Dvd Format Questions

[Winsordawson]

I am converting old SVHS and 3/4" tapes to a digital format. Though I save them as dv files, I also want to burn them onto DVD-Rs. From what i have read, DVD players will read only Mpeg files. Is this based off the container format or the file format?

For example, will a DVD player play a .mp4 file, while it is encoded in h.264? Or would a DVD player play a Quicktime .mov file as long as the file format is encoded in MPEG?

Also, let's assume that I have a .mp4 file encoded in MPEG-4. Can I play this on a DVD player, or do I have to put it through a program like iDVD? Someone in a programming department told me that I can save the file as an .avi, .dv, or anything else as long as I export it though a software like iDVD. (He also told me that not all DVD players can read Dual-Layer, so I have reason to doubt him.) Is this because these programs convert any videos to MPEG?

Sorry if these questions seem obvious--I haven't quite made the transitions to digital media, as you can tell!

[DB83]

Some dvd players can play Divx or Xvid movies.

But for maximum compatability you should use iDVD to make a standard DVD disk.

[edDV]

I am converting old SVHS and 3/4" tapes to a digital format. Though I save them as dv files, I also want to burn them onto DVD-Rs. From what i have read, DVD players will read only Mpeg files. Is this based off the container format or the file format?

SVHS and 3/4" UMatic are interlace formats. You correctly captured them to interlace DV format.

For DVD you want interlace 720x480i/29.97 lower field first MPeg2 at sufficient bit rate. You didn't say whether these are camcorder video of TV captures. For noisy, shakey camcorder material encode at >8000 Mb/s average. TV captures can be less (~6000 Kb/s average) to fit longer record times.

If you care about quality, you won't deinterlace this type of source. Therefore avoid Quicktime h.264.

You can do most of this in iDVD but Toast would offer more encoding control.

[Winsordawson]

SVHS and 3/4" UMatic are interlace formats. You correctly captured them to interlace DV format.

For DVD you want interlace 720x480i/29.97 lower field first MPeg2 at sufficient bit rate. You didn't say whether these are camcorder video of TV captures. For noisy, shakey camcorder material encode at >8000 Mb/s average. TV captures can be less (~6000 Kb/s average) to fit longer record times.

If you care about quality, you won't deinterlace this type of source. Therefore avoid Quicktime h.264.

You can do most of this in iDVD but Toast would offer more encoding control.

Are there other codecs besides h.264 that deinterlace the video? If I save it as a MPEG-4 Improved, do I still have to put it through iDVD?

[edDV]

SVHS and 3/4" UMatic are interlace formats. You correctly captured them to interlace DV format.

For DVD you want interlace 720x480i/29.97 lower field first MPeg2 at sufficient bit rate. You didn't say whether these are camcorder video of TV captures. For noisy, shakey camcorder material encode at >8000 Mb/s average. TV captures can be less (~6000 Kb/s average) to fit longer record times.

If you care about quality, you won't deinterlace this type of source. Therefore avoid Quicktime h.264.

You can do most of this in iDVD but Toast would offer more encoding control.

Are there other codecs besides h.264 that deinterlace the video? If I save it as a MPEG-4 Improved, do I still have to put it through iDVD?

Are you looking for best presevation quality or just small files with artifacts.

[Winsordawson]

SVHS and 3/4" UMatic are interlace formats. You correctly captured them to interlace DV format.

For DVD you want interlace 720x480i/29.97 lower field first MPeg2 at sufficient bit rate. You didn't say whether these are camcorder video of TV captures. For noisy, shakey camcorder material encode at >8000 Mb/s average. TV captures can be less (~6000 Kb/s average) to fit longer record times.

If you care about quality, you won't deinterlace this type of source. Therefore avoid Quicktime h.264.

You can do most of this in iDVD but Toast would offer more encoding control.

Are there other codecs besides h.264 that deinterlace the video? If I save it as a MPEG-4 Improved, do I still have to put it through iDVD?

Are you looking for best presevation quality or just small files with artifacts.

Well my half hour video is 5.97 GB as a dv file. I need to fit it onto a 4.7 GB DVD. I would want the best quality possible without deinterlacing it.

