In using Video Studio 10 Plus, I am now ready to convert my first project to a DVD movie for playback on my top set DVD player for viewing on my television. I captured my video from my DV camcorder in DV_AVI, Type 1 format. I did all my editing in DV_AVI type 1 format as well. My project settings for capture and editing are as follows:
NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
Microsoft AVI files
24 bits, 720 x 480, 4:3, 29.97 fps
Lower Field First
DV Video Encoder -- type 1
DV Audio -- NTSC, 32.000 kHz, 12 Bit, Stereo
The reason why my DV Audio is 32 kHz, 12 Bit, is because that was the default setting on my camcorder when the video was shot. I have now since changed that setting on my camcorder to 48 kHz, 16 Bit.
When I go into the Share Step to select Create Video Disc, and then ultimately Create Disc, what settings should I choose in converting my .vsp project file to the best quality DVD movie disc for watching on a TV, and what steps should I take along the way? I’ve heard and read several varieties of steps and formats to make. Do I select “Same as Project Properties” or do I select a Custom setting? Do I perform Smart Render when creating the video file or not? Between the steps of Create Video File and Create Disc, one person suggested starting a new project and inserting the new video file into it so that the project settings would change and match the new video file, then delete the video file, save the new empty project file to “My Burner Settings”, then go to Share|Create Disc and add the video file back in to the new empty project file, add chapters and menus, and then burn the DVD. Is this the best way of making a DVD movie for playback on a TV, and if so, why the extra steps of creating a new project? What's the purpose for doing that as opposed to not doing it?
My DV compilations are always 60 minutes or less, and I will be burning to DVD+R discs with a max size of 4.7 GB (4.3 GB usable), with up to 16x burn rate.
I'll let somebody else give ou the step-by-step details, because I use DVD Workshop for DVD authoring/burning.
My DV compilations are always 60 minutes or less, and I will be burning to DVD+R discs with a max size of 4.7 GB
You can use a high-quality setting (a high bitrate). I always recommend Dolby Audio, because it will leave more space for the video. That is, you can use a higher video-bitrate with Dolby. With longer programs you need to use a lower bitrate to squeeze the video onto a DVD.
...with up to 16x burn rate.
If you burn at 16X, you may get errors whch will show-up as "glitches" in the video. Most of the experts here recommend 4X maximum. But, your results will depend on the quality of your burner & blanks.
Smart Render doesn't apply, since the DV_AVI file will automatically be converted to MPEG-2 for the DVD.* (The same may apply to Same as Project Settings, depending on what your project settings are.)
* That's a GOOD THING! It's best to work in DV, and leave the MPEG-2 conversion for last.
[size=92][i]Head over heels,
No time to think.
It's like the whole world's
Out of... sync.[/i]
- Head Over Heels, The Go-Gos.[/size]
Thanks for your reply, DVDDoug, regarding the burning speed and audio file type. My burner is a Philips 8801 DVD Burner and the DVD+R's that I use are Maxell DVD+R. My Philips burner is rated for 16x with DVD+R discs, but so far when I have burned data files to this disc, it burns at an average rate of 8x (burns start at a rate of 4x and end at a rate of 12x). Thanks, again. I''ll await someone else's reply for the step-by-step advice.
Bryan,
This is a good set of properties for the output video file and the DVD Burn sequence:
NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
MPEG files
24 Bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
Lower Field First
(DVD-NTSC template), 4:3 (or 16:9 for widescreen)
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 8000 kbps)
Audio data rate: 224 kbps
MPEG audio layer 2, 48 KHz, Stereo (Dolby is OK, too.)
Follow the procedure in the top sticky post and be sure to set the detailed properties manually at each stage (don't trust default settings).
Edit: Smart Render does not apply when you create your project video file because you are transcoding from AVI(DV) to Mpeg2. In the DVD burn stage, start a new project, Share/Create Disc, Select Video File, then check "Do Not Convert Compliant videos."
blplhp wrote:
When I go into the Share Step to select Create Video Disc, and then ultimately Create Disc, what settings should I choose in converting my .vsp project file to the best quality DVD movie disc for watching on a TV, and what steps should I take along the way?
I would recommend you save it to a file (aka rendering) first and then burning that file and possibly others to the DVD as a separate process. This is what is recommended.
