DVD media

L25 wrote on 11/6/2004, 12:54 PM

I am sending a DVD of some live performance footage as an entry to a comedy festival. They are picking a line-up for live acts. They asked for a DVD (seems alot of folks still just want VHS.)

I have a HPdvd200i burner.Should I burn to dvd+rw or dvd+r? I guess I could do both. Also should I keep my bit rate at 8000?

thanks,

Jeff

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 11/6/2004, 5:37 PM

For distribution ALWAYS use DVD+R or DVD-R. Do NOT use the rewriteable formats (DVD+RW or DVD-RW).

L25 wrote on 11/6/2004, 7:21 PM

Thanks John,

I just viewed my +R disc on my HD tv. While I am ok with the results, the resolution seems a bit less than mini dv tape via rca outs. Not a lot of motion in the footage.

I burned at 8000. I read one of your early posts suggesting above 8000Mbps might be risky, so I will stay with 8000

johnmeyer wrote on 11/7/2004, 12:35 AM

A DVD burned at an average (not maximum) of 8,000 should be virtually indistinguishable from the original. If it isn't, you are doing something wrong. Don't EVER use the "Default" template when encoding MPEG-2. I can't tell you how many Vegas users make that mistake and then complain about the result. For some reason, Sony uses really low-quality settings for the default template. Worse than this, Vegas does not remember the last template used, so you are always "forced" to use the default template, unless you choose something else.

ALWAYS select one of the DVD Architect templates, and then AFTER selecting this template, THEN change the bitrate (and that's the AVERAGE bitrate, not the MAXIMUM). Leave the average and minimum bitrates alone.

L25 wrote on 11/7/2004, 8:30 AM

I used DVDA to encode, used DVDA optimize and set to 8000Mbps (In DVDA, you say that's average , right?)

I only see one setting adjustment in DVDA. Are you saying I should have used Vegas to encode?

I found some of your early posts, very helpful.

thanks,

Jeff

johnmeyer wrote on 11/7/2004, 10:06 AM

It is OK to use DVDA to encode. The results should be as good under most circumstances. The encoder in Vegas is the same encoder, but Vegas "exposes" more of the controls, including 2-pass encoding. However, when you use high bitrates (like 8,000), 2-pass encoding will make no difference whatsoever; it is only useful when you are using low bitrates and are trying to squeeze LOTs of stuff into a single DVD.