Remove all compression?

ericb1 · Post by **ericb1** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:20 pm

I'm using DVD MovieFactory 4, and I'm trying to make a dvd from 6 quicktime files. The total size of all 6 videos is approx. 4GB, so they should just fit onto a 4.7GB dvd.

However, DVD Movie Factory shows that all 6 are only taking up 2.8GB of space (on the little blue bar at the bottom). I went into the compression settings and have the quality set to 100, the video data rate at "Constant" and 9696kbps, and the audio bit rate at 384.

Assuming the dvd is better with less compression, is there something else I'm missing to have my videos take up as much space as can fit on the dvd?

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:13 pm

Good thinking, but...

There is a maximum bitrate for the DVD Spec of about 10,000 kbps (audio & video combined).

In fact, you might have to lower your video bitrate to about 8000 kbps, because lots of DVD players seem to have trouble with high-bitrate "burned" DVDs.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:03 pm

Of course, all this is pretty hypothetical since your source files are already compressed. Recompressing that, even at the highest bitrate setting, is not going to improve anything. Recompressing a lossy compression with a lossy compression encoder is not going to increase quality but make it worse.

ericb1 · Post by **ericb1** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:52 am

Ok, thanks for all the replies! I'm somewhat of a beginner on compression.

What if I rendered the source video completely uncompressed? I'm using Camtasia studio to capture some screen movements, and one of the export options is uncompressed (full frame) avi format. Would that be the best format to start with?

Thanks again

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 10:34 am

Since you start with a compressed source, how do you expect to fill the missing data? Whatever is lost due to compression cannot be made undone. All compression is lossy, some more some less, but the fact remains, once compressed, the original data has lost some of its detail for good.

keithm · Post by **keithm** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:26 pm

Uncompressed video takes up a lot of space, your 4gb is likely to be well over a 100gb uncompressed! Have you actually tried to make the dvd? It should look fine.

But, if you want to capture to a good quality avi you need an high quality avi codec such as

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=HuffYUV

once installed you should see it as an export option.

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:54 am

Hi,
>>I'm using DVD MovieFactory 4, and I'm trying to make a dvd from 6 >>quicktime files. The total size of all 6 videos is approx. 4GB,

Your not going to find the answer under the compression settings.

You source videos are approx 4gig?
The QUESTION is "How LONG in TIME are they?"

The TIME/Length of the video is what you need to look at.

What is the Codec your using to create/convert the MOV quicktime files.
Sounds like your files may be "Photo-JPEG" Codec so file size depends on
the compression in each jpeg frame.

Base your estimates on time. Depending on the Codec used to create the Quicktime files they may be much larger then it's Mpeg2 equivalent.

MD

ericb1 · Post by **ericb1** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:05 pm

Ok, I'm definitely doing something wrong here. Any help is appreciated.

I'm making screen recordings from Camtasia studio. I make the screen recordings in 720x480 size. Then I export them to an .avi format using the HUFFYUV codec. Viewing this resulting avi in Windows Media Player looks great, good quality.

However, when I render the dvd, the video is distorted and hard to look at, it's unwatchable. Unfortunately, the screen recordings are of a web site, and so there's lots of text to look at, so once the text is slightly distored, you can't really read it, so it's a waste of time.

I'm using a maximum bitrate of 8000, but nothing else is really changing.

Is there something else I'm missing as to how to get my .avi which looks fine when I view it on my pc (Media Player), to look the same when I render it to a dvd?

Thanks!!

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 6:59 pm

How is the text unreadable, on the computer screen or on the DVD/TV screen?
If your capturing the video of a website on computer then it probably frame-based and that's why it looks good. When you author the dvd you would also want to set that to frame-based similiar to progressive scanning. Each scanning line contains all the information.

It sounds to me like your going from frame-based to field based which can cause text to rip.

In MF5 you can export the original avi file as 480p(progressive) I believe
which will yield the equivilent of 60 frames per second because it's prgressive. That keeps the text together. You would need to do this
when creating/converting the avi to mpeg so you keep the resolution of the text using the progressive mode. I'm pretty sure you would loss the text clarity if the mpeg2 file is field based.
Only 1/2 the information of the text will be in each individual field.

You can also use VideoStudio 9 and export the file as "FrameBased" trying that method if you can't do the progressive thing.

MD

ericb1 · Post by **ericb1** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:21 pm

Thanks so much for the replies. Someone had already captured a screen recording: They use a program called "GoToMeeting" to do these online training seminars with remote users on how to use the advanced functions of our website. This remote meeting program has a plug-in that allws you to record the entire session (entire screen) into a WMV file that requires their own codec (g2m2 codec) to view.

I know that's not the best way, but it was already done. So I then use Camtasia studio to record just the section of the screen I need (by playing the video in Windows Media Player full screen).

So then in Camtasia studio, I can export the screen recording as an avi (using any codec I have installed).

This resulting avi file is what looks fine when I view it. I can play it in Windows Media Player, and the quality is fine. From here I'm doing several things: using the videos on the web (by converting them Flash format) This is fine. I'm also making CD-rom's with these videos, and that too is fine. But I'd also like to be able to have a dvd-rom format as well.

It's only when I import this same avi file into Ulead DVD workshop do I have a problem. I import the avi file, make a simple menu, and render the dvd as an iso file, then burn it to a dvd.

Now, when I play the dvd on a computer screen (haven't tested it on a tv screen), is when the text of the web site is unreadable. It looks like the size is either "squished" horizontally or vertically so the text is then distorted.

I don't have video studio9, only dvd workshop, but are you saying that I need to covert the avi to mpg format before importing to dvd workshop? I thought this did the conversion for me?

Thanks again for the help!

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 5:31 am

using Workshop do you have the options to choose "Frame Based' when
Workshop converts the avi to mpeg2. That would be better than
"Field A" or "Field B" (interlaced TV scanning).

Displaying text on a TV is very difficult. TV's are low resolution screens.
The only way I know of is the format I posted previously.

MD

ericb1 · Post by **ericb1** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:34 pm

Thanks again for the replies, but no I don't see any of those options, and I don't think anyone is going to be watching this on a tv screen, but will on a laptop or PC with a dvd-rom drive.

That's why I thought I'd render it as a dvd, as well as a CD-rom, just to give users an option, but it looks like it's more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks again

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:18 pm

You lost me somewhere along the lines and I wasn't paying attention anymore. Now you say you want this to be viewed on a PC. Why dont you just burn the original avi to a DVD disk? Doing all these conversions along the lines is, or seems to me, causing you all that grief.

You say your original files are around 4 GB, that should fit to a DVD+/-R just fine as is.

I would only go to DVD format if the result was going to be viewed on a TV.