What am I missing?

[mekl]

I have spent a lot of time reading these forums as a way of educating myself on the best way to produce a high quality DVD from a digital video camera. It seems that TMPGenc is highly recommended as a encoder. I have been using Movie Maker 2 to capture and edit. Today I downloaded a trial version of TMPGenc Plus and used it to convert a dv-avi type movie I saved in MM2 to an MPEG file. Next I used the Sonic MyDVD application that came with my PC to author both the dv-avi movie (from MM2) and the MPeg file (from TMPGenc). I played the two movies back to back on my stand alone dvd player/TV and could not see any difference in quality between the two movies. My next question is why is TMPGenc so often recommended? I seem to get the same results with MM2 that comes free with Windows XP. What am I missing? Thanks!

[jimmalenko]

TMPGEnc is an MPEG encoder (amongst other things). For DVD, you need to encode to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, and I would suggest that MyDVD must have re-encoded for you when you used the DV-AVI as source. So if you were happy with what you got, you could stick to Windows Movie Maker to capture and edit, then use MyDVD to encode and author. The problem comes where you don't always have a wide variety of options or flexibility to handle all situations if you use an All-in-one.

[mekl]

Thank you for that explanation. It helps a lot. If I might ask another question, what kind of situations I might encounter that would make TMPGenc better than an all in one (encoder and author)? Thanks.

[jimmalenko]

Thank you for that explanation. It helps a lot. If I might ask another question, what kind of situations I might encounter that would make TMPGenc better than an all in one (encoder and author)? Thanks.

Here's what I foound wrong with DVDSanta, after encoding just one file:

Encode
Can't set audio output type or bitrate to a custom value
Can't set video bitrate to a custom value
No filtering available
No "source range" function (custom inclusion/exclusion of certain parts)
No ability to change Rate Control mode (2-Pass VBR, CBR)

Author
No control over what files are in what tracks/titlesets
No custom chapters
No Menus
No "source range" function (custom inclusion/exclusion of certain parts)

MyDVD may or may not have these limitations. I have found in my experiences that dedicated tools give you the control you need to cover every situation, whereas some of the all-in-ones only cover the basics. Your experiences may vary, and I'm not familiar with MyDVD so I can't comment on that specifically.

[reboot]

Unfortunately, the bundled version of MyDVD you got with your burner, is like a PlaySkool/Tonka Toy version of the software, and upgrades are not free (last time I checked).
As jimmalenko has mentioned, there is very limited (if any) control over the processes needed to successfully create a DVD.
You need 3 basic things.
1.) An editor
2.) An encoder
3.) An author
I use Virtualdub for all my editing. It's free, and works extremely well.
I use Mainconcept for all my encoding. Personal preference. The free version of Tmpgenc will do nicely, and allows control over every aspect of your movie.
I use DVDLab for authoring. Not even the PRO version, and it does everything as advertised. Many will recommend tmpgenc dvd author, and other apps. Again, personal preference.
After trying just about every app for editing, encoding, and authoring, I settled on the 3 that work for me best.
There are some extremely detailed, excellent guides for all the software right here on the site. Just select Guides from the menu on the left, and then select the tool you want, or the process you want, and you'll be presented with a list of everything (and then some) you wanted to know about making a dvd.

[mekl]

Thanks for taking the time to provide some feedback! I will continue to invest a little more time in TMPGenc.

[jimmalenko]

One benefit of using TMPGEnc is that every 2nd guide here uses it too

There's plenty of setup/configuration guides to enable you to get the fastest performance fot the best quality too. You sound like you're a good self-educator, so bury your head in a few guides that cover what you want to do, try a few things, and post back or scour the forums if you encounter any difficulties.

FYI, I ooutput VHS and TV into DV-AVI then use FulciLives' excellent guide for noise-removal, editing in virtualdubmod, and then encoding in TMPGEnc Plus, and the beauty of it is that you just need to learn some very basic scripting, and the programs will do the rest for you.

Some more reading that may assist:
https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?link=435
https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?link=303
https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?link=9
https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?link=10

[mekl]

Thanks! I have printed the guides you listed and will try to put this all together.

PS Could you define "noise removal"?