.TS files "Direct" to DVD

[201flyer]

Hello, I have not seen this method mentioned but was surprised that my experiment works so well...at least it does with my LG PAL DVD player.

I have a PVR that records TV programs to .TS (transport stream). I use VideoReDo to chop out commercials and then save one big .mpg file.
Then I load this mpeg file into TMPGEnc DVD Authoring program and ignore all the warnings about incorrect GOP size and bit rate being too high. I author the DVD as normal, and once again ignore warnings about bit rate (and size). If the DVD is too large after authoring I use DVDShrink. After I burn this to DVD using NERO I was totally surprised and happy to see it play perfectly in my LG DVD player. The result looks better than normal DVD and I suspect it is given the higher bit rate. Interestingly, my computer DVD programs will not play the DVD but the stand alone player does.

I'm very happy with this method as it seems to save the most vexing and time consuming step of converting to proper size and bit rate for MPEG2.

Anybody else tried this?

[hech54]

Hello, I have not seen this method mentioned but was surprised that my experiment works so well...at least it does with my LG PAL DVD player.

I have a PVR that records TV programs to .TS (transport stream). I use VideoReDo to chop out commercials and then save one big .mpg file.
Then I load this mpeg file into TMPGEnc DVD Authoring program and ignore all the warnings about incorrect GOP size and bit rate being too high. I author the DVD as normal, and once again ignore warnings about bit rate (and size). If the DVD is too large after authoring I use DVDShrink. After I burn this to DVD using NERO I was totally surprised and happy to see it play perfectly in my LG DVD player. The result looks better than normal DVD and I suspect it is given the higher bit rate. Interestingly, my computer DVD programs will not play the DVD but the stand alone player does.

I'm very happy with this method as it seems to save the most vexing and time consuming step of converting to proper size and bit rate for MPEG2.

Anybody else tried this?

Of course....well all but the Nero part. Friends don't let friends use Nero.

[usually_quiet]

Hello, I have not seen this method mentioned but was surprised that my experiment works so well...at least it does with my LG PAL DVD player.

I have a PVR that records TV programs to .TS (transport stream). I use VideoReDo to chop out commercials and then save one big .mpg file.
Then I load this mpeg file into TMPGEnc DVD Authoring program and ignore all the warnings about incorrect GOP size and bit rate being too high. I author the DVD as normal, and once again ignore warnings about bit rate (and size). If the DVD is too large after authoring I use DVDShrink. After I burn this to DVD using NERO I was totally surprised and happy to see it play perfectly in my LG DVD player. The result looks better than normal DVD and I suspect it is given the higher bit rate. Interestingly, my computer DVD programs will not play the DVD but the stand alone player does.

I'm very happy with this method as it seems to save the most vexing and time consuming step of converting to proper size and bit rate for MPEG2.

Anybody else tried this?

No, I have never tried this. High bitrate isn't an issue in my case. The standard definition sources I record have a bitrate which is lower than the maximum permitted by the spec. I do normally re-encode if my authoring software indicates that it is necessary because GOPs are too long.

This process worked well for you, but you can't be sure it will work well for everyone, since DVD players are only required to play video that falls within the DVD standard. Also, you don't mention which LG model you have, but some LG DVD players can play a few types of standard definition MPEG-2 video files from data disks, and are possibly for that reason more tolerant of out of spec video than some other players would be.

Transcoding with DVD Shrink is faster than re-encoding, but the resulting video is still has a lower bitrate. (Lowering the bitrate is the only way to keep the same runtime and reduce the file size.) However, re-encoding preserves more quality than transcoding, if done correctly. Nobody would re-encode if transcoding produced equivalent quality.

[yoda313]

If the DVD is too large after authoring I use DVDShrink.

You should use a bitrate calculator to make sure it fits the first time.

Any more manipulating after the dvd is created will further reduce the quality. Albeit it might be imperceptible to some and if you are only talking about a 100mb or something insignificant like that than it really doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of things.

But basically you should hit your target correctly the first time to save unnecessary processing time and quality degradation.

Whenever I need to make dvds I use avstodvd (freeware). It will take virtually any video source and it has an authoring capacity (with menus if desired) so you get a video_ts folder with all the trimmings ready to burn (and can burn with imgburn if you have it installed - which you should and do have right?).

Avstodvd uses hcenc or quenc to encode to mpeg2. Both are excellent encoders. Avstodvd is an integrated package if you haven't used it before. You set up your dvd and then click start and it does the rest including burning.

Don't forget fancy menus with music and video will eat up storage space on a dvd (and increase encoding time). That will leave less room for a decent bitrate for your main video that you are trying to make a dvd of. Keep it simple unless its something short or not much more than an hour - the main video that is (you can do more of course if you are using dual layers).

Hope this helps give you another option to look into if you haven't considered it or didn't know about it.

[201flyer]

Thanks very much for the feedback!

I wasn't suggesting that this would work in every DVD player, just that it happened to work for me and I was surprised.

Mostly the TS files (less commercials) easily fit on 1 DVD without resorting to DVDShrink. Again, I was just pretty happy to get a seemingly HiDef DVD when I didn't know such a thing was possible.

I apprciate all the extra bits and hints: I always learn a lot from answers in this forum and I really appreciate it. I have not visited in a long time as I just have not had the need recently. Thanks again!

[usually_quiet]

Again, I was just pretty happy to get a seemingly HiDef DVD when I didn't know such a thing was possible.

What do you mean by "HiDef"? Is the resolution is higher than 720x576, or do you mean the video is 576p50?

[MilesAhead]

Hmm, I wonder what would happen if you loaded the .ts into AviDemux, set both audio and video to Copy and the output muxer to mpg ps type, then just saved the video?

The author of SVCD2DVD has a free specialized program for creating DVD from HD captures. It inputs .ts files and automatically sizes them to compliant DVD. Perhaps you should try it to see if it's smart enough to keep the current frame size? Might be a one shot deal where all you'd have to do is burn the VIDEO_TS folder when done. The author has a sub forum on videohelp. Since it sizes down HD capture it must be smart enough to set the bit rate for acceptable DVD. It's possible it would reject input that's not HD resolution. It's just an idea for an experiment. I have used it on HD input. But I've never tried it with SD input resolution.

HDTV2DVD

Edit: if the .ts source files are 1080 or 720 HD then HDTV2DVD should handle them easily. I believe it uses ffmpeg one pass(or it may be selectable. I haven't used it in some time) but coming from HD with a high bit rate to SD DVD you should get very good quality even with one pass.