[jman98]

Winsordawson - You got lucky with this thread, but in the future if you are posting about ANYTHING that is being done on a Mac, please post it in our Mac forum for the best chance of getting helpful responses. We are very Windows-centric in almost all of the forums here. Macs require specialized answers because most of the programs we use don't exist on Macs.

Your programmer contact is correct if he means that some DVD players cannot play consumer burned dual layer DVDs. That is definitely true. I've seen it first hand, but really it's pretty rare with newer players. If he means that some DVD players cannot play commercially pressed dual layer DVDs, then that is wrong.

MPEG-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4 all work with progressive video. It would be helpful if you could decide on what is really your goal. Is your goal to make a DVD? Or to produce the best quality files you can without regard to DVD players being able to play it? Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it? You might tell us the DVD player model you have if you want to play something other than standard DVDs so we can figure out if your player supports other formats or not.

[edDV]

Ok. That gives us something to work.

You could use a dual layer DVDR (data mode) and save it as it is in DV format. Alt 1.

You could encode to MPeg2 and easily fit a DVDR-5 single layer.

30 min at max allowed DVD bit rate will use less than half a single layer DVDR 5. This is probably more than enough if you want a playable DVD. After encoding, you would need to author it.

[Winsordawson]

Winsordawson - You got lucky with this thread, but in the future if you are posting about ANYTHING that is being done on a Mac, please post it in our Mac forum for the best chance of getting helpful responses. We are very Windows-centric in almost all of the forums here. Macs require specialized answers because most of the programs we use don't exist on Macs.

Your programmer contact is correct if he means that some DVD players cannot play consumer burned dual layer DVDs. That is definitely true. I've seen it first hand, but really it's pretty rare with newer players. If he means that some DVD players cannot play commercially pressed dual layer DVDs, then that is wrong.

MPEG-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4 all work with progressive video. It would be helpful if you could decide on what is really your goal. Is your goal to make a DVD? Or to produce the best quality files you can without regard to DVD players being able to play it? Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it? You might tell us the DVD player model you have if you want to play something other than standard DVDs so we can figure out if your player supports other formats or not.

I want to burn each of my videos to a DVD and also save the original better version (which cannot fit on my DVDs) to my hard drive. These DVDs would be played on other people's DVD players.

Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it?

This may sound like a stupid question, but a video does not have to be in MPEG form for it to be played on a DVD? Doesn't iDVD turn videos into MPEG form? So I can either convert it to MPEG-4 beforehand or let iDVD do the job with another format? Thanks.

[edDV]

Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it?

This may sound like a stupid question, but a video does not have to be in MPEG form for it to be played on a DVD? Doesn't iDVD turn videos into MPEG form? So I can either convert it to MPEG-4 beforehand or let iDVD do the job with another format? Thanks.

DVD is rigidly defined as MPeg2. See
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Any consumer level conversion to MPeg4 will most likely deinterlace which will be destructive to quality. What you want to do is maintan interlace to MPeg2.

I would detail the steps in iDVD but my last Mac has failed at mother board level so I'm currently without a working Mac. Two have failed in the last 6 months.

[Winsordawson]

Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it?

This may sound like a stupid question, but a video does not have to be in MPEG form for it to be played on a DVD? Doesn't iDVD turn videos into MPEG form? So I can either convert it to MPEG-4 beforehand or let iDVD do the job with another format? Thanks.

DVD is rigidly defined as MPeg2. See
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Any consumer level conversion to MPeg4 will most likely deinterlace which will be destructive to quality. What you want to do is to maintan interlace to MPeg2.

I would detail the steps in iDVD but my last Mac has failed at mother board level so I'm currently without a working Mac. Two have failed in the last 6 months.

Oh have I had my share of defective Macs!

In regards to MPEG4, what types of conversions would not deinterlace the video? Is this the best codec to use? And why would I need to author it if I converted it to MPEG form? Isn't that the format DVD players read?

[lordsmurf]

I've been Mac-less too, for about a year now.
Not that I miss it too often, but it was nice to have when I needed it.

[edDV]

Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it?

This may sound like a stupid question, but a video does not have to be in MPEG form for it to be played on a DVD? Doesn't iDVD turn videos into MPEG form? So I can either convert it to MPEG-4 beforehand or let iDVD do the job with another format? Thanks.

