DVD quality from DV cam is not very sharp. Need help.

[roblobster]

I have an uncompressed .avi file imported directly from a DV cam worth just under 1 hr.

Since TMPGEnc DVD Author doesn't accept avi, I converted it to .m2v, which I think is mpeg2 format w/ TMPGEnc tools as suggested by many fellow forum members. I didn't bother to tinker with the fine settings because I'm not sure what they meant and assumed whatever it's automatically set to is best.

I then was able to author and burn the output w/ TMPGEnc DVDA and IMG Tool, & DVD Decryptor.

The quality on TV is not as sharp as I had hoped. Definitely not as sharp as the original. I can see the compression especially in scenes with much movements.

Would anyone recommend a better way to transfer from DV Cam to DVD with no loss of quality? I remember doing this with Pinnacle Expression with pretty good picture quality. But the program itself was not very stable.

Thank you for your input.

[guns1inger]

try compressing the avi again with tmpgenc. As you have only one hour of footage, you could use CBR (constant bitrate) at 9000, as long as you convert your audio to either mpeg-layer 2 or AC-3. This will give you about the best quality you could get.

If your footage was longer, I'd suggest VBR with a max of 9000, min of 4200 and an average of 6000.

[Baldrick]

please post conversion in our convert forums. moving you.

[roblobster]

Thanks for your suggestions. Although I ran into another prob. I've converted it to Mpeg2 at 9000 CBR.
When I tried to import it into DVDAuthor, it tells me that the "Video sequence header is incorrect. A video sequence is necessary for every GOP in a stadard DVD. What does that mean? How do I fix that?

I just found the GOP settings. I'm not familiar with what this all means. What should these settings be at?