Unusual Source to DVD compliant format

[Deathwish]

OK I have a very unusual conversion. I have 32 hours of source video! It is not a movie but 32 hours of instructional video that I would like to place on as few DVDs as possible.

What makes it complicated is that the video source was streaming video/audio that was captured using CAM studio.

Most of the output files are of the following specs:

Audio: Bitrate: 1411kbs, 16bit, PCM
Video: 200fps, Data 436kps
Video sample size 16bit
Video Compression: MS-CRAM (I was suprised there was any compression b/c all files are *.avi & each hour takes up ~1GB)

That being said most of the videos consist of a thumbnail size streaming video clip of the lecturer & a large power point slide (with little movement).
Because of this, I am assuming that I could use a very low bit rate. I would like to maintain the aspect ratio (although I am OK with letterboxing to make it compliant).

Given those specs, what is the best way to compress this to fit on as few DVDs as possible (Im hoping for 5)? Im ok with using dual layer, dont really see the point with double sided untill double sided players come out.

I would ideally like the outpt video to be some sort of DVD-compliant format so I will be able to play it into the futre, but I am open to any suggestions. Thanx.

[Bjs]

Ahhh ... I dont like the audio ... not one bit ... bugger , we need to go the old way then .

Holly dolley ... 200fps ... thats mad ... could be problem there .

Sl dvd max is 4.3 safe zone .

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Batch mode using super ... but you wont get any idea as to how long the process will take.

You might want to set the video bitrate down to around 6000 rather than the norm of 8000 , as this to will allow for more content to fit media .

If you want to try super , run a test clip through it till you have those other settings setup such as video aspect , and set audio to ac3 , default 2 channel of around 112 would be enough .

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As for that 200fps , it could be a sticking problem that I know ulead video studio can fix , but super might read it and go 200fps to required fps , on per second gratis , rather than known frames ... should work in similar fashion to the above ulead product .

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Then use the mpeg2's in any dvdauthoring package .

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Alternative would be to use some type of avisynth script to put that thumbnail clip , super imposed in the corner of the larger clips of the power point caps ... it depends on the size (heightxwidth) .

Do a search on avisynth , or motion menu scripting .

I have a couple just incase .

[Deathwish]

Thanks for the quick reply Bjs. Now most of what you said sounds like greek to me... i am a newbie. I guess the 200 fps is overkill. I should have changed that setting in CAM studio. I am not done capturing all of the streams yet. Maybe I will adjust it down to its lowest setting of 20 fps. That should be more than enough for my purposes.

Thankx again. I'll try to download "Sl dvd max is 4.3 safe zone" .... is that the main app?

In the mean time I'll adjust the video to 20fps and keep recording. I dont see any way to adjust the audio though.

[Richard_G]

As you are in the US and will, presumably, want to end up with a NTSC compliant DVD, record at 29.97 fps (or 30 if you can't set to 29.97). To get that amount onto a minimum number of DVDs, I would suggest you try encoding to 352 x 240 mpeg2. Using a bitrate of 2000kbs should get you around 4 hours per DVD and not lose too much, if any, quality. SL DVD max is 4.3 safe zone is referring to the fact that 4.3GB is the maximum amount of data you should try and fit on a Single Layer writable DVD and not the 4.7GB that they try and tell you will fit.

[Deathwish]

As you are in the US and will, presumably, want to end up with a NTSC compliant DVD, record at 29.97 fps (or 30 if you can't set to 29.97). To get that amount onto a minimum number of DVDs, I would suggest you try encoding to 352 x 240 mpeg2. Using a bitrate of 2000kbs should get you around 4 hours per DVD and not lose too much, if any, quality. SL DVD max is 4.3 safe zone is referring to the fact that 4.3GB is the maximum amount of data you should try and fit on a Single Layer writable DVD and not the 4.7GB that they try and tell you will fit.

Thanx for the quick reply & explanation. I'll record the remaining clips at 30fps. I'll try converting them all to 352 x 240 mpeg2 (bitrate of 2000kbs) in Premiere. Are there any other settings I need to know? I would like to keep the aspect ratio, so how could I do that while changeing the resolution? Will the app "letterbox" it by default? If not How do I do this so my image wont be contorted?

Hopefully the resolution will be suffieict. Im only worried about a couple of the higher ees pics in the power point slides.
If it fits that will be great. ~8 hrs on a dual layer disc will leave me with only 4-5 DVDs!

[Richard_G]

The DVD player will enlarge the image to full screen. For full resolution DVD the frame size is always 720 x 480 (NTSC, 720 x 576 if PAL) irrespective of whether the video is full screen, widescreen or one of the very wide cinema type formats. The video frame is within the full frame with black bars above and below if it is wider than full frame. The DVD player and TV combination sorts out how it is displayed.