DVD is rigidly defined as MPeg2. See
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Any consumer level conversion to MPeg4 will most likely deinterlace which will be destructive to quality. What you want to do is to maintan interlace to MPeg2.

I would detail the steps in iDVD but my last Mac has failed at mother board level so I'm currently without a working Mac. Two have failed in the last 6 months.

Oh have I had my share of defective Macs!

In regards to MPEG4, what types of conversions would not deinterlace the video? Is this the best codec to use? And why would I need to author it if I converted it to MPEG form? Isn't that the format DVD players read?

You haven't explained your goal.

Do you want best quality? If so retain DV (dual layer DVDR) or encode high bit rate interlace MPeg2.

Do you want it playable on any DVD player? If so you will follow DVD authoring rules.

Do you care less about quality but want small file size? Then we can talk about deinterlace.

[Winsordawson]

Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it?

This may sound like a stupid question, but a video does not have to be in MPEG form for it to be played on a DVD? Doesn't iDVD turn videos into MPEG form? So I can either convert it to MPEG-4 beforehand or let iDVD do the job with another format? Thanks.

DVD is rigidly defined as MPeg2. See
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Any consumer level conversion to MPeg4 will most likely deinterlace which will be destructive to quality. What you want to do is to maintan interlace to MPeg2.

I would detail the steps in iDVD but my last Mac has failed at mother board level so I'm currently without a working Mac. Two have failed in the last 6 months.

Oh have I had my share of defective Macs!

In regards to MPEG4, what types of conversions would not deinterlace the video? Is this the best codec to use? And why would I need to author it if I converted it to MPEG form? Isn't that the format DVD players read?

You haven't explained your goal.

Do you want best quality? If so retain DV (dual layer DVDR) or encode high bit rate interlace MPeg2.

Do you want it playable on any DVD player? If so you will follow DVD authoring rules.

Do you care less about quality but want small file size? Then we can talk about deinterlace.

I apologize for the confusion, but I believe you are overestimating my technological savviness! I'm still trying to figure out the need of iDVD! I do want it playable on any DVD player, but I also want the best quality possible. If I save a video as a MPEG2, can't any DVD player play it? If so, why would I need to follow DVD authoring rules? Doesn't a program like iDVD just turn a video into a VOB file? I understand doing that for a .dv file.

This confusion may lie with my misunderstanding of DVD authoring software and with container vs file formats in respect to DVDs.

[guns1inger]

Not every DVD player will play mpeg-2 files outside a valid DVD Video structure. I have a pioneer DVD player that does, and a Pioneer recorder that won't. If you want it universally playable (within reason - there are a lot of factors at play here) on standalone DVD players then you have to author to a compliant DVD Video structure.

The VOB structure is an extension of the mpg container that mpeg-2 is stored in, and allows for multiple video and audio streams, sub-picture streams, menus etc. However without the IFO files to explain to the player how these are laid out - which titles are in which titlesets and have which attributes, where chapter stops are etc., you won't get guaranteed playback. The authoring process is what brings all of these features together and ensures that the results meet the correct structure criteria for DVD video playback.

[Winsordawson]

Not every DVD player will play mpeg-2 files outside a valid DVD Video structure. I have a pioneer DVD player that does, and a Pioneer recorder that won't. If you want it universally playable (within reason - there are a lot of factors at play here) on standalone DVD players then you have to author to a compliant DVD Video structure.

The VOB structure is an extension of the mpg container that mpeg-2 is stored in, and allows for multiple video and audio streams, sub-picture streams, menus etc. However without the IFO files to explain to the player how these are laid out - which titles are in which titlesets and have which attributes, where chapter stops are etc., you won't get guaranteed playback. The authoring process is what brings all of these features together and ensures that the results meet the correct structure criteria for DVD video playback.

I see. Now let's say I have a DVD player that plays MPEG-4. I have read that MPEG-4 is the same as .mp4.

So if I have a .mov video encoded in MPEG-4, would the dvd player play it? Or could this DVD player play a video with any codec as long as it has a container format of .mp4?

Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it?

This may sound like a stupid question, but a video does not have to be in MPEG form for it to be played on a DVD? Doesn't iDVD turn videos into MPEG form? So I can either convert it to MPEG-4 beforehand or let iDVD do the job with another format? Thanks.

