Is it better to render & convert directly to DVD format for better quality

[johnharlin]

I am going to combine a number of short avi videos from my camera into one video using AVS video editor using gamma to increase light and will also increase the sound volume. Once I finish doing that I will render and combine all the videos together into one. After that, I will use Nero to convert it into DVD format.

The question I have is it better to have the video editor render and convert the files directly to DVD format rather than render them to AVI format first and then later convert everything with Nero into the DVD format.

I am just worried that going through two conversions will degrade the quality.

[usually_quiet]

I am going to combine a number of short avi videos from my camera into one video using AVS video editor using gamma to increase light and will also increase the sound volume. Once I finish doing that I will render and combine all the videos together into one. After that, I will use Nero to convert it into DVD format.

The question I have is it better to have the video editor render and convert the files directly to DVD format rather than render them to AVI format first and then later convert everything with Nero into the DVD format.

I am just worried that going through two conversions will degrade the quality.

I do not use AVS Video Editor so I don't know anything about its export options, nor do I use Nero for authoring DVDs, so I don't know if it always re-encodes before authoring. If Nero always re-encodes when authoring a DVD, then there will be quality loss regardless ... but if Nero does not re-encode compatible video and audio when it authors a DVD and AVS Video Editor does a satisfactory job converting video and audio for DVD compatibility with one of its export profiles, then you should use that option for exporting your edited video.

[Vidd]

I am just worried that going through two conversions will degrade the quality.

Yes, two conversions will degrade the quality. But you can avoid the degradation if you render to a AVI lossless codec (such as Lagarith) and then import the lossless AVI into the DVD MPEG-2 encoder.

[johnharlin]

Thank you,

That's a good tip about Lagarith. It doesn't even seem possible but if it really works I don't know why that is not included in all the video editing programs.

[usually_quiet]

Thank you,

That's a good tip about Lagarith. It doesn't even seem possible but if it really works I don't know why that is not included in all the video editing programs.

Free lossless encoders (HuffYUV, Ut Video, Lagarith) might work with AVS Video Editor, but you may need to install them yourself. The list of supported formats doesn't include them as options. Note that the files they produce are quite large, somewhere between 25GB - 30GB per hour for SD video.