Comments

ScottW wrote on 8/30/2006, 6:31 PM
IIRC, you have no way in VMS to specify the bit rate when rendering to MPEG-2. If the default bitrate is higher than what your MPEG-2 file is currently rendered at, you're going to end up with a larger file (even though no additional quality gains will be achieved).

So, if I were you, I'd render to DV AVI from VMS, then use the AVI file in DVDAS and tell it to "fit to disk" - at which point DVDAS will adjust the bitrate accordingly. The DV encoder that Sony provides is pretty good, and you're not likely to lose anymore quality than you already have using your current approach.

The other option would be to get an editor that edits MPEG-2 natively, such as Womble. For Womble, if your edits are strictly cuts, then no re-encoding is performed.

--Scott
Tim L wrote on 8/30/2006, 7:16 PM
and for the life of me i can't figure out why vms would render an mpg for use in DVD-Arch but make it too big to fit in Arch

When you render in VMS, it doesn't really know what you are going to do with the video, whether its going to end up on a double-layer DVD, etc. I agree that it would be nice to have more control from within VMS regarding bit-rate, file size, etc. We'll have to see what the next version brings.

I'm wondering if you could just do all of your editing in DVD Architect Studio. If all you are doing is taking out commercials (i.e. not adding titles, or adjusting brightness, contrast, etc.), then you might be able to accomplish this solely in DVDAS.

When you bring a media item into DVDAS, you can set the in and out points (ie start and end points) of what you want to use. You can also set it up so that the end of one clip immediately plays another. This is done by setting the "end action" of a clip. I think in DVDAS they call this "Making Playlists" or something like that -- try the help files.

What I'm thinking about is that you pull in your original MPEG in DVDAS. You set up clip number 1 to start from A and go to B in your original MPEG. The end action of clip 1 is to play clip 2. Clip 2 is specified to start with "in" point at C, and "out" point at D. The end action of clip 2 is to play clip 3, etc.

If this works, then it is likely DVDAS won't re-render any of your MPEG -- provided it is in a DVD compliant format to start with. This would retain your original video quality, and would cut out all the render time. It still would need time to convert the MPEG files into vob format files, etc.

Again, I don't know if this will work, or whether it would be a practical way to do it, but its worth a try (though ScottW's suggestion about Womble sounds pretty good too).

Tim L
rustier wrote on 8/31/2006, 6:43 AM
DVD shrink and Womble are two tools that come to mind that may be able to help you. Also there is a bit rate calculator you can use to determine the parameters of your project. Just do a quick search in the forums for these things to find the links.

Hopefully they will give us full AC-3 support in the new release of the studio verion to help manage the size of our dvd's.

re-rendering mpeg is gonna hurt the look because it is a "lossy" format (hey I don't make it up). Lossy meaning they achieve the compression by "tossing out" parts of the scene that don't change. Lossless video hangs on to all the information. That being said you may not notice all that much the difference - depending on the source and the final product (watching on regular ole TV, Hi Res TV, Hi Def Tv, Computer, Internet, etc.) Have you ever watched a vcr tape in standard play, extended play, and long play, and can you tell the difference?

As I understand it (never used it) Womble works with the mpegs without resampling. In your case that means smaller video file.

DVD shrink is gonna "strip down" your video which may or may not be a problem.

You may also want to consider leaving out the menu of your dvd (if its just a single "show") and simply have the thing go straight to play.

One other thing to look into (which I have not spent much time doing to be honest) is double layer DVD media. I am pretty sure VMS supports that - the question is , does your dvd burner, and does your dvd player?

Here is a link to some reviews of double layer media which may solve your problem if your stuff is compatible. There is other helpful info there too.

Have fun with it!

gmes29 wrote on 8/31/2006, 4:19 PM
thanx for all the suggestions..
i was just about to ask you guys if you've ever used the Optimize DVD dialog off the review message list dialog because it seems with Recompress and use default bitrate set to Yes you can control how big the DVD is by changing the default bitrate (slider)..
then i noticed that's where the Fit to Disc button is which calculates the correct bitrate (probably more accurately) to render at using the size of your project. but it looks like i don't need an avi file to use it - works fine for the mpg i rendered (at least as far as setting options, haven't burned yet)..
is there an advantage to using an avi in this case since you have to shrink the thing anyway??
Chienworks wrote on 9/4/2006, 7:06 AM
The disadvantage of using an MPEG file at this point is that it would be recompressing an already compressed MPEG. Rendering MPEG -> MPEG loses a lot of quality, especially at lower bitrates. The reason to use AVI for this is that the initial render to AVI has very little compression and suffers very little loss.