DVD is rigidly defined as MPeg2. See
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Any consumer level conversion to MPeg4 will most likely deinterlace which will be destructive to quality. What you want to do is to maintan interlace to MPeg2.

I would detail the steps in iDVD but my last Mac has failed at mother board level so I'm currently without a working Mac. Two have failed in the last 6 months.

Oh have I had my share of defective Macs!

In regards to MPEG4, what types of conversions would not deinterlace the video? Is this the best codec to use? And why would I need to author it if I converted it to MPEG form? Isn't that the format DVD players read?

You haven't explained your goal.

Do you want best quality? If so retain DV (dual layer DVDR) or encode high bit rate interlace MPeg2.

Do you want it playable on any DVD player? If so you will follow DVD authoring rules.

Do you care less about quality but want small file size? Then we can talk about deinterlace.

I apologize for the confusion, but I believe you are overestimating my technological savviness! I'm still trying to figure out the need of iDVD! I do want it playable on any DVD player, but I also want the best quality possible. If I save a video as a MPEG2, can't any DVD player play it? If so, why would I need to follow DVD authoring rules? Doesn't a program like iDVD just turn a video into a VOB file? I understand doing that for a .dv file.

This confusion may lie with my misunderstanding of DVD authoring software and with container vs file formats in respect to DVDs.

Given this knowledge, couldn't I have both best quality and widespread playability, by importing a DV video to a DVD authoring software?

[guns1inger]

mpeg-4 isn't the same as MP4. MP4 is a container. Mpeg-4 is a codec. And it covers a fair range of compression formats, which are not all compatible with each other. Mpeg-4 covers Xvid/Divx, which is what most standalone players that support mpeg-4 will play, but it also includes H.264/AVC, which most players do not support. The chances are high that your player will support Xvid/Divx, but not H.264.

Yes, you can import your DV file into a DVD authoring tool, if it supports encoding to mpeg-2. The issue then becomes how good an encoder it is, and how much control you have over it's output. Most low end consumer tools, including iDVD, have very limited encoding options, and therefore rarely produce high quality results.

[Winsordawson]

mpeg-4 isn't the same as MP4. MP4 is a container. Mpeg-4 is a codec. And it covers a fair range of compression formats, which are not all compatible with each other. Mpeg-4 covers Xvid/Divx, which is what most standalone players that support mpeg-4 will play, but it also includes H.264/AVC, which most players do not support. The chances are high that your player will support Xvid/Divx, but not H.264.

Yes, you can import your DV file into a DVD authoring tool, if it supports encoding to mpeg-2. The issue then becomes how good an encoder it is, and how much control you have over it's output. Most low end consumer tools, including iDVD, have very limited encoding options, and therefore rarely produce high quality results.

Which does a DVD player look at when playing a DVD, the container or the file format? If it is the file format, could a
Mpeg-4 DVD player play a .mov file if it is encoded in Mpeg-4?

What DVD authoring tools would you suggest?

[guns1inger]

AVI, maybe .divx in newer models. .mov support is very rare.

I don't use a Mac, so I can't really help you with what might produce quality output. I haven't been overly impressed by what I have seen come out iMovie and iDVD (it seems to be the fancy templates that everyone loves, and which seem to blind them to the mediocre quality of the actual video - perhaps that is the point), but that rings true with similar level tools on Windows as well.

[edDV]

mpeg-4 isn't the same as MP4. MP4 is a container. Mpeg-4 is a codec. And it covers a fair range of compression formats, which are not all compatible with each other. Mpeg-4 covers Xvid/Divx, which is what most standalone players that support mpeg-4 will play, but it also includes H.264/AVC, which most players do not support. The chances are high that your player will support Xvid/Divx, but not H.264.

Yes, you can import your DV file into a DVD authoring tool, if it supports encoding to mpeg-2. The issue then becomes how good an encoder it is, and how much control you have over it's output. Most low end consumer tools, including iDVD, have very limited encoding options, and therefore rarely produce high quality results.

Which does a DVD player look at when playing a DVD, the container or the file format? If it is the file format, could a
Mpeg-4 DVD player play a .mov file if it is encoded in Mpeg-4?