Now using Adobe Premiere and Photoshop
Guy Lapierre
www.forefrontbusinesssolutions.com
John,
Thanks for your informative reply. I apologize for not reading the top sticky posts, as I am new to this forum, as one can see from my profile. I will spend more time researching before I post a future question. I printed out and read the post – “Recommended Procedure – Updated for Version 10+”. In this sticky post, jchunter_2 (is that you?) stated under the Create Video File Phase, note #4 – “Now examine every setting on all three tabs to make sure every property setting matches the following pictures”. On the compression tab, he shows setting the Audio Settings to Dolby Digital Audio at a bit rate of 256 kbps. In your post to me above, you mentioned to set the audio to MPEG audio layer 2, 48 kHz, Stereo, but then you also said that Dolby is OK, too. Not sure how you meant that, in that, Dolby is “ok” and MPEG2 is better or that they are equally as good. In DVDDoug’s post above, he recommended the Dolby audio setting because he said it would leave more room on the DVD for the video portion of the file. Which do you recommend for the best audio quality – the MPEG2 (224 kbps) audio format or the Dolby (256 kbps) audio format? Or is there not that much difference between the two where it really doesn’t matter?
Also, the in the Recommended Procedures sticky post, he had the Perform Smart Render” box checked when converting a DV_AVI project file to an MPEG2 video file. You stated not to check this box because it would not be applicable anyway. So, I guess I should leave that box unchecked, right?
Thanks for your patience and your experienced advice to a first time user.
Bryan,
In my experience, both audio encodings work well and display excellent sound quality. Some Video Studio users feel that Dolby sound is more widely supported by DVD players. Dolby does take up less file/DVD space than Mpeg audio, which will allow a bit more space for video. However, try to keep the final video file under 4GB because quite a few new users, who try to stuff an extra 0.3GB into a DVD have burn problems and have to shrink the video to fit, which takes time and rerendering to lower video bitrate.
As for Smart Render settings when converting DV to Mpeg2, I think that the setting is ignored by Video Studio but I have never verified this. I would leave it enabled all the time so that Video Studio will take advantage of any speed ups that are possible. Ditto, when setting the Burn properties.
You will see from the above and from John's Recommended Procedures, that essentially we recommend you follow *each* of these steps (with all the detail provided both in those Procedures and in preceding comments on your questions): 1) Capture in DV format where possible or practicable.
2) Edit in DV format where possible.
3) Always then convert your project ('render') to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 (Share > Create Video File > NTSC DVD).
4) Then, and only then, go to Share > Create Disc > DVD, create your menus and burn the disc.
I note that no one has commented on your question about opening a new project before you burn the disc, though this is covered in the Recommended Procedures. Essentially, with earlier versions of VS, if your current project was open in the timeline, even if you had first rendered a DVD-compatible mpeg-2, when you went to Share > Create Disc > DVD, the program automatically installed whatever happened to be in the timeline, into the burning list. This could be the project itself. And from long and hard experience, even though Video Studio is supposed to be able to use the VSP file for burning purposes, in reality it causes more trouble than it is worth. That is whey we recommend that, after first rendering your DVD-compatible mpeg-2 (Share > Create Video File > DVD), you then close your project entirely.
You do this by simply going to File > Create New Project. This will ask you to save your previous project and then present a completely new, empty timeline. You can then click on Share > Create Disc > DVD, and there is no risk of anything being transferred into the burning 'timeline' since there is nothing in the original timeline. That way, you simply choose 'Insert Video' in the burning module and select the DVD-compatible mpeg-2 you have produced.
As to burning speed, like many others my DVD burner is rated at 16x speed (in fact I have 2 rated at 16x and 2 rated at 8x). But when burning a *video* DVD, as opposed to a data DVD, I *never* use more than 4x speed for burning, regardless of my burner rating and the rated speed of the discs I happen to be using.
To put it in simplistic terms, all stand-alone DVD players are not created equal, and some are more picky than others about what they will play (particularly among the more expensive brand-name players). Some don't like +R discs; some don't like -R; some don't like any sort of RW disc; some don't like a particular colour of dye; or discs made in particular factories. There are a wide variety of factors which will determine whether any one DVD player will actually play a home made disc.
One other important factor is the speed of the burn. If you think about it, a slower burning speed gives the burning laser more time to burn the signal well into the disc. The faster the speed, the less 'deeply' that same signal will be embedded. If you have a stand-alone DVD player whose reading laser is picky, it is more likely to be able to read a well-embedded signal than a weakly embedded one and will skate over parts of the latter, or simply stop altogether... Hence, our recommendation.
Moreover, when you think about it some more, burning a full, single layer DVD takes around 15 minutes; burning at 8x saves you 5 or 6 minutes at most; burning 16x will save a couple of minutes more. But you have just spent literally hours in capturing, editing and rendering your project. Why worry at this stage about saving no more than about 7 or 8 minutes and risk having your final disc unplayable on certain players?
