VV30c (maybe VV30 too) supported MPEG-1(VCD) and MPEG-2(SVCD) right out the box.
The MC encoder support changing bitrate (CBR or VBR). But for some reason, if bitrate is over certain value, the picture will be not be good.
For instant, I render my project to SVCD, the highest video bitrate I could do is below 2000Kbps (with audio bitrate set at 192Kbps). Going for higher than 2000Kbps, will cause corrupted sound and pictures while viewed on TV.

And yes, VV30C supported DV widerscreen (NTSC & PAL) also.

What I'm asking is about MC encoder options, can I select the bit rate I want to use (i.e. 6000 for making DVDs) I could just re-encode with TMPGnc when I'm done making it. But I need to speed things up, 45 min in TMPGnc can take up to 11 hours. I want to edit my project the save as a mpeg, then make my DVD. If VV30 is not able to do this would I be better off getting Video Factory 2 for 1/7th the cost.

The MainConcept encoder allows a wide variety of custom settings. However, i won't guarantee you that it will run faster than TMPGnc. Good MPEG encoding is a very slow process in any software.

For making DVD's I find it very simple to use the built-in MC encoder, at the default settings rendered to a file on the hard drive, which Ulead's DVD Movie factory that accepts the file as-is, no additional processing, just taking care of the overhead files, adding chapters, etc., which means the DVD gets burned rapidly assuming you're using a 2nd generation DVD burner, that works at 2.4-2.5 equal to 10-12X for a VCD burn. You can play with the bitrates all you want, I've tried all kinds of combinations and the defaults give the best results. Increasing the bitrate, what I assume you want to do, is mostly just wasting space on the DVD. The default values are as they are for a reason. They work well unless you have some special need.

What about reducing the bitrate? I have some classes that are 2.5 hours in length and I can't get that last 30 min on a DVD. I've tried reducing the quality slider, but I seldom get more than a 100meg savings for my troubles. Is there something that I'm just clearly overlooking, or is my inexperience showing here?
-D

avgeek

If you want to know what you can encode at to fill your disc the sums are

600/(minutes in video) = average combined audio & video bitrate.

for your example

600/150 = 4.0Mbs (combined audio & video)

Depending on your authoring program
If you are using compressed audio (Dolby or MPEG-1 layer II at about 192Kbs) that will leave you an average bitrate on your VBR encode of about 3.8Mbs

If you are having to use PCM (.wav) audio at 1600Kbs your average bitrate will have to be about 2.4Mbs which is going to be difficult with any encoder.


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Hunter

Yes you can adjust bitrate & a number of other settings with MainConcept enocder.

With regards to TMPGEnc vs MainConcept , MainConcept is a good deal faster to encode & it has the added bonus that you don't have to pre-render to .avi first you can do it straight from the timeline saving even more time.

That said in my opinion TMPGEnc edges it for quality, not a massive amount, but it does it in present versions.

Thanks. I do have one other question in regards to my audio. I basically import everything in DV via firewire, edit, then render the thing straight to MP2 like you mentioned earlier. I take it my audio will be compressed going this route?

thanks. I'm still getting my brain around this.
-D

A multiplexed MPEG-2 file will generally have MPEG-1 layer II compressed audio.

The audio is what becomes the big problem with DVD authoring at present.

DVD spec for NTSC states the player must support PCM & Dolby stereo.

With PAL there must also be support for MPEG-1 layer II audio.

NTSC players do not HAVE to support MPEG audio though growing numbers do as chipsets become more standardised & DVD players support more & more formats like .mp3.

If you are authoring in NTSC & this is a business for you then you are going to want as much compatability as possible for your customers. As NTSC doesn't have to support MPEG audio your only sure bet for compressed audio is Dolby but Dolby licenses are expensive. The cheapest software I know of that has a Dolby encoder is DVDit PE at about $600. If your projects are about an hour or so then you can get away with distributing with PCM audio but the bigger your project gets the more likely you are going to have to get Dolby.

If you are authoring for PAL MPEG doesn't have the big fees & you can get good software very cheaply such as Dazzle's DVD complete mentioned earlier. It's great little program for the money & very reliable with great results even designs jewel inserts and everything.

Of course if you are just doing home movies for yourself & famil if your NTSC player supports MPEG you could go this route as the ultimate compatability will not matter to you.