What DVD authoring tools would you suggest?

The generic DVD player looks for MPeg2 muxwed into a VOB with proper data structures. Such a disc needs to be authored. For Mac OSX use Toast if you want more than iDVD.

See "What is DVD?" https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Many DVD players also play xvix/xvid files at much lower quality. These need to be progressive.

[Winsordawson]

AVI, maybe .divx in newer models. .mov support is very rare.

I don't use a Mac, so I can't really help you with what might produce quality output. I haven't been overly impressed by what I have seen come out iMovie and iDVD (it seems to be the fancy templates that everyone loves, and which seem to blind them to the mediocre quality of the actual video - perhaps that is the point), but that rings true with similar level tools on Windows as well.

So a DVD player reads the container file and not the format file? If true, then why wouldn't a DVD player be able to read a .mp4 encoded in h.264? Or does a DVD player need to accept both the container and the file format in order to play a DVD?

[guns1inger]

The player needs to have the right codec, just like a PC or Mac does. DVD players are deigned to read mpeg-1 or mepg-2 in the DVD Video format. Anything after that is optional and up to the manufacturer. Many older players have hardware support for Xvid or Divx encoded material in the AVI container (most actually look for files ending in .avi), some support .Divx. Some also support mpg files outside the DVD structure, so long as they are DVD compliant.

Some newer players are starting to support H264 in the MKV container, and even the MP4 container. But this support is far from universal.

So the question now goes back to what you really want. If you want something universally playable, then DVD Video is your only option. The next most common is Xvid/Divx encoded AVI using the basic Home Theatre preset. Anything else will be too player dependent to be considered useful for anyone but yourself. The least playable format is quicktime.

[Winsordawson]

I think I will convert as edDV mentioned. I just wanted to get a basic understanding of why what I am doing works. I know some people with Final Cut Studio--is their DVD Studio Pro better than Toast?

[edDV]

I think I will convert as edDV mentioned. I just wanted to get a basic understanding of why what I am doing works. I know some people with Final Cut Studio--is their DVD Studio Pro better than Toast?

Key to DVD quality for your type of source is adequate MPeg2 bit rate 8000-9500 Kb/s.

iDVD is part of iLife

Toast is a consumer DVD authoring program by Roxio and lists ~$99 (~$70 street)

DVD Studio Pro is part of the Studio package and lists ~$999

Yes Studio Pro is more sophisticated than Toast but has a steeper learning curve.

A Windows PC would have a wider choice of software.

[Cornucopia]

Here is a basic understanding:

DVD players HAVE to support DVD-Video format to be called DVD players. PERIOD. Anything else is a bonus. The DVDplayers read both the container format (VOB+IFO files in a specific layout, VOB being an expanded version of MPEG2 Program Stream file format) ANDthe codec format (MPEG1 or MPEG2 video with specific parameters for DVD, and MP2/AC3/PCM audio also with specific parameters).

Those other BONUS features are NOT universally supported. They include: JPEG picture playback, MP3 and/or WMV audio playback, MPEG1 or MPEG2 in MPEG SS/PS format, MPEG4 part2 video playback- sometimes in an AVI/DivX container, sometimes in an MP4 container, etc...
There is thus (with the exception of "UltraDivx" certification) not ANY enforced standard as regards the playability of all these other formats.

On a Mac, you want to use the best app possible that you still can understand how to use.
For Editing: iMovie is beginner/consumer, FCP is Pro (and there isn't much in-between)
For Encoding/Authoring/Burning: iDVD does its own encoding (at beginner/consumer level) and authoring and burning, Toast also (at slightly better level and features), on the Pro level Compressor is used for compression/encoding, DVD Studio Pro is used for the authoring and burning (although you could use Toast for the burning after-the-fact if you created an ISO image first).
There are a few other apps that can do some of these functions, but none are as universal on a Mac as what I just mentioned.

A DVD can play a video of less than 1 Hour at its HIGHEST quality possible for the spec, so you shouldn't have any trouble with your footage, as long as you maintain interlacing

Hope that helps,

Scott

[jman98]

Or a combination of both where it doesn't have to be DVD format as long as the quality is very good and a DVD player can play it?

