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  1. Hi all,

    Sorry if this post is in the wrong place, mods feel free to move it if so.

    I've just returned from holidays with a stack of MiniDV footage that I want to turn into DVD's for friends and relatives.

    In the past I've simply hooked the camcorder up via DV link to my Lite-on LVW-5045 standalone HDD/DVD recorder and transferred the footage to DVD on the highest quality settings, getting an hour each disc.

    Then I pop the disc into my PC and rip the VOB files with DVD Decrypter.

    After that I use Womble MPEG Video Wizard to edit the footage and export it out. The reason I like Womble is it's simple, stable and unless you're adding effects it doesn't take long at all to create a lossless new MPEG-2 ready for authoring. My files have a variable bit rate that hovers up around 9Mbps quite often and the audio is Dolby Digital AC-3 256Kbps (checked in Power DVD).

    I've been happy with the results but after looking at an old copy of Vegas 4 I've decided I want to use that instead of Womble if possible, mainly because of it's far more advanced features. I'm after better title capabilities, seperate audio tracks, audio waveform display, more video filters and maybe even some surround sound down the line.

    Firstly Vegas won't accept VOB's - no drama, I just load them into womble as normal and export out right away as MPEG-2. Vegas accepts that lossless file no worries and I'm able to edit it how I like.

    The problem is when I render out as a DVD compliant file I find the video bit rate to be much lower, more likely around 5Mbps average and the audio becomes 224Kbps.

    Is there anything I can about this?

    I basically want to use Vegas just for MPEG editing NOT re-encoding which it seems like that's what it's automatically doing.

    When I load DV AVI files captured from the same camcorder to PC into vegas they come out great (because Vegas is performing the one and only encoding step I guess) but I don't want to use that method. The reason is I don't have enough hard drive space and don't wanna wait for long encoding sessions when I render out to MPEG-2. I like using the standalone recorder to encode as it's hardware does a fine job.

    Can someone please give me some suggestions on how to solve my problem? I haven't had long at all to study Vegas but so far it's got me beat...though maybe my brain isn't working well this late at night.

    Thanks in advance!
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  2. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    sounds pretty weird to me. i could be off base but the way i and most others(afaik) handle it is to transfer dv from cam to comp as dv avi. edit avi in vegas. when happy with it choose render video stream as mpv. under options you can change bitrate and just about anything else you'd like. then render the audio to ac-3 if that's what you want, again under options you can choose the bitrate, etc. import the mpv and audio to your authoring app and away you go. the mc encoding with vegas is about as fast as any other decent one.
    --
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  3. Ahh cheers, I missed all those options - must have been too tired.

    What I did this time was to follow my above method but specified the top bitrate to be 9.8Mbps and the average to be 9Mbps when rendering out in Vegas. Basically so any re-encoding Vegas does won't cut into the quality of my source MPEG-2. Plus, it's pretty quick like you said.

    Now when I check the results in Power DVD the rate is up where I want it and from what I can tell (viewed multiple times on pc & tv) the copy is identical visually to the source MPEG-2. I also bumped up the audio to 256Kbps which is what I wanted.

    So I think I've solved my problem, I can keep editing from DVD's made in a standalone recorder (no need to buy a bigger hard disk) and now I get to use Vegas (Womble only to save the VOB's as MPEG-2 initially).

    Can someone with more knowledge than me tell me if there's any reason my method isn't correct? Or any problems that may crop up from it?

    Also when rendering out audio in Vegas what is the ideal format to have for authoring programs?

    I notice Vegas demuxed it to .mpeg (in windows explorer). Also when I'm using VOB's directly in DVD Lab PRO (ones that don't require editing) that program demuxes audio to .ac3. When I use MPEG-2 saved out of Womble (in the past when I required only simple edits) then DVD Lab PRO demuxes that audio to .mpa. So many file types! Perhaps the Vegas demuxed audio is actually .mpa too because that's what it shows up as in DVD Lab PRO.

    Will DVD Lab PRO pretty much ensure that all those file types come out as they should in the final product - that is will my DVD be compatible with the vast majority of players?

    Cheers again.
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  4. Ok, realise I was getting a off track a bit there.

    After more research I've decided even though the vegas configuuration I mentioned worked ok it's not a good idea to use MPEG-2 as a source for video editing as re-encoding is bound to happen at some stage.

    I'm in a hurry so will going to use Womble to edit the parts my friends want (ie the wedding) because it's really just a few cuts plus transitions which Womble's smart re-encoding handles fine. The results won't look noticeably different to the camera's source, just nicely edited.

    For future work of mine I'll be sticking with Vegas but purchasing a larger hard disk and capturing DV AVI as my source for editing.

    Hope my little situation helped any other folks who may be in a similar spot.

    And boy, do I pity anyone who own a DVD camcorder and wants to do some serious editing later! Hello quality drop...
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