reccomended settings

[surfer]

Some settings i do not understand. What is best in videostudio 10:
for example: lower field first or upper of frame based when i edit in avi en then make a mpeg2 pal dvd and then burn a dvd?

I capture from dv camera and want, of course, the best qualaty. Must i use 8000 bps like videostudio standard does in project settings?
Are there other settings to change when i want this?

[Ken Berry]

It always depends on what the source of your video is. In your case, if you capture from a digital source in DV format, then it will normally be Lower Field First. On the other hand, if you are capturing from an analogue camera or analogue capture card or VCR, then normally it will be Upper Field First. Some analogue capture devices, however, seem to capture in Lower Field First, and some use what they call 'progressive scanning', which some people see as Frame Based, though I am not so sure about that. Anyway, normally, Video Studio will automatically detect which is the appropriate Field Order, and you should use that throughout -- both when you produce your DVD-compliant mpeg-2 (Share > Create Video File > DVD) and when you actually burn the disc (Share > Create Disc > DVD). If, on the other hand, you mix up the Frame Order or use the wrong one, you will see a shearing effect (i.e distortion) in fast moving scenes with horizontal movement, or when the camera pans from side to side across the screen.

As for the frame rate, again it depends on your source and your intentions. If capturing DV and if you want the highest quality DVD, then you will use 8000 kbps. This will allow you to burn about one hour of the highest quality video to a single layer disc, or a little more if you use one of the compressed audio formats such as mpeg layer 2 or Dolby.

If you want to fit more video on the disc, then you lower the bit rate. 6000 kbps will allow you to burn more than 90 minutes at still very good quality, and 4000 kbps around 2 hours of reasonably good video (again, with a little more, depending on your audio codec).

But if you are capturing analogue video, it will never be able to give the exact same excellent quality as digital video. So it would be a waste of space on your disc to use the highest bit rate. Most people use 4000 kbps for analogue video (i.e. 2 hours per single layer disc) and still have good quality. I personally use about 6000 kbps for such videos, as I capture this type of video from a Sony Digital 8 camera in DV format, and I want to preserve as much as possible the excellent quality this gives me. And in my case, quality of my analogue projects is more important than how much I can fit on a disc.