This may sound like a stupid question, but a video does not have to be in MPEG form for it to be played on a DVD? Doesn't iDVD turn videos into MPEG form? So I can either convert it to MPEG-4 beforehand or let iDVD do the job with another format? Thanks.

I was talking about what MIGHT be possible on SOME DVD players, not what DVD format requires. I sincerely wanted to be helpful, but it seems that all I have succeeded in doing is just confusing you, so I'm going to bow out and let the others help you if you still need it.

[Winsordawson]

Here is a basic understanding:

DVD players HAVE to support DVD-Video format to be called DVD players. PERIOD. Anything else is a bonus. The DVDplayers read both the container format (VOB+IFO files in a specific layout, VOB being an expanded version of MPEG2 Program Stream file format) ANDthe codec format (MPEG1 or MPEG2 video with specific parameters for DVD, and MP2/AC3/PCM audio also with specific parameters).

Those other BONUS features are NOT universally supported. They include: JPEG picture playback, MP3 and/or WMV audio playback, MPEG1 or MPEG2 in MPEG SS/PS format, MPEG4 part2 video playback- sometimes in an AVI/DivX container, sometimes in an MP4 container, etc...
There is thus (with the exception of "UltraDivx" certification) not ANY enforced standard as regards the playability of all these other formats.

On a Mac, you want to use the best app possible that you still can understand how to use.
For Editing: iMovie is beginner/consumer, FCP is Pro (and there isn't much in-between)
For Encoding/Authoring/Burning: iDVD does its own encoding (at beginner/consumer level) and authoring and burning, Toast also (at slightly better level and features), on the Pro level Compressor is used for compression/encoding, DVD Studio Pro is used for the authoring and burning (although you could use Toast for the burning after-the-fact if you created an ISO image first).
There are a few other apps that can do some of these functions, but none are as universal on a Mac as what I just mentioned.

A DVD can play a video of less than 1 Hour at its HIGHEST quality possible for the spec, so you shouldn't have any trouble with your footage, as long as you maintain interlacing

Hope that helps,

Scott

Thank you for the clarification. I was planning to burn my videos in .dv format to a dual-layered DVD, but in an earlier post jman98 said that some DVD players cannot play consumer burned dual-layer DVD. What is the difference between that and a commercially pressed dual-layer DVD? If such a process is too expensive, I may be forced to further compress the videos. Is there a interlace codec that does not compress a video file as highly as mpeg2?

[lordsmurf]

MPEG-2 compression is not necessarily "compressed". Try the Matrox broadcast codec, for example. At 25Mb/s or 50Mb/s, I'd hardly call that high compression. Not DVD compliant, but not really what I'd call "compressed" either.

[edDV]

Here is a basic understanding:

DVD players HAVE to support DVD-Video format to be called DVD players. PERIOD. Anything else is a bonus. The DVDplayers read both the container format (VOB+IFO files in a specific layout, VOB being an expanded version of MPEG2 Program Stream file format) ANDthe codec format (MPEG1 or MPEG2 video with specific parameters for DVD, and MP2/AC3/PCM audio also with specific parameters).

Those other BONUS features are NOT universally supported. They include: JPEG picture playback, MP3 and/or WMV audio playback, MPEG1 or MPEG2 in MPEG SS/PS format, MPEG4 part2 video playback- sometimes in an AVI/DivX container, sometimes in an MP4 container, etc...
There is thus (with the exception of "UltraDivx" certification) not ANY enforced standard as regards the playability of all these other formats.

On a Mac, you want to use the best app possible that you still can understand how to use.
For Editing: iMovie is beginner/consumer, FCP is Pro (and there isn't much in-between)
For Encoding/Authoring/Burning: iDVD does its own encoding (at beginner/consumer level) and authoring and burning, Toast also (at slightly better level and features), on the Pro level Compressor is used for compression/encoding, DVD Studio Pro is used for the authoring and burning (although you could use Toast for the burning after-the-fact if you created an ISO image first).
There are a few other apps that can do some of these functions, but none are as universal on a Mac as what I just mentioned.

