DVD Authoring with 2 HD Camcorders - Adobe or Vegas? 24p? Compression?

[Jamey5k]

Hello,

I am planning on making an instructional DVD and will be using two high def camcorders (Canon HV20). I have a Adobe Master Collection CS3 and can potentially use the combination of Premiere and Encore to make the DVD. However, I have also heard excellent things about Sony Vegas and am considering purchasing that. Does anybody have any recommendations for which one produces higher quality video? Or are there any other Windows-based programs which people would recommend, either instead of or used in conjunction with these programs?

In either program, what recommendations do people have for capturing the video from the camcorder to get the highest quality for playback on a TV? I realize this show be MPEG-2, but I assume it should be set for max bitrate?

Since all video will be recorded in HD, what will happen if end users do not have HDTV's - will they still be able to view the video correctly? Or will I have to convert the HD videos to standard resolution video and make a second option on the DVD itself? Will I have to do anything with the widescreen format to adjust it?

The camcorders I have do have the option to shoot in 24p mode. I know a lot of people like this for a "film" look. Is this mode actually higher quality, or does it just simply produce a more dramatic effect? This is for an instructional video, so I want to do what looks best and most appropriate.

I am planning on syncing up the digital video so that I can show two different angles on the screen simultaneously. I also considered having the option of viewing either or both angles, but I imagine that is somewhat time consuming to set up. Any tips?

Thank you so much for your help with this!

[Baldrick]

If you make a standard DVD-Video it will work on all DVD players because it will be downsized to SD-video. Or are you planning to make HD-DVD or blu-ray on a DVD media?

[Jamey5k]

Thanks - I am planning on doing standard DVD, so it sounds that it will work on any TV then.

I saw somewhere that I should do it in 16:9 HD, and then with whatever program I use (ie, Encore) make a copy in 4:3 standard def and pan and scan myself... Then I would have to put it on a dual layer disc, so I have widescreen and standard available. Does that make sense?

[turk690]

If that started out in HDV it is native 16:9. Even if it's downconverted to SD, it is 16:9 (setting the flags in re-encoding to an SD elementary stream) all the way to authoring. IMHO there is no need to make a P&S 4:3 version because a properly set-up DVD player will display a picture with the correct aspect ratio on a properly set up TV. In a common scenario, a DVD player connected to a conventional 4:3 TV should be set up for that AR, 4:3. Then, when 16:9 material (properly flagged) is being played, the player automatically inserts black bars on top and bottom.