Best way to make a DVD?

[neojapsz]

I’m new to video editing and I’ve outputted my first few projects to mini dv and im happy with them. I now want to make DVD copies of them. The 2 options I have available to me are:

1) Use Ulead movie factory 2 on my PC

Or

2) Use my Panasonic stand alone DVD Recorder (DMR-EX75) I can connect my camcorder via firewire to it and record to the in built hard drive then run off a DVD.

I just want to get the best quality; I suppose it may come down to how good the codec is with each method. Is there a standard codec or program that is known to be the best, I know movie factory 2 is rather dated, or doesn’t it matter, are all codec’s very similar?

Should I worry about what method I use i.e. PC software or DVD recorder, should I just use what is most convenient.

[redwudz]

What a MPEG-2 codec does is about the same with all of them, how it goes about it is different. You can make single or multiple passes with a codec and you can use VBR or CBR (Variable Bit Rate or Constant) or use other modes.

Also the bitrate may vary depending on the length of your video and the space available on the media. The type of audio and how much space it uses can vary, as can the amount of space set aside for authoring menus, etc.

I would go ahead and try the DVR first, then depending on the results, try a software encoder. If you think your program's a little old, try one of the freeware MPEG-2 encoders like HC or QuEnc. Same with the authoring program. DVD Authorgui or Gui for dvdauthor are two freeware authoring choices.

For easy payware, the combination of TMPGEnc encoder and TMPGEnc DVD Author are inexpensive and easy to use. Both have a trail period. I like to have more control over the steps in producing a DVD, so I prefer the individual programs. But they do have a learning curve to produce the best quality.

[neojapsz]

thanks redwudz, ive read more on this forum and it seems if you want the best qaulity you have to spend more time and use a number of programs.

Thinking about it i think i just want to get my projects done to a good standard, so i ive given my Panasonic DVD recorder a go and the results im impressed with. Think it will do the job for me as im not bothered about authoring.

I went striaght to DVD which burnt on the fly, should i perhaps record to the units hard drive first, then do a high speed copy to DVD?

[redwudz]

I use a Pioneer DVR with FireWire input, but for me, the hard drive would be used mostly if I wanted to edit the file, such as removing commercials, or if I wanted to change the DVD quality, such as put more video on a DVD.

But you can try going through the hard drive and see if it's any different.

And when you get time, you can experiment with the 'long way'.

[neojapsz]

thanks redwudz