A DVD can play a video of less than 1 Hour at its HIGHEST quality possible for the spec, so you shouldn't have any trouble with your footage, as long as you maintain interlacing

Hope that helps,

Scott

Thank you for the clarification. I was planning to burn my videos in .dv format to a dual-layered DVD, but in an earlier post jman98 said that some DVD players cannot play consumer burned dual-layer DVD. What is the difference between that and a commercially pressed dual-layer DVD? If such a process is too expensive, I may be forced to further compress the videos. Is there a interlace codec that does not compress a video file as highly as mpeg2?

You can archive about 38 minutes of .dv to a dual layer DVDR disc as data but it won't be playable on a DVD player. A playable DVD must be MPeg1 or MPeg2. Max practical video bit rate is 9570 Kbps (assuing 224 Kbps mp2 or AC3 stereo audio). That gives about 1 hour of record time for a single layer DVDR or 1 hour, 53 minutes for a dual layer DVDR.

For DV source you would encode 720x480i/29.97 fps, lower field first.

After encoding to MPeg2, the DVD must be authored into VOB, IFO and BUP files in the file structure detailed in "What is DVD?" above left. Then that file structure is converted into a disc image and burned to the actual media.

That results in a playable DVD. Pressed DVD discs have the same restrictions.

I suggest you archive your original .dv files as data to DVDR or hard disk in addition to making a playable DVD.

[Winsordawson]

Here is a basic understanding:

DVD players HAVE to support DVD-Video format to be called DVD players. PERIOD. Anything else is a bonus. The DVDplayers read both the container format (VOB+IFO files in a specific layout, VOB being an expanded version of MPEG2 Program Stream file format) ANDthe codec format (MPEG1 or MPEG2 video with specific parameters for DVD, and MP2/AC3/PCM audio also with specific parameters).

Those other BONUS features are NOT universally supported. They include: JPEG picture playback, MP3 and/or WMV audio playback, MPEG1 or MPEG2 in MPEG SS/PS format, MPEG4 part2 video playback- sometimes in an AVI/DivX container, sometimes in an MP4 container, etc...
There is thus (with the exception of "UltraDivx" certification) not ANY enforced standard as regards the playability of all these other formats.

On a Mac, you want to use the best app possible that you still can understand how to use.
For Editing: iMovie is beginner/consumer, FCP is Pro (and there isn't much in-between)
For Encoding/Authoring/Burning: iDVD does its own encoding (at beginner/consumer level) and authoring and burning, Toast also (at slightly better level and features), on the Pro level Compressor is used for compression/encoding, DVD Studio Pro is used for the authoring and burning (although you could use Toast for the burning after-the-fact if you created an ISO image first).
There are a few other apps that can do some of these functions, but none are as universal on a Mac as what I just mentioned.

A DVD can play a video of less than 1 Hour at its HIGHEST quality possible for the spec, so you shouldn't have any trouble with your footage, as long as you maintain interlacing

Hope that helps,

Scott

Thank you for the clarification. I was planning to burn my videos in .dv format to a dual-layered DVD, but in an earlier post jman98 said that some DVD players cannot play consumer burned dual-layer DVD. What is the difference between that and a commercially pressed dual-layer DVD? If such a process is too expensive, I may be forced to further compress the videos. Is there a interlace codec that does not compress a video file as highly as mpeg2?

You can archive about 38 minutes of .dv to a dual layer DVDR disc as data but it won't be playable on a DVD player. A playable DVD must be MPeg1 or MPeg2. Max practical video bit rate is 9570 Kbps (assuing 224 Kbps mp2 or AC3 stereo audio). That gives about 1 hour of record time for a single layer DVDR or 1 hour, 53 minutes for a dual layer DVDR.

For DV source you would encode 720x480i/29.97 fps, lower field first.

After encoding to MPeg2, the DVD must be authored into VOB, IFO and BUP files in the file structure detailed in "What is DVD?" above left. Then that file structure is converted into a disc image and burned to the actual media.

That results in a playable DVD. Pressed DVD discs have the same restrictions.

I suggest you archive your original .dv files as data to DVDR or hard disk in addition to making a playable DVD.

Thank you for the help. I decided to buy another video converter which offers both 48 khz 16 bit 2-channel audio and 32 khz 12 bit 4-channel audio. Since I did not edit these tapes originally, would it be best to stick with 48 khz? Or is there a way to determine if the audio was mixed?