Please verify my DVD creation logic

[27am_dot_com]

I'm hoping someone can say "yay" or "nay" as to this flow of logic of what steps I need to create an optimal DVD.

Essentially there are about 20 AVI video segments. Some of the audio will need to be edited (to normalize volume levels, interlace background music, etc) and some of the videos will be edited (chop end parts and even join a few of the AVI into one file).

From all of my reading and asking questions on here... here's what I think I need to do:

Once I have the original AVI files
I find a tool to chop the necessary parts (first few seconds or last few seconds of video). This tool hopefully also allows me to join several edited AVI video segments. And possibly without re-rendering (and therefore no video quality loss).

This leaves me with edited AVI files. I now need to work on the audio.
So I find a tool that will extract the audio from an AVI (Audacity ??).
I normalize the volume levels and bring in background music where needed for the given AVI files.

Then I need a tool (will Audacity do this too) to compress these WAV files to AC3.

Now I have separate AVI files and edited audio AC3 files. (although since I edited the audio, wouldn't this all be out of sync now... hmmm... have to think this through).

Now I compress my AVI video into MPEG-2 (with TMPGEnc right?).

I pull both the AC3 and MPEG-2 into TMPGEnc DVD Author where I create my own menus (import background video, change thumbnails, edit label text etc).

I then burn this project to the HDD (is this what's known as creating an ISO fie?).

And/or I create the ISO file.

Then I burn the ISO to my DVD-R (as DVD-Rs seem more universaly compatible).

Can anyone just varify the flow of logic and feel free to provide any pointers. Essentially, I've come to learn that burning AVI directly to DVD with a general purpose tool like Nero isn't smart and that I should compress with something like TMPGEnc but then I came to learn that TMGEnc is not the best for audio and that I should have my finished audio in AC3 format. So I'm just trying to piece it all together.

Boy, creating a DVD sure isn't as simple as burning a CD!!

Help is greatly appreciated.

[daamon]

Hi 27am_dot_com,

You're approach gets a 98% "yay"...

1) Edit AVIs and their associated audio, and convert to MPEG2 and AC3 as planned, but don't join them yet.

During authoring, bring in all of your seperate MPEG2 and AC3 files and authoring will join them - much less likely to get audio out of synch.

Tip: Calling your audio and video files the same name will cause TDA to pick up the audio automatically. e.g.: clip1.m2v and clip1.ac3

2) When you author you can create and then burn the VOB, IFO and BUP files to DVD with TMPGEnc DVD Author.

I don't see a need to create an ISO file, unless you have a use for it later on?

Tools:

VirtualDub - Chop ends off of AVI and will also extract audio to a WAV file. Good tool and free. Will also join AVIs, but they have to have the same characteristics (frame rate is the usual trip up), but taking advice above and joining them during authoring is safer.

ffmpeggui - WAV to AC3. Use a bitrate not less than 192kbps, and no more than 256.

That should sort you out. Good luck...

[thecoalman]

Depends on the tools your using. The following can be accomplished in just about any good editor in one swipe:

Once I have the original AVI files
I find a tool to chop the necessary parts (first few seconds or last few seconds of video). This tool hopefully also allows me to join several edited AVI video segments. And possibly without re-rendering (and therefore no video quality loss).

This leaves me with edited AVI files. I now need to work on the audio.
So I find a tool that will extract the audio from an AVI (Audacity ??).
I normalize the volume levels and bring in background music where needed for the given AVI files.

Then I need a tool (will Audacity do this too) to compress these WAV files to AC3.

Now I have separate AVI files and edited audio AC3 files. (although since I edited the audio, wouldn't this all be out of sync now... hmmm... have to think this through).

Editors treat your clips as source material, they don't do anything to them except fpr whatever you create. You can assmeble them on the timeline, trim them, add your transitions, fade the audio that overlaps, add a nomalize filter to the audio tracks...... You can then export what you have assembled as a single video and in most editors as DVD compliant mpeg w/AC3. If you wish to encode using TMPGenc then you can export as DV-AVI in which case only the edited parts will be reencoded (should be). How much of this can be accomplished in the editor depends on which one your using.

From there import your new file into a disc authoring application and create your ISO or burn to disc. Note that I don't know the requirements of TMPGenc DVD Author so you may have to export your video from the editor according to the specs it requires.

Now what to choose right?

If you have a few bucks to spend try Ulead Media Studio Pro. At about $250 it's a steal. That will get right up to the point of authoring. It will even do that too, the retail version comes with a stripped down version of Ulead Movie Factory for Authoring. There's a 30 day free trial available. I don't think the trial comes with AC3 or MPEG2 encoding.