Plug n Pac has a framserver for Vegas. I don't know if it will frameserve into Vegas from another program. However it will frameserve out.

That's an interesting perspective. I have a Sony IP220E camera that does MPEG2 capture on the fly at DVD resolution, while recording it to the smallest tape you have ever seen. It does an excellent job too and I am sure its processor isn't as powerful as my desktop PC. There must be some other explanation.

RE:Capture MPEG2 DVD compliant clips realtime or near realtime.

Doesn't NeoDVD, InterVideo DVD-Creator,PowerDVR, Pinnacle Studio 8 DVD etc. do it? I figured if these can do it why a more expensive program like Vegas Video 4 would not?

What's the fastest way to get a DVD video?
1. Capture w/ Vegas Video 4 to AVI --->render to MPEG2 in VegasVid--->Import to DVD Architect re-encode and burn

or

2.Capture w/ VegasVideo to AVI----> import to DVD Architect and encode & burn


Is there a quality difference? I like to end up with DVD-MPEG2/AC3 encoded files in the final DVD. How do I stretchout a 4:3 AVI clip to 16:9(?) widescreen? I set the project to widescreen and re-encode the clips in DVD Architect to widescreen but I just end-up with a 4:3 clip on a 16:9 black mask.

Thanks

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Intel P4 2Ghz, 512MB RAMBUS,ASUS motherboard, 3HDD, WINDOWSXP pro, Canopus ADVC-100

Yes, there are quite a few programs that can capture direct to mpeg2. Quality issues are something each will have to decide on their own, and also depend of course on the source. You will not be able to do real time ac3 encoding during capture with any of the sort of apps you've mentioned. You'ld have to do a separate re-encode of the audio at the least, which brings up quality issues.

Sorry but don't get the 2nd part of your ?

Generally widescreen vid on a dvd is a widescreen picture squished into the 4:3 ratio with appropriate flags to tell the dvd player to un-squish it on display.

[B]Is there a quality difference? I like to end up with DVD-MPEG2/AC3 encoded files in the final DVD. How do I stretchout a 4:3 AVI clip to 16:9(?) widescreen? I set the project to widescreen and re-encode the clips in DVD Architect to widescreen but I just end-up with a 4:3 clip on a 16:9 black mask.
[/B] Quoting Myself-Ha,ha

4:3 is not widescreen but the standard semi-square picture for North America NTSC. I want to take a 4:3 captured AVI from a TV program and stretch it and squish it so that it looks like widescreen 16:9(?). I know the people will look fatter...wider and shorter but if it's played on a widescreen TV (LCD/Plasma) it should look relatively normal (not quite normal since the source was not 16:9}. When I do the steps above in my QUOTE all I get is a 16:9 black matte mask with a 4:3 embedded video rather than a 16:9 mask with a 16:9 video . How do I do I achieve this?

RE: Making a DVD
Is there any advantage in encoding my movies from AVI to MPEG2 with Vegas Video4 when
I can Import AVI directly to DVD Architect and have DVD Architect encode to MPEG2 and into final VOB files.

Can the frameserving plug-pack serve files from Vegas Video4 to DVD Architect or to Ulead DVD-Workshop?

PS: I encoded a TV-Soccer/Football Game at an average bitrate of 8000bps giving me a file size of 4.91Gb which was too big for a DVD burn. I used DVD Architect to produce the VOB files and the Video_TS folder with encoded AC3 audio. I then used DVDshrink (free) or DVD2one (DVD-ripping/backup programs)to decrease the whole 4.91Gb Video-TS folder to 4.17Gb which gave me very good quality of the action with no pixelation or artifacts. The final bitrate of the Soccer game as reported by PowerDVD-XP player was between 4.6Kbps-5.9Kbps. The TV source was Cable-TV/NTSC recorded on a 2hr speed VHS tape. The VHS tape was in excellent quality and the DVD matched the same quality. Duration of the game was about 115-118min. (2 halves/periods, plus game intro, and mid-game highlights).

Please give me pointers on the above questions.

Thanks!