Just got set up, but need some tips

[crazycory23]

I just got my Adaptec Videoh! PCI Setup with Movie Mill and MyDVD, and the DVR-A05.

I have 2 Questions:

First why did everyone bash MyDVD in this forum while I was learning, because I have found it exceptionally easy to use for authoring. I am a complete NEWB, but was able to make full motion menus with MYDVD....THAT COMPLETELY ROCKS!!!

Second, after I have captured my analog video to mpeg 2 using movie mill and and the videoh! pci(which also rocks by the way), how do i break down the scenes so that their are tracks within the movie to browse between. Do I have to stop and restart capturing every 10 minutes or so to get breaks in the movie to skip between, or does MY DVD have a way of doing that. If not, then what is the next best authoring software that still makes it easy to have full motion menus. I'M ALL ABOUT THE FULL MOTION MENUS... It actually puts off the appearance that I know what I am doing.

Thanks guys....any help would be great!!

[VidGuy]

I'm not familiar with most of the DVD software you mention (I use Scenarist and/or DVDMaestro) - but almost all DVD software somewhere has a way to setup chapters without breaking the video up - I'd be shocked if MyDVD didn't have a way to do it - but someone who knows that software will have to tell you how....

[K2]

The problem with MyDVD is not the quality. It is that it wants to convert the sound to PCM (wave). It will waste over a gig on sound when it is not required to be PCM.

I use movie factory2 (trial version available) and just auto create chapters every 3 minutes, fast and easy. Chapter are not tracks like an audio CD only goto points. I do not know if it will do motion menus, I think yes.
I know this is not the best way but I am lazy on this.

If you are asking do you need to go back and capture again for the menus, NO. You can extract just the scenes you want with chopper XP or MPEG2CUT. No need to do it the hard way.


P.S. I have the same capture card.

[davideck]

I have a DVR-A05 and it came with MyDVD. I was also impressed with MyDVD because of the motion menus UNTIL I realized that the only way to create chapter points was to hit the space bar ON THE FLY while you are capturing (from 1394 only). How brain dead is that? I think the only alternative is splitting up your video into separate sections as you mentioned, but that creates pauses from chapter to chapter when you play the DVD. Perhaps the full version of MyDVD is a little more flexible. I am currently using Ulead's DVD Movie Factory 2 which does NOT create motion menus.

[Vejita-sama]

Newbie? I would suggest either DVD Lab or TMPGenc's DVD Authoring program. Both are very cheap and user friendly. You can set up menus, chapter points, etc. quickly and easily.

Neither re-encodes and both accept mp2 audio. My personal favorite program to author is DVD Maestro. But there are often times when it's a pain in the ass (eg. simple project just want movie + audio), or rather overkill for most users for most projects.