Which brings me to my final point (at last, I hear you say?!): the audio format. The advice my colleagues have already provided is all correct. But you need also to be aware that mpeg layer 2 audio is NOT part of the NTSC DVD standard. That standard only includes LPCM and Dolby. (The PAL DVD standard, on the other hand, includes mpeg audio, as well as both LPCM and Dolby). However, as John has already said, most people in NTSC countries find that their stand-alone NTSC DVD players will nonetheless play mpeg audio. The fact remains, however, that some (a decreasing number as players age and are replaced by more modern, more flexible ones), may not play that format. It may never happen to your discs, but if one of your family or friends' players refuses to play your disc or will play it with no audio, that could be a factor...
Ken Berry wrote:As to burning speed, like many others my DVD burner is rated at 16x speed (in fact I have 2 rated at 16x and 2 rated at 8x). But when burning a *video* DVD, as opposed to a data DVD, I *never* use more than 4x speed for burning, regardless of my burner rating and the rated speed of the discs I happen to be using. ......
One other important factor is the speed of the burn. If you think about it, a slower burning speed gives the burning laser more time to burn the signal well into the disc. The faster the speed, the less 'deeply' that same signal will be embedded.
Actually, this does not always apply in modern high speed DVD drive and media. The optimum burn speed depends on the DVD burn drive, the specific make and rating of the DVD media, as well as the firmware used in the DVD writer. So there is not a good blanket recommendation for everyone.
You will be surprised that sometimes burning the DVD too slowly (e.g. 4x for a 16x rated disc) will have negative results (i.e. increased errors). However, it depends on the quality of the media. For example, some quality 16x media may burn best at 12x; while some cheap crappy media would never achieve anything close to its rated speed.
The only way to find out is to do test burn at various speed and use a program such as Nero CD-DVD speed to do disc quality scanning. But to add to the confusion, not all DVD writers give reliable disc scanning results. For those interested, you can check out http://club.cdfreaks.com/ for more discussion in this area. You may even find disc scan results posted for your particular drive.
It is important to remember to use a quality media which is compatible with your drive; and that slower burn does not always result in better burn.
Ken Berry wrote:As to burning speed, like many others my DVD burner is rated at 16x speed (in fact I have 2 rated at 16x and 2 rated at 8x). But when burning a *video* DVD, as opposed to a data DVD, I *never* use more than 4x speed for burning, regardless of my burner rating and the rated speed of the discs I happen to be using. ......
One other important factor is the speed of the burn. If you think about it, a slower burning speed gives the burning laser more time to burn the signal well into the disc. The faster the speed, the less 'deeply' that same signal will be embedded.
Actually, this does not always apply in modern high speed DVD drive and media. The optimum burn speed depends on the DVD burn drive, the specific make and rating of the DVD media, as well as the firmware used in the DVD writer. So there is not a good blanket recommendation for everyone.
You will be surprised that sometimes burning the DVD too slowly (e.g. 4x for a 16x rated disc) will have negative results (i.e. increased errors). However, it depends on the quality of the media. For example, some quality 16x media may burn best at 12x; while some cheap crappy media would never achieve anything close to its rated speed.
The only way to find out is to do test burn at various speed and use a program such as Nero CD-DVD speed to do disc quality scanning. But to add to the confusion, not all DVD writers give reliable disc scanning results. For those interested, you can check out http://club.cdfreaks.com/ for more discussion in this area. You may even find disc scan results posted for your particular drive.
It is important to remember to use a quality media which is compatible with your drive; and that slower burn does not always result in better burn.
Thanks for sharing that with us. We will know in future whom to ask if we want to confuse a newbee with all sorts of finer detail which do not make a great deal of difference in the end.
Our collective sentiment here is to advise people not to burn at higher speeds than 4x because this has actually solved a lot of problems for many users out there. If you want to go quicker, please, feel free and if it works for you, great. But try to refrain in future to contradict someone who is trying to assist a novice to gain confidence, unless the advice given is totally wrong.
Thanks, nosnoop. I appreciate the information, and I mean that. While I was trying to give some advice in simple language, I realise that sometimes one can err by giving too little, or making it too simplistic. Guess I will need to work on my presentation a bit!
In fact, one thing I have noted that militates against burning at too low a speed is that most modern DVD burners with which I am familiar (and as I noted, I have four -- two 16x, a Pioneer and an LG; and two 8x, an ASUS and a Sony) limit the lower range of speeds depending on the disc which you use. Thus, for example, when I insert a 16x disc in either of my 16xdrives, the lowest speed I can use in the two 16x burners is in fact my preferred 4x. (In the two 8x drives, I don't use the 16x discs anyway, but usually Ritek 8x discs. With these I am allowed only a minimum of 2x in the 8x drives, but again only 4x in the 16x drives, which I confess I find a little curious, but happily accept since it is my preferred burning speed.)