Using 320 x 240 will still be stretched to fill the screen and maintain the aspect ratio. The quality may be slightly 'soft' but it shouldn't be too noticeable with predominately static images. If it is, you'll need to increase the frame size to maybe half-D1 (320 x 480) and the bitrate too. With not a lot of movement, you won't need too high a bitrate, so you could probably get away with half-D1 at 3000kbs. That would give you around 6 hours per DL disc.

[guns1inger]

If these are screen captures then I would live with lots of discs and keep it full-D1. Half-D1 or lower will mostly likely make the screen details unreadable. However you need to test this for yourself.

[Deathwish]

Good points every1. Some on the videos are Full of high res slides & in those cases I'll have to keep them full-D1. But many of my 32 hrs of visdeos are just text.
So my next question is can I mix some videos that are Full-D1 & some that are half-D1 on one DVD? Will the result still be compliant & play on most DVD players? Or would I have to organize all the Full D1 videos on separate DVDs from the haf D1 videos?l

[Bjs]

You can , but no all dvd authoring tools support such content .

As for what Richard_G said about recording at the 29.97 fps , that would have been the choice , but even if this was not the case , super should beable to do a perfect frame conversion back to what is required anyway ... just takes time , and watch those settings on vid res , and ar ... wouldnt want to have to repeat the process twice because these where not checked first time round .

Thankx again. I'll try to download "Sl dvd max is 4.3 safe zone" .... is that the main app?

No ... that stands for single sided media (sl), max capacity ... the regular bulk thats sold in the stores these days .

352 x 240

Ouch , at this point , what you end up with is something not even I would want to view back from a tv ... the fonts will be unreadable , and strain the eye's just to view .

Ordinary video = ok , powerpoint with text = not so cool .

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Convert everything that is remotely "close" to full d1 res (720x480 nstc) , and anything larger gets this treatment as well .

Convert all others to 325x240 , or as I said before , they could be overlayed , included in the corner of another video , or on a simple background by themselves .

Richard_G reports Using 320 x 240 = slightly 'soft'

Slightly soft ... well thats not entirely correct as it depends on the input source ... converting down works fine , to a point , upscaling can go to rubbish if not done correctly .

guns1inger makes the point ... its up to you , and your expectations of what is exceptable in output ... only you can make the call .

Oh , and who was that confussing person again ... dont make the ref to DL's (dual layer)... thats further down the track .

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Yes you can mix them , but not all dvd authoring tools allow this ... may have noted that already .

Use in single vst title (combined) = No (no mixing of 720x480 , 320x240)
As single vst titles (individual) = Yes

Pgcedit can be used to put them all together , and while there are guides on how to do it , that might be something for down the track later , if required .

[Deathwish]

Alternative would be to use some type of avisynth script to put that thumbnail clip , super imposed in the corner of the larger clips of the power point caps ... it depends on the size (heightxwidth) .

Do a search on avisynth , or motion menu scripting .

I have a couple just incase .

After alot of testing, this may be the way to go. Even if it means recording most of the 32hrs of streaming video over. If I use the PAL setting of 720x576, I can place the the thumbnail (speaker) video in the corner of the larger (ppt slide) video. If I use the NTSC settinf of 720x480 I will have to overlap which I would rather avoid.
Does it really matter? Wont most DVD players in the US play both NTSC & PAL? Or would using the PAL setting limit playback to a few DVD players & PCs?

[guns1inger]

Although things are slowly changing, the vast majority of players in the US won't play PAL.

[Richard_G]

The other way round works fine, ALL European PAL DVD players will play back NTSC, very few US NTSC players will play back PAL. A touch of the 'not invented here' US mentality I'm afraid.

[Deathwish]

Ok, after alot of adjusting & advice from people on this forum I captured a web conference session using CAM Studio to produce an AVI file with the following specs:

SIZE: 856 x 480 pixels
(this 856 thing was the magic number. I arrived at it thanx to the advice of the coleman, jagabo, & vhelp. Basically it is 480 * 16 / 9 = 853.333... But then rounded up in case it needes to be scaled)

FRAME RATE: 30fps
DATA RATE: 468kbps
VIDEO SAMPLE SIZE: 16bit
compression: MS-CRAM

I used the above video file (along with a second similar one) in DVD flick & I set the output to 16:9 widescreen. The result is a crystal clear 16:9 widescreen video... just what I wanted.

I wasnt hopeful that I would be able to do this due to the unusual specs of the video I started with. The people on this forum really know their stuff! Thanx again.

[Bjs]

How'd you go with those high frame rated clips ... I still didnt get time to test all the apps I use , yet ... people keep blowing up pcs here , so I have been flat out traveling around the country ... esspecially chasing parts nolonger on the shelves here for older systems .

What I hate are pcs that have problems , but as soon as I walk through the door , there as good as gold , no problems ... all the traveling for nothing .

[Deathwish]

DVD flick wont process the high frame rated clips. So I think the easiest thing to do would just be to recapture those at 30fps.