DV to DVD Question with Premiere Elements 1.0

[Rockdoc]

I just bought my first DV camera, went through the posts to get some education, and still have a question or two for the gurus. I transfered my first tape (family scenes) as an avi file to my computer, did some minor editing in Adobe Permiere 1.0 (added titles, scene markers) and am ready to burn a DVD. I'm after something I can throw in the DVD for easy viewing with the family...but, I'd like to get the best quality I can. Based on past posts, I was going to export it as an MPEG2 file at 8,500 Mbps, which the program is telling me will take about 4.2 gb. However, there is a DVD button I clicked on that will let me set up a DVD menu with scenes, but it does not tell me what type of file I will be burning to the DVD. It does say it will take 3.4 gb of space, which suggests to me it will be lower quality than the MPEG2 option. What type of file is the DVD button option writing to the DVD, and am I better exporting as an MPEG2? I did not see any way to include a DVD menu with the MPEG2 export. Is there a way to do that with Premiere 1.0 or do I need to get better software?

Thanks

[daamon]

Hi Rockdoc,

Welcome to the dark art of video...

Before I get to answering your questions, I'd like to say well done on putting in the effort to make the progress you have.

Any video footage (commercial or amateur) ultimately ends up in the MPEG2 format if it's going to DVD.

When a DVD is "authored" (during "authoring" - both words to look up) menus, if desired, are created, as well as subtitles (in some of the more complex authoring tools), chapter points etc.

All of this information, along with the video and audio files (these can be combined or seperate) is bundled up into the VOB files that you see on commercial DVDs.

So, whether you encode to DVD yourself or click the "DVD button" you'll get an MPEG2 in a VOB file.

If you create your own MPEG2 file then you'll need to author it to get the menu. TMPGEnc DVD Author is a good tool to start with - there are others.

I don't know Premiere Elements, so I don't know if it creates menus - sorry.

If the same length of footage takes up less space, then a lower bitrate is used to encode the AVI to MPEG2. Only running time and bitrate influence the end filesize of the MPEG2.

A lower bitrate does not neccessarily mean lower observable quality - though too low a bitrate will be seen as "macroblocks".

Buy yourself a rewriteable DVD and experiment - it's the best way to learn.

The above is an "in a nutshell" explanation - as you learn more you'll discover there's more to it. But there's enough there to get you going.

I hope that helps some. Good luck...