I should also note that, perhaps by sheer luck, I have had no problems with any of my DVDs burned at 4x when played on a variety of players owned by friends and family. However, before I started burning at only 4x (and admittedly that was in the days before 16x or even 12x discs had come along) I did have some problems with discs burned at higher speeds. And yes, I know that could have been for a variety of other factors to which both you and I have alluded in our respective earlier messages. But nonetheless, I personally still prefer to limit the burn speed as one one pretty effective way of lowering the possibility of a failed burn or erratic DVD; or to put it another way, of enhancing the probability that my discs will play on the widest variety of stand-alone players possible.
Essentially, though, it is something people will need to experiment with themselves, either by making drink coasters until they get it right, or taking the more scientific approach you suggest.
Thanks for all of your advice. I now feel confident in proceeding to the next step of DVD creation, now that I am done with my first project's editing phase.
I have 2 questions for clarification purposes based on the information and advice previously provided:
1) In Trevor's Tutorials (a link in the Recommended Procedures sticky post), it was suggested opening a new project after creating the video file, and then inserting the new video file into it for the purposes of letting the program adjust the new Project Properties to match the the new video file (instead of doing it manually), and then it said to delete the video file from the timeline and save the file to something like "My Burner Settings". I see two potential advantages to this procedure. First, by letting the program match the project settings automatically instead of doing it manually, it eliminates any chance of human input error. Second, it appears then that this new "generic" empty project file, which is now formated for a created video file, can be used as a master template project file for future DVD movies, as long as the created video file properties are always the same. This would eliminate from having to perform this procedure for every movie production in the future. Aside from having to do this for a specific project, was this the intended purpose of creating the "empty" project file (with a generic name) after creating a video file and prior to Creating Disc?
2) In regards to the audio settings that you all have suggested, I think I am going to go with the Dolby Digital audio instead of MPEG2, which brings up another question. I capture video from my DV camcorder, which is 2 channel stereo - 48 kHz, 16 bit. VS10+ has the new Dolby 5.1 surround sound mixer in the Audio Step. Can I take advantage of VS10+'s surround sound mixer to enhance my DV stereo recordings and mp3/WAV audio files to simulate surround sound, or does using the surround sound mixer only work if you start with surround sound captured audio? If I can enhance my stereo recordings to surround sound with this mixer function, then when I create my "Custom" video file project settings and DVD burn settings, should I select Dolby Digital audio 3/2 (L,R,C,LS, RS) instead of Dolby Digital audio 2/0 (L,R), even if only a small portion of my stereo recordings are altered to surround sound?
Thanks again for your wonderful advice. You are really helping me understand the world of video editing/DVD authoring with VS10+ at a much faster pace than having to learn it on my own.
Just to add a comment re:- as you call it this ‘New Generic’ empty project file. (nice name)
Using this project file you go Share Create Disc. Add your menu’s etc.
Once you do this the project file is no longer empty, it contains all the info for your menu pages.
When you leave the burner module you are returned to the edit timeline/preview screen, with what appears to be an empty project.
Save this project and you will save all the details/info from the burner set-up.
Open this at a later date, you see an empty project, go Share Create Disc. All the info is there.
Provided you have not edited the Mpegs files being used all chapters /menu are preserved.
So to re-use this project file for other video projects is not really an option.
A new blank file should be created each time.
Many users change the project settings after entering the burner module, I find it best to do this before.
Another option in using the same settings is to use the Make Movie Manager.
Here you can create or copy a template/properties.
The new custom template shows in the drop down box Share Create Video file.
As for the Audio I have little or no experience with surround sound.
Although I do use the standard Digital Dolby for my audio option.
Using Mp3 has caused some problems, I find using a rate 192 or lower to be ok. (wav seems ok)
Cannot comment on VS 10’s use of Mp3 above 192. it may have improved. (no)
Thanks for the quick reply and the great information. As I thought about it more after I sent the post, I started to realize that you really can't have a master template DVD authoring project file ready to go for the next project, because once you begin your next capture/edit project, you will once again have to change the Project Properties back to DV_AVI. It would be nice if VS could give you the ability to create and save a master template project file for capture/editing and a separate master template project file for Creating Disc, especially if someone like myself will be working primarily in the same formats all the time.
I'm hoping someone out there has some experience with the surround sound functions of VS10+ who can answer my question about the surround sound process. The VS10 user guide is very vague on this issue and their tech support people are not very helpful (at least the one that tried to answer my question about this issue).
Thanks again and look forward to gaining more knowledge and experience from your replies and others' replies to other topics.
