Render DVDs in Half D1 352x480

[fastoy]

I'm converting my old VHS tapes to DVD. I am capturing from a PCTV card using Virtual VCR to create an AVI file using HuffYUV at 352x480. I'm using Pinnacle Studio 8 to edit the AVIs and create a DVD.

The question I have is that I can't figure out how to render the DVD in Half D1 352x480 resolution (an NTSC option) with Studio 8. This would give me a great deal more capacity on the DVD without a sacrifice in resolution.

I have tried uLead MovieFactory 2 (trial version) which would allow rendering in 352x480 but it 1) wouldn't take HuffYUV as input and 2) forced re-encoding if you trimmed the captures at all.

While I'm learning the ins and outs of this process, my goal is not to be an expert at these arcane tools but to be a capable user. Is there a small, simple set of tools that can help me accomplish this?

[Tommyknocker]

Use TMPGEnc and the Kwag Half D1 DVD template. www.kvcd.net.

[fastoy]

Thanks.

The way I understand it, TMPGEnc will take the AVIs and create MPEG2s. Then what would I use to author the DVD? TMPEGEnc DVD Author?

So it would take 3 independent programs to do this? Something to capture, something to encode, and something to author? Whew!

Seems like there's some money to be made by a vendor creating a "good enough" program. Pinnacle Studio 8 is plenty "good enough" except for its limitation of only creating 720x480 DVDs.

[spiderman2k1]

check out http://www.lordsmurf.com/ he record in 352*480

[Nelson37]

Changing the resolution does nothing to affect filesize, only the bitrate affects this. If Studio 8 is resizing the file, this will lower quality. It may not be resizing at all, however. Have you tested for this?

Programs that are "good enough" ALWAYS have some sort of limitation which is serious to somebody.

[fastoy]

Changing the resolution does nothing to affect filesize, only the bitrate affects this. If Studio 8 is resizing the file, this will lower quality. It may not be resizing at all, however. Have you tested for this?

Programs that are "good enough" ALWAYS have some sort of limitation which is serious to somebody.

I'm not sure that I understand "resizing the file." I am capturing at 352x480 and then Studio 8 always encodes to 720x480 (that's what Pinnacle said). Is this the "resizing" you are referring to?

Studio 8 is encoding it at 3973 Kbits/sec.

I just tested capturing with Virtual VCR at 352x480 and 720x480 using HuffYUV for one minute. The 352x480 file was 381,593 KB and the 720x480 file was 623,820 KB. Is your comment about "Changing the resolution does nothing to affect filesize" referring to the output of the MPEG encoding process?

[Tommyknocker]

Check and see if the bit rates are the same for both files. If they are, resolution does affect file size.

[fastoy]

Check and see if the bit rates are the same for both files. If they are, resolution does affect file size.

How do I check bit rates on the AVI files that I captured? Absolutely the only thing that I changed between the 2 captures was the resolution.

[RabidDog]

I would recommend tmpgenc for encoding as its cheap and easier to learn, whilst still being flexible. If your encoding in 1/2d1 (352x480) you should be able to get away with average bitrates around 1600-2000. This should enable you to fit double or more on your dvd's. Look at the filesizes to check the bitrates, if one is around twice the size for the same length of capture, then the bitrate is being lowered along with the resolution.

[energy80s]

I wouldn't advise going that low with the bitrate. Better to average between 2 & 4 Mbps as this is more like half DVD bitrates. Also MPEG2 looks bad below 2Mbps - that's where MPEG1 works best. If you want to use TMPG, just load up the SVCD template and the UNLOCK template and change the output resolution to 352x480 (instead of 480x480) and the bitrate to whatever you want. Close the GOP's and make sure its set at 18 for NTSC DVD compatibility. Change the audio sampling to 48kHz and save your template as, say Half D1. Then it will be available whenever you want to encode 1/2 D1 footage.

[Nelson37]

Bitrate is not relevant to raw AVI files.

It is the ONLY determiner of file size on MPEG-2 files. Understand that your encoder may well INCREASE the bitrate, or stay to the higher side of the average, on a file with higher resolution, but this resulting file is then larger in size because of the higher bitrate used, NOT the higher resolution.

BIT RATE means bits per second. Filesize is measured in bits. You do the math.

When Pinnacle encodes your 352x480 as a 720x480 file, it MIGHT be resizing the file, it MIGHT simply be changing the flag designating the file resolution, or it MIGHT be doing nothing at all to the actual resolution or the flag designator.

[fastoy]

Thanks!

Bitrate is not relevant to raw AVI files.

That's what I thought. Some of the other replies seemed to be talking about MPEGs, not the AVIs. My testing showed that for AVIs, the resolution affected the file size.

When Pinnacle encodes your 352x480 as a 720x480 file, it MIGHT be resizing the file, it MIGHT simply be changing the flag designating the file resolution, or it MIGHT be doing nothing at all to the actual resolution or the flag designator.

Is there a way that I can look at the Pinnacle output MPEGs to see what it has actually done? Of the above possibilities, which of them will lower the quality as you noted in your post of Nov 19?

[spiderman2k1]

Changing the resolution does nothing to affect filesize, only the bitrate affects this. If Studio 8 is resizing the file, this will lower quality. It may not be resizing at all, however. Have you tested for this?

"Nelson37" you are right it will not change file size. But low res is better for low bitrate's. so if you bitrate is 26000 CBR then use 352*480 if you want to get about three hour's or more on a DVD. High res is good with high bitrate's.

[jlietz]

Is there a way that I can look at the Pinnacle output MPEGs to see what it has actually done? Of the above possibilities, which of them will lower the quality as you noted in your post of Nov 19?

Haven't tried it myself, but maybe MPEGProperties http://www.medialab.se/mpgp_100.zip would do the trick.