Rendering to Mpeg2

Kriben wrote on 2/26/2003, 4:40 PM
I tried rendering to mpeg2, but the quality is not better in Windows Media Player than mpeg1; also, thinking that my source is digital PAL, I used the SVCD template for PAL but find that it elongates the image, while the default keeps the normal frame aspect. What am I doing wrong, as I understand that mpeg gives superior quality?

Comments

ANDREMIKE wrote on 2/26/2003, 8:28 PM
was your original footage recorded Digitally?
p_l wrote on 2/26/2003, 10:49 PM
480x576 pixels in PAL (or 480x480 in NTSC) is the standard SVCD aspect ratio. WMP plays it "elongated," but when you burn it and play it in a stand-alone DVD player, it will look normal on your TV. To play SVCD with a normal-looking aspect ratio on a computer, use a software DVD player such as WinDVD or PowerDVD.
Kriben wrote on 2/26/2003, 10:58 PM
Yes
Kriben wrote on 2/26/2003, 11:02 PM
I want to distribute the movie for the Windows Media Player, and want the best possible quality - how do I go about this, and should I use mpeg 1 or mpeg 2?Do you know of a way to distribute the movie as an autorun for WMP?
Thanks.
p_l wrote on 2/27/2003, 5:27 PM
If you want to make an autorun VCD (MPEG 1), here's how:

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/autorun.htm

If you're just putting a .WMV format video on a CD, here's what I would do. Produce your file in VF, preferably as DV-AVI, then import that into Windows Movie Maker 2, free if you run XP:

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/moviemaker/default.asp


Read more here, by the way:

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/wmm2.asp


Then, in WMM2, when you choose "Save the Movie to my Computer," one of its handy options is to select a target size (in MB) for your movie, and it'll automatically produce it at the best bitrate(quality) for that size. Choose the size of your CD, e.g., 650MB or 700MB, perhaps just a little less just too be safe. It'll use the new Windows Media 9 codec, which is pretty good. Then burn that file to your CD.

Hope this helps!
Kriben wrote on 3/2/2003, 4:06 AM
What would recommend as the best format for Windows Media Player in terms of quality?
p_l wrote on 3/2/2003, 7:50 AM
How long is your video?

You may want to start out by looking at this format comparison chart:

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/comparison.htm#format

It doesn't include WMV9 though, which I've found to be pretty good. In terms of compatibility, the MPEG1 codec is already installed on all Windows machines, and WMP (version 7 and above) will automatically download the WMV9 codec if connected to the Internet. For other formats, such as MPEG2, DivX, etc., you may have to install the codec on the playback computer. Perhaps start out by trying MPEG1 or WMV9 (as described above) and see what looks good to you. Eye of the beholder :)