Needing help with DV to DVD

[dv_tester]

Hello Everyone,

I have read many threads have some lots of information but still seem to be a little confused about the process of DV to DVD while preserving the highest quality possible. Like many I seem to have huged quality loss by the time I get to my authored DVD and yet I am not aiming in any effect/transitional editing, just in the re-ordering of clips.

First off here is what I have

Canon Optura20 MiniDV
PCI IEEE1394 Firwire Card
AMD XP 1700+
NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 ti4600
120gig HD

I have tried several software, I have found the easiest so far to capture is Ulead VideoStudio 8.

Q. Is it possible to change the capture from CANON - MSDV to Main Concept Codec? I have tried to unregister qvd.dll, I then checked with graphedit and the MCDV is used to decode but then I cannot capture anymore. I want to capture using the MCDV instead of MSDV.

Q. Does it matter at this step what codec you use? I keep hearing that the capture process is a no loss process yet I also read the the MainConcept Codec is one of the best.

At this point once I have my .avi files I want to just create seperate files of each clip that i need, in my case on the same tape I may have a mix of 5-10 5 min clips (eg. dogs playing, birthdays, etc). I want to be able to take all the dog clips and put them on one dvd with menus and chapters, same with the other types of clips.

I use VideoStudio which has now captured in MSDV and I trim the sections and save them as individual AVI files using MCDV codec. I assume MCDV is better but I can't find a way to capture it direct in my 60min 13 gig AVI file at least with VideoStudio.

The first time I used VideoStudio to export the final to mpeg but I had extremely poor results once played on my 36" tv and on my 60" Sony LCD tv.

I have to add one more thing part of my current footage and all future footage is in 16:9, this is the setting from my camera.

I tried to use procoder 2 to encode the avi to mpeg and got very good results except for a flickering at the top and bottom if watched on a regular 4:3 tv. I also noticed that procoder 2 reports a frame size of 856 x 480 instead of 720 x 480 on my 16:9 capture.

I hope the history of what I have done so far was not too boring. I would like to understand the entire process from capture to dvd authoring. I also would love to understand which steps involve codecs that are essential to quality in the final product and how to work with the codecs (how to get them being used when you want to).

What I figure at this point.

Step 1 capture to avi (is a codec important in this step or not? type 1? type 2? separate audio file? what needs to be done when captureing 16:9 anything special?
Step 2 Edit avi (simple just cut a 13 gig file in clips) when saving clip it is rendered (still in avi) is codec important here? is there a loss of quality?
Step 3 Encode into mpeg (I will now try to use Mainconcept Mpeg Encoder, read it was one of the best ones)
Step 4 Use DVD author tool DVD-Lab or TMPGE DVD author and create VOB files
Step 5 Use Nero Burning Rom to burn dvd using the VOB.

If there is too much I need answered maybe you can direct me to links or a book that can help me.

Thanks for you time to all who respond.

Marc

[bugster]

Capture of DV video via firewire is not capture in the usual sens, it is really a copy. The digital data on the tape is copied to the HD but warpped up in an avi file. No codec is needed at this stage.

When you edit and re-render, any decent editing package will only render where you have made changes, the rest should be simply a copy of the video you supplied. Of course, any effects or transitions require rendering where they are applied. The codec used here will effect things but if you go from DV to DV the impact of the codec should be minimal.

Encoding to DVD compliant Mpeg-2 and maintaining quality requires a number of things. First is bitrate. Find out what bitrate you need for the length of your video. If it is short, use the maximum possible bitrate, if it is longer, let the encoder use variable bitrate with the avergae set according to the length. Audio should be compressed to Ac3 (or you can use mp2 if in PAL land). This is because uncompressed audio uses up too much precious disk space causing you to use a lower bitrate than you would otherwise, thus potentially lowering the quality. You need to know and understand the settings in the encoder, they can have a big impact on the final result. Practice on short clips with different settings until you are happy with the quality, then do the whole thing.

[bobcat56458]

I have a Canon Optura 10 which is the same as the Optura 20 but with a smaller LCD screen. Both these models do not capture a true 16:9 widescreen video. What they do is capture a 720x480 normal DV capture size that has a Flag in the header that tells an editing program that it is 16:9. This Flag is so that when you make a DVD with it, the video you see on a widescreen TV has no black bars and fills the screen. When you view it on a 4:3 normal TV it will have black bars though. If you right click on a clip in the VideoStudio timeline and select Properties it will show that it is “720x480 16:9” in NTSC land. If you use another program to encode the DV AVI into DVD compliant MPEG2 you may have to modify the settings to get it to display correctly on both a widescreen TV, and with black bars on a normal TV. I don’t use Procoder, or the Mainconcept Mpeg Encoder, but that is the case using TMPGEnc Plus. When you author your DVD with DVDLab there are some settings in “Project Properties” then “System” tab, that you have to setup for correct display on both types of TV sets (so your friends with 4:3 TV’s can watch your DVD’s). Under “Widescreen Movie Display on 4:3” & “Widescreen Menu Display on 4:3” select “LetterBox” in the drop down box. Under “Menu/Slideshow Aspect” select “16:9 Widescreen” in the drop down box. I don’t often use the Optura 10\20’s 16:9 mode because when viewing on a 4:3 normal TV all you are doing is cropping your picture then adding black bars to it. When viewing on a widescreen TV you do fill the screen but you’ve cut the resolution down to in effect 720x368 so you don’t have as sharp a picture as if you had a camcorder that had a true 16:9 method of capturing 16:9 widescreen. I think the newer Optura’s have this feature.