Render As Avi or MPEG...Please Help

slicknoz wrote on 11/17/2008, 9:51 AM
Software: VMS 8 Platinum
Sony DCR-DVD405E DVD Camcorder
Disc: Sony 8cm 1.4 GB DVD-R R/W

I have 8x 8cm discs filmed in MPEG2 that I want to edit , add transitions and titles and create a 12cm DVD with only 60 mins film on it without loosing any quality if Possible.

After importing more than 4 disc in the media project the program crashes so, I edited 1 disc at a time rendered it as MPEG2, opened a new project and imported the 8 rendered files, put it all together, had to render it again to send it to DVD architect. Unfortunately the picture is really bad - lot of motion blur, very soft, etc.

I was told that if I render each disc as AVI, put it all together in the timline then render again to send it to DVD architect then I shouldn't loose any quality - Is this correct?

Also how can a footage on a 1.4GB disc after rendering it as AVI goes to a file size of 20GB?

I have spent more 40 hours doing this back in October then gave up.

Yet again I decided to spend a further 20 hours and still no joy.....

I would very much apreciate If someone can help me out please as I'm going mad here!

Many Thanks in advance


Comments

Terry Esslinger wrote on 11/17/2008, 10:40 AM
First of all Mpeg is a highly compressed format. Each time you trecompress it as Mpeg you lose tremendous amounts of information (think about successive copies of VCR tapes). Unfortunately Mpeg was meant as a delivery format not an editing format.. If you can find a program where you can put the Mpeg tapes together AND NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES) and it will not recompress then you will be better off. However if ANY changes are made, at the very minimum the changes areas will have to be rerendered.

Did you import the 4 discs via "import camcoder discs"?

If you bring each disc in, render as avi (which is stilla 5:1 compression) but MUCH LESS than rendering to Mpeg. Do your editing as avi files. Put your avi files together as your final project and then render it as MainConcept DVDA compatable Mpeg2 and AC3 audio. Then send these files to DVDA, DVDA should not have to rerender anything but the menus and you should maintain as much quaility as possible.

An avi file of the same material will always be considerbly larger than its mpeg counterpart because of compression ratio differences. I believe that DVavi is about 13GB per hour, uncompressed avi I believe is about 75+-GB per hour. Mpeg 2 is maybe 3-4GB per hour. But depends on the settings you use and the compresser you use witthin the 'wrapper'.
slicknoz wrote on 11/17/2008, 11:37 AM
Terry, You're a life saver - Thank You very much.

Yes I did import the discs as "import camcorder disc".

Ahhh I wasn't aware that after importing a disc you need to render it prior to editing, Thanks.

looks like I need to buy a larger size hard drive If I'm going to render as Avi etc. and go for the 3rd round with this editing saga!

Thanks
MSmart wrote on 11/17/2008, 1:50 PM
slicknoz, maybe I can save you some time (rendering to avi) and rather than buying extra hard drives you could invest in a program called VideoReDo Plus. I use it for editing out comercials from my TiVo files, but it may help you with what you want to do.

It's not meant to be a full-featured editor like VMS (adding transitions/titles), but for frame accurate editing and more importanty, not losing quality, it does a fine job. If anything it's a good adition to your software "tool bag".
slicknoz wrote on 11/17/2008, 2:37 PM
M Smart,
Thank you for our suggestions - much appreciated.

I have already ordered a new hard drive and also found a potential buyer for my existing hard drive which is more or less going cover the cost of the new one.
Ivan Lietaert wrote on 11/17/2008, 10:14 PM
Tell me where this guy lives, so we can all sell our obsolete stuff with a profit!
Joking! :-))