DV-->UleadStudio6-->???

[drnibbles]

Hi guys,

This forum is what I have been looking for. I got a DV camera for my 30th and I have been filming a lot. As I'm new i need some pointers on what to do. I have a firewire card and Ulead Movie studio 6 (can't remember the name I'm at work) and a 80GB RAID system 1GB ram 1800+ Athlon.

Well I have gotten so far that I have downloaded all my DV with Ulead to the computer and it's in AVI format just sitting there. I have test edited some (a lot of funbut hard to undersatnd) but now here comes the part I don't know. I would like to burn some video on CD-Rom and send to my father and some friends. What format should I use, can i do it in Ulead and how do I choose quality and the setup... This is where it all goes complicated I feel. Please help out if you feel like it.

Thanks a million
Drnibbles

[EricB]

If your friends and family have stand alone DVD players, you will want to use the VideoStudio 6 option of making an SVCD or a VCD. You can check this site to see if their players are compatible with either type.

If you want to play the file on a computer and it has a software DVD player (doesn't even need a DVD drive) you could encode your output in DVD format on CD-R which is called mini-DVD. It won't play on a stand-alone, but it looks cool on the computer and gives you menus etc. Length is limited due to the larger format.

[Petco]

Sounds like we have the same system almost - Sony->Firewire->AVI.

Before I got my DVD burner, I would take the AVI into TMPGEnc and compress it to MPEG1. Then I would use Nero to burn into VCD format. TMPGEnc got me the best quality for VCD. No problems, played on most DVD players.

But I wanted higher quality because most of my family has a hi-def television. I tried taking my AVI, using the same software TMPGEnc, to create MPEG2, but when I play the video the motions would leave "a drag or trace effect." I've read about the problem and tried changing bit rates, frame rates, etc and could not find the solution. Could not figure this out! I thought it might be the source capturing from Ulead so I tried different software, Adobe Premier, but had the same problem. What I can't figure out is when a rip DVD's and use the same setting on TMPGEnc the movies turn out ok, but when I try TMPGEnc to make MPEG2 out of my family video it has the strange effects on fast moving action. Again, I've played with the bit rate settings and that did not work.

Finally, I bought a DVD copier, Pioneer A04, around $250. I took the raw AVI and drag it directly to Ulead DVD Workshop (free download for the trial version). This software converted the AVI to VOB directly (compress file for DVD players). Voila! I now have high quality videos with menus to choose. BUT this software is very picky on which DVD player it will work on. I have to try and upgrade to version 1.3 when I get a chance. Good Luck!

[EricB]

Petco,

When you play back an MPEG2 using Media player, you will see the interleaving. If you took that same file from TMPGEnc and brought it into DVD MovieFactory (or DVD WorkShop 1.2) you would see that the resulting DVD will look fine because the TV expects an interleaved source.

To watch MPEG2 on the PC, use a software DVD player like PowerDVD. This works even if the computer does not have a DVD drive.

I didn't recommend TMPGEnc to drnibbles cause I think he is just getting started. Its good to get some experience, and then shoot for improvement. If you have a DVD burner, then even poor encoders can work pretty well. The one included in DVD WorkShop is pretty good in my opinion. The 1.2 version allows you to import already encoded files and not re-encode them.

[Petco]

I will have to give it another try, but I've already played with so many settings. Anyhow, the video that I get from a DVD that I translate using TMPGEnc doesn't have that problem playing in Window's media player. I actually took my family video ( MPEG2) and burned into an SVCD to see if that was just my Window's Media player and it still had that motion problem when I played on my television.

Anyhow, I like dragging it into DVD Workshop and letting it process itself, the quality is incredible when I'm playing it on a hi-def tv. I haven't tried version 1.3 which supposively fixed some of the problems I was having, which was the DVD was being picky on which player it could play.

I suggested TMPGEnc because I didn't like the quality I was getting from Ulead Studio (I must confess, I haven't tried the newer version). They might have improve it since the quality on DVD Workshop is pretty nice.

[drnibbles]

Hi guys and thanks for all the help.. Well I'll tell you how far I have gotten. In Ulead Media Studio Pro I have put together about 12 differnet avi clips and made a movie out of it with scene changes and some music on. Looks fine. Ok so now I choose File--> create video file --> and choose save as type mepeg file. I go into options and set the quality to about 2500 or 3000. Then it renders the movies that takes about 3 hours. Then it's a mpg movie and it plays fine.. Is there a better way of soing it. You are saying that I should put my avi file in some other progg but then it's not "one" file inless I have rendered a file in the progg itself... Hmm I must say that I don't really get it.

I have loads of clips that I put together in Media studio and then I need to make 1 (one) file of them all with a good quality...
This is where it gets complicated... But I'm so happy that you have helped me this far. This forum is really good for me... Thanks again for your help..

Cheers
drnibbles

[EricB]

drnibbles,

I have yet to find a program which is really good for editing DV and also really good for encoding to MPEG1 / MPEG2.

Video Studio is a decent editor but historically, their encoder was not that great. So you edit in DV, save in DV, then encode with a good encoder like TMPGEnc. So that is the thinking behind using different "proggs". Each one does its own job the best.

Within the past year, several programs have improved their internal encoders. VideoStudio6 is much better than earlier versions. DVD Workshop has a good encoder. Premiere just came out with version 6.5 that finally has a decent encoder.

As people move from VCD to SVCD to DVD, you can actually use a more inferior encoder because the format has a much higher resolution and bandwidth to begin with. So now it just becomes an issue of how much video can you fit on a format (CD-R, DVD-R) and still have good quality.

The better encoder can produce better quality given the same space available.

[Petco]

Sounds like your doing that correctly. 3-4 hours compressing time is normal. Do it before you go to bed or work. Next, drag it into Nero VCD option the MPEG1 file and burn. Try it on your DVD player.

[Petco]

The alternative, once you finish editing (adding music and connect avi's), save as a DV avi file (if you have hard drive space). It will connect all your videos together and should only take 5-10 minutes process time. Take that new file (combined AVI) into TMPGEnc and create your MPEG.

Compare your video with this method and the way you did it and let me know which video looks clearer.

[drnibbles]

Will Do... I'll get back to you guys... One question... Should I choose mpeg1 or mpeg2 when I encode... The video is way to big to save as DV and then import into another progg.....

[EricB]

Without going into the whole group of hybrid variations (like changing headers on files) your basic choice is VCD (MPEG1) or SVCD / DVD (MPEG2).

Get some CD-R/W discs and try different types with short clips. There is normally a trade off between quality and length of time on the disk. You also need to consider if your audience (relatives) machines can play VCD or SVCD.

If you try TMPGEnc with VCD, then load the VCD template and then unlock it by loading the "unlock.mcf". That will allow you to boost the bitrate from the standard 1150 to 1500 - 2000 range. This usually helps the output quality a lot. I use VCD when sending out to other people because most machines support it, and you can easily play the movie file on the disc with a standard media player.

[drnibbles]

Whohooo my new DVD can read SVCD and I just made my first movie with it from Nreo and it WORKS...Damn it's wierd to watch it on TV but I'm happy... I have figured some of it out and now I can make svcd.. I don't have a dvd burner so I can not make any DVD's yet but who knows....

Drnibbles