How To Eliminate So Many Programs???

[Vance]

I am still a newbie at all of this. Though I have learned alot, I still have a lot to learn so I am here seeking advice from the experts.

Here's my situation.

I am converting VHS home movies to DVD. I have just finished my first attempt at editing and I have converted it over to an MPEG2 file that is on my hard drive.

The first problem I have run into is that the MPEG2 file is 6.22GB in size. Where can I go to learn how to shrink this down to fit on a 4.7GB DVD disk?

My next question regards all the programs I think I am going to have to use to get the desired final product.

During this project, I used iuVCR to capture everythign to .avi (and boy that created problems). Then I used PowerDirector to edit everything. Then used PowerProducer to convert the .avi to MPEG2. Now I have to use another program to shrink the MPEG2 file down to fit on a standard DVD. Once I get to that point, then I have to use yet another program to create the custom menu that I'd like to have.

Am I nuts or is there one (preferrable inexpensive) program that will do all of this instead of having to use so many different ones?

Thanks for any and all suggestions and/or recommendations,
Vance

[stillmars321]

The new Sony DVD Direct captures from VCR/camcorder and encodes/writes to a DVD on fly, even creating chapters and a menu.

Doesn't get any easier.

For MPEG2 ready files,
I use TMPEG DVDAuthor to make your menus and chapters. Then I use DVD Shrink to shrink the resulting output, if needed!

[bugster]

Yes, there are programs that will do all you want in go. Are they as flexible and as powerful as using multiple programs, each specializing in a differnt task? No they are not. They tend to have limited options and flexibility.

As to the size of your DVD, you should get that right from the start by using the correct bitrate when you encode to mpeg. A Bitrate calculator like the one here helps with that.
In this case you already have your mpeg. You can reduce the size of this with rejig, or you can author to DVD format and then use DVDshrink to make it fit before burning.

[SLK001]

As to the size of your DVD, you should get that right from the start by using the correct bitrate when you encode to mpeg. A Bitrate calculator like the one here helps with that.

If I remember correctly, POWER DIRECTOR doesn't give you bitrate options (just high, med and low quality). Your best bet would be to either buy Tsunami or CCE BASIC. Both are very good encoders and both are fairly cheap, and both let you select YOUR bitrate. Bugsy is correct - set the correct bitrate BEFORE you begin.

[reboot]

Your best bet would be to buy Canopus Procoder Express or Mainconcept mpeg encoder.
They're both far faster than tsunami aka tmpgenc, and have a much better GUI than CCE.

[wwjd]

I spent quite a bit of time and money looking for the inexpensive ALL in
one software app for converting VHS/8mm tape to DVD. One may exist
but I have not found it yet. The main problems I see with most All in one
apps is that they are not frame accurate for cutting and trimming mpeg, they have poor to mediocure mpeg encoding and usually re-encode
whether the mpeg is compliant or not. Which can result in degraded
video, very long encoding/authoring times and audio sync issues.

When it comes to capturing I recommend either a capture card or an
external unit that does hardware encoding. Do not use your computers
CPU to do the on the fly encoding unless you are really good at shutting down ALL non essential processes.

For cutting and trimming mpeg I recommend Videoredo.
For authoring I would use TMPGEnc DVD Author.
For burning to DVD I use DVD Decrypter.
For converting avi to mpeg I use CCE Basic, which has a great user
interface, is fast and does an excellent mpeg encode.



and

[iantec]

is CCE for free?

[wwjd]

CCE Basic costs $58 if memory serves me. There is a trial version.

[ChaunceyK]

I've been pretty happy with my ADS DVD Xpress. It captures directly to mpeg in whatever format you want, from VCD up to full DVD quality. You can set the video resolution & bitrate to fit your needs (so I can fit my nearly 3-hour videos onto one dvd). It comes with authoring software (Ulead). Doing the chapters & menus really wasn't that hard to learn. And its pretty cheap if you can find it with a rebate (I got it for $80 or so).

But to be fair, I do have 2 complaints about it...

1) I've found the resulting mpegs will only work with Ulead...meaning, when I've tried (numerous times) to use them with TMPGenc DVD Author (still my personal favorite), the audio & video have gone out of synch every time.

2) This wouldn't bother me so much if Ulead didn't run so sloooooooow. It takes me (literally) hours for the mpegs & menus to convert to dvd files...and with a 2.2ghz CPU & 512mb RAM, I'd expect faster results.

So that's my advice/experience on an "all-in-one" solution.