Adobe Encore question...

[sdsumike619]

I am using Sony Vegas for my NLE. In the past I have done everything or most everything in one Vegas project file. on one timeline and encoded it as one AVI for import into Encore. Then I chaptered everything out from there.

The project I'm working on now is a bit more complicated. Is there any issue with making each chapter its own AVI, i.e. Vegas project file to make it easier to edit? I would then be importing about maybe 14 AVIs into Encore..

[edDV]

I am using Sony Vegas for my NLE. In the past I have done everything or most everything in one Vegas project file. on one timeline and encoded it as one AVI for import into Encore. Then I chaptered everything out from there.

The project I'm working on now is a bit more complicated. Is there any issue with making each chapter its own AVI, i.e. Vegas project file to make it easier to edit? I would then be importing about maybe 14 AVIs into Encore..

Should be no problem but try a test first.

[sdsumike619]

I know it WILL let me import any amount of assets that I need, but I don't know if there's any effect on the final authored product. I would expect not because the AVIs get encoded to MPEG-2 anyways..

[edDV]

I know it WILL let me import any amount of assets that I need, but I don't know if there's any effect on the final authored product. I would expect not because the AVIs get encoded to MPEG-2 anyways..

DVD compliant MPeg2 should import without recode. Are you importing audio tracks separately? I create my AC-3 files in Vegas then import assets into DVD Architect or other.

[sdsumike619]

no no I import AVI in order to set the chapter markers where I want them, and I let Encore do the MPG2 encoding. Audio is imported as WAV and Encore encodes to AC-3 as well...

[edDV]

no no I import AVI in order to set the chapter markers where I want them, and I let Encore do the MPG2 encoding. Audio is imported as WAV and Encore encodes to AC-3 as well...

I haven't used Encore in a while but it always has been able to set chapters on MPeg2 assets. In fact Adobe recommends using Premiere Pro for MPeg2 and AC-3 encoding.

DVD Architect allows use of Vegas markers to auto generate chapters.

[sdsumike619]

You can't set them exactly where you want on MPEG video. If I remember right, they have to be on I-Frames, or something like that. But with AVI, you can set a chapter marker wherever you want. That's not a problem. My concern is just importing what I consider a large amount of AVI files into Encore. I usually just import one long file...

[edDV]

Hmm, when I used Encore with Premiere, I always did the fade out - fade in at planned chapter points so I never discovered the I frame limitation.

[sdsumike619]

I think that if you use Premiere as your NLE and Encore for authoring, it lets you import markers as chapter points. The same applies for Vegas and DVD Architect. The problem is that I hate Premiere and I hate DVD Architect so I have to do it manually....

[edDV]

I respect that.

I always hated Encore and Premiere Pro instability so I mostly switched to Vegas-DVDA.

[MondoTV]

I think the only potential issue with your workflow may be that he AVIs will not playback as smoothly between each other as they would if they were one large AVI with chapters.
You can of course create chapter playlists with only one chapter in them to achieve exactly the same thing as having individual assets for each chapter. Hope that makes sense...

[sdsumike619]

Hmm, trying to understand what you mean by playback as smoothly. When the DVD is authored, all of the assets become VOB files which is MPEG-2. The fact that the AVIs were individual when imported into the project shouldn't make a difference in the final VOB, should it?

[lordsmurf]

I don't like Architect or Encore.
I use DVDWS2 or DVDSP for that very reason!

[sdsumike619]

I abandoned DVDWS2 a while back. Found Encore to be the easiest to do what I need, never took a class or read a book so I'm sure I could be doing a lot more with it, but for me, Vegas and Encore were the easiest to just start getting work done..

[fitch.j]

Depends hwo you do it.

Assuming you import all of these sperate videos into Encore and then place them on the same timeline, it should be fine.

If however you give each video its own timeline and then link from the end of one to the begining of the next...then yes you will have playback issues, just like when you change menu screens.

As for worrying about a large number of files i wouldnt worry. I've put together DvD's in encore consisting of over 200 video files, some with chapter markers, some without etc. It seems to handle them fine.

I must say though that i seem to be one of the 'Lucky Ones' who has very few issues with Encore and it always seems to do as i want! I'm well aware this is not the case for everyone!

[sdsumike619]

fitch.j,
Thanks, yes that is what I meant, putting each of the imported assets onto one timeline, one right after the other and inserting chapter markers at the beginning of each one, nothing fancy.

I must be a lucky one too because I've never had a problem and have authored about 9 titles that sell all over the world, with trivial playability inquiries..

I usually import one long avi into Encore, but the editing is rather complex for me on this project so it's easier to make it several vegas timelines..

[MondoTV]

Hmm, trying to understand what you mean by playback as smoothly. When the DVD is authored, all of the assets become VOB files which is MPEG-2. The fact that the AVIs were individual when imported into the project shouldn't make a difference in the final VOB, should it?

Yeah - as I don't normally import AVIs I wasn't thinking of compiling them all on to one timeline.. I generally use ProCoder or Sorenson to encode first.

Of course I'm not sure how having separate AVIs simplifies your authoring process if you are going to put them into one timeline anyway. Perhaps you plan to use some assets more than once, or something like that. FWIW I've had no problem using a single chapter in a chapter playlist to make up an individual chapter menu that plays only the chapter you want then branches back to the appropriate chapter menu. Useful for access to individual songs etc.

[sdsumike619]

Not the authoring, the editing. Having several VEG projects, i.e. timelines, will make the editing process easier. When you have 4 hours on one timeline, and you have very short events, you have to zoom so far in to see and work with them. I'm sure it will turn out fine, just being paranoid I suppose

[MondoTV]

Not the authoring, the editing. Having several VEG projects, i.e. timelines, will make the editing process easier. When you have 4 hours on one timeline, and you have very short events, you have to zoom so far in to see and work with them. I'm sure it will turn out fine, just being paranoid I suppose

Oh I normally do all the timings in my NLE. I use Avid so I use the markers function and then do a print out. You can enter the times directly into the encore timecode window. I find that so much quicker than navigating around Encore

hope your project is a winner ..