus/navigation.

and tried to play a preview through Media Player Classic Cinema, but it would not play.

I'm not sure what you mean by preview but anyway I would recommend you to create an ISO image at first. It can be dragged directly on both MPCHC and VLC giving you a chance to try the navigation on the DVD before burning it.

[usually_quiet]

I'm not sure what you mean by preview but anyway I would recommend you to create an ISO image at first. It can be dragged directly on both MPCHC and VLC giving you a chance to try the navigation on the DVD before burning it.

It should not be necessary to create an ISO image to test playback with MPCHC. MPCHC can play a DVD from the VIDEO_TS folder. Just click File->Open DVD and open the VIDEO_TS folder. ImgBurn automatically creates an ISO image from a set of DVD folders before burning the DVD, so it isn't necessary to do it as a separate step for the sake of using ImgBurn either.

[mccake]

Thank you all for the replies. I was able to successfully play a test dvd file in MPCHC using everyone's suggestions...Very easy. I don't know what I did wrong the first time.

The video quality was very compressed when I watched it in MPCHC, though. I left the video quality setting on "auto" in DVDStyler, as I only put 6 short videos in the test template, and so figured it would leave the videos at a very high quality setting. While the files were processing, it appeared to be doing so at 8Mbit/s, but they didn't look HD in MPCHC. I used .mts files directly from my Canon HD camcorder.

Do you think my settings are wrong in DVDStyler, or in MPCHC? What settings do you recommend for video and audio for authoring?

Thanks a lot!

[manono]

...but they didn't look HD in MPCHC. I used .mts files directly from my Canon HD camcorder.

If making a DVD they'll never look even remotely like the original Hi-Def files since DVD is a standard-def medium. As to whether or not they can be made to look any better, I have no idea not ever having used DVD Styler's MPEG-2 encoder.

[videobruger]

Do you think my settings are wrong in DVDStyler, or in MPCHC? What settings do you recommend for video and audio for authoring

Shortly: No I don't think your settings are wrong.

But a couple of things to bear in mind.

First off. The specifications for a DVD is a max bitrate of 9.8 Mb/s. DVDStyler use a max bitrate of 8 MB/s as long as possible, that is, as long as the total playtime still fits the target. Once it starts exceeding that DVDStyler will descrease the bitrate in order to still fit the target.

Secondly the max resolution you can have on a DVD is 720x576 (PAL) or 720x480 (NTSC) irrespectively of what you have from your cam recorder.

So my guess is that there is nothing wrong with your settings in neither DVDStyler nor MPCHC. Instead I would look at the settings you use in your Canon HD Camrecorder.

PS And of course you should continue to use the .mts files directly from your cam as any attempt to "pre-treatment" of them only will result in loss of quality.

[mccake]

Thanks all for the info.

My wife picked up a 100ct spindle of the Sony DVD-R from Costco. They say made in Taiwan, which I heard was better than Malaysia. Are these decent discs?