Quality of 1 hour vs 2 hour DV to DVD creation?

[jay24k]

Is there a major difference? I have about 80 minutes that I would prefer to hit on 1 dvd but the options my program gives is 60 minutes for great quality and 120 for good. Is there a major difference?

Thanks.

Also another quick question. We have a widescreen so I'm planning on shooting 16:9 now. If I play it on a 4:3 TV, does it show the black bars like a regular dvd? I'd prefer that instead of it stretching.

Thanks! I appreciate all the great help.

[ZippyP.]

I have about 80 minutes that I would prefer to hit on 1 dvd but the options my program gives is 60 minutes for great quality and 120 for good. Is there a major difference?

Depends on the program and the quality of the source. A good encoder lets you adjust the bitrate so that you can fit as much on the disk as you like. Sounds like you need a better program. Which one are you using now?

We have a widescreen so I'm planning on shooting 16:9 now. If I play it on a 4:3 TV, does it show the black bars like a regular dvd?

A properly encoded widescreen video will display letterbox (bars top and bottom) on a 4:3 TV.

[thor300]

It all depends on the encoder you use, with a 2-pass encoding with Cinema Craft Encoder you can fit 120 minutes at same or better quality than 60 minutes with some all-in-one bundled proggys.

[jay24k]

I've been using ulead workshop 2.0 for the final bundling of the software. I like the menus it has. I'll have to look and see what I can do.

Thanks for the help.

[Bstansbury]

"Jay24K",... I use Ulead VideoStudio 7.0 and in the "Finish" menu you can select the custom MPEG option and choose just what quality and VBR bit speed you want to compress at. With your workshop, just go ahead and see what the quailty setting is (50-75-90-100) and test it with your 80 minute video. Once it is on your disk you can see if it finished up under 4.7 GB which will fit on 1 DVD. Change the quality and VBR setting and run a second test. Once you get a feel for what the quality looks like and what you are happy with, you can use it on many projects. I was doing a video that was 118 minutes in preview mode, including Titles, chapters, scenes, effects, etc. When I first compressed it, I was at 75% quality and only 6000 Kbs VBR and it came out as 3.7 GB. Remember, the times the program gives you are only "Estimates". It really won't know until it has finished the compression. It doesn't know how many fast action scenes there are or how many stills, etc. I finally ended up setting the quality to 100% and the bit rate up to 8000 kbs and it still only took up 4.1 GB. I ended up with one very good quality DVD.

However, I don't have a HDTV, so my definition of good quality is what I see on my 32" Toshiba playing Digital Satallite feed via S-video connection. My Camcorder has higher quality than S-Video and it looks great on DVD. But again, I have to look at it on a 32" TV. I've spend a lot of cash,... getting into Digital, it's all been worth it,.. and I'm very happy. Ask me again in a year and I'll probably be going after HDTV and having to upgrade all my stuff, including a new higher quality Digital Camcorder. What the hell,... it's only money and I'm still on this side of the grass.