Question about fields and re-encoding?

[CAnn12]

I've been struggling with transferring my analog to DVD. I've got some good suggestions (thanks), but now I've a few questions and then hopefully I'm on my way 1) Do you capture, encode and burn at the same rate? Does it make a difference if I capture 720x480 at 7000kbps, encode at 6000 and then burn at 7000kbps? 2.) If I capture & edit in avi format and then encode to Mpeg...does the file re-encode when you add chapters/menus? 3.) I'm confused about the fields. When I capture and then encode with Canopus PC, I know the upper field first is for analog...so should I be changing the source to upper field in the "source" section and then again in the "target section" I take it "frame field" is used when planning to watch on your computer. Should the field be the same for both source and target? I find this somewhat confusing. Thanks for any clarification that you can give me!! And to throw a monkey wrench into everything...I was telling someone what I was doing and they lent me their Canon mini DV camcorder. So, I'm still going to try to capture , encode and burn using virtualDub, PC etc, but I'm also going to tape the analog to the Canon and then using the s-video (don't have a firewire), try to edit with Pinnacle or Ulead, encode with PC and burn to DVD. Hope I'm doing this right..? Anyways..thanks for all of your help and advise!!

[lenti_75]

1. capture as AVI, usually is lower field first for dv files, I use ULead videostudio for this.
2. encode it, don't go lower than 5000kbps
3 burn it, I use Ulead moviefactory or videostudio, and select NOT TO ENCODE the file again

OR you can just encode and burn in one step, but I preffer to have the mpeg file because I do the encoding with Procoder.

it's not a good idea to capture as mpeg file, the quality is not the same, and you could have dropped frames.

PS. DON'T CHANGE the field order.....

Sorry, I did not see you don't have a firewire.....BUY ONE, that is the best option. don't use analog, you lose a lot of quality.

[mike909]

I probably can not answer all questions but here goes:
1. Yes capture and encoding settings should match if you want the end result to look similiar as source. Not sure what you mean by burn rate, are you talking about speed?...if so, doesn't matter.
2. Authoring program should not re-encode when you add chapters/menus.
3. Field order should match for source and destination. On a side note, the canon dv camera you borrowed most likely uses bottom field first for it's field order.

[mike909]

i 2nd lenti's notion about firewire cards. I'm guessing you can find one for under 10$