How to change quality of picture? Thus change volume to burn

[GarryLPM]

I know there is a way to change the quality of a project you¡¦re working on but I don¡¦t know how and there¡¦s nothing on my user manual (via Adobe Acrobat). So for example, I have added a very big AVI file that I wish to burn on a dual layer disk. When I¡¦m in the ¡¥Select source and import (step: 1/3)¡¦ window and my movie shows up as clip at the bottom, I¡¦m short of space for burning an 8.5G DVD¡XI¡¦m in the red! Now I don¡¦t know what the default of my DVD MovieFactory is but it¡¦s probably at the highest video quality as possible. This means that I reduce the amount of info I can burn on a DVD. Where is the function for changing the quality of the picture of the DVD output? Because I know that if I reduce the quality of the picture slightly, I¡¦ll gain more volume on the DVD to burn¡XI just don¡¦t know how to do that. Can anyone out there help me?

[heinz-oz]

There are few issues with what you are saying.

• 1. a large AVI file does not identify your file, like a large vehicle does not tell you if it is a car, truck or bus. What does this file consist off?
  2. If, in fact, we are talking about DV-AVI, the type of AVI one "captures" from mini DV camcorders, this format is not suitable for DVD. You need to convert that to DVD compliant mpeg2 format first.
  3. exactly how big this mpeg2 file will turn out to be, depends to a large degree on the bit rate used (kbps), the lower this bit rate, the smaller the file, the crappier the quality. Audio format also plays a role in final file size, aim for AC-3 rather than LPCM.

Have a read of this one as well http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=27. Whilst it is written for VS10, the steps with other Ulead software like MediaStudio or MovieFactory are very similar.

[Velojet]

I know there is a way to change the quality of a project you¡¦re working ... Where is the function for changing the quality of the picture of the DVD output? Because I know that if I reduce the quality of the picture slightly, I¡¦ll gain more volume on the DVD to burn¡XI just don¡¦t know how to do that. Can anyone out there help me?

In 'Project Settings' (second button from left at the very bottom of the window, with the big cog wheel), click the 'Change MPEG Settings' button. Select 'Customise' and click the 'Compression' tab. Using a bitrate calculator, enter a 'Video data rate' figure that will enable you to fit your output to your DVD capacity (check the disk space consumed on the bar graph at the bottom of the window).

More about it in this thread.

[GarryLPM]

OK, I just did it another way and it¡¦s absolutely fantastic! So I had this enormous AVI movie, I imported it and I chose to use a DVD 8.5 GB setting and I was still over! There are 3 colours to indicate how much room you have left, green (is good), yellow (is maybe it will fit) and red (is you¡¦re over the limit); I was way over in the red. So what I did was to single left click on the movie icon then keeping the cursor on the icon I clicked right. Then I scrolled down to ¡¥Export Video¡¦ and there were all the choices I was looking for ranging from High Quality 4:3 aspect ratio to Good Quality 16:9 aspect ratio! In both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios you have a choice of High Quality or Good Quality in either Dolby Digital or non-Dolby Digital. But in the 4:3 aspect ratio you have more choice for non-Dolby Digital, there¡¦s also Standard Play and Long Play. These options give you more volume per DVD and it mentions how many minutes you can get per 1.4, 4.7 and 8.5 GB DVD¡¦s.

Since my movie was just under 3 hours in length I clicked on SP 4:3 which could give me up to 200 minutes per an 8.5 GB DVD. Then once I did that a window popped up and I needed to choose where to save this file and type in a name for this new file. I pressed on save and then MovieFactory went to work converting this AVI to a MPEG, it took about an hour because this was a long movie. When it was converted I tried playing this new file on my Media Player Classic and it worked! So now I knew I had a workable MPEG.

Now I opened a new project on MovieFactory and imported this new MPEG file and it was showing that it could fit in just one layer of the dual layer disc! So I changed the setting to DVD 4.7 GB and not only did it fit but it was all green, I didn¡¦t even go into the yellow. So just in case this was too good to be true, rather than burn directly to a DVD+RW, I created a disc image and burned it on my hard drive. When that was done and I had an ISO file on my hard drive, I choose to ¡¥Burn from Disc Image¡¦ from MovieFactory. When that was done I tried playing this newly burned DVD+RW in my Samsung DVD player and it worked beautifully!

So now I have to delete some files on my hard drive because they¡¦re taking up Gig space. But doing it this way, I have every step of the way saved on my hard drive in case of any mistakes. I have the AVI file, I have the movie in a MPEG version and I have it in an ISO. And now since it fit onto a DVD+RW, I can watch this movie and then just erase my disc opposed to burning a more expensive and non-erasable dual layer DVD.

I hope my personal experience helps you.

[Velojet]

OK, I just did it another way ... I scrolled down to ¡¥Export Video¡¦ and there were all the choices I was looking for ranging from High Quality 4:3 aspect ratio to Good Quality 16:9 aspect ratio! In both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios you have a choice of High Quality or Good Quality in either Dolby Digital or non-Dolby Digital. ...

Glad you're pleased with the results, GarryLPM.

This is another way of getting at the choices you get under 'Project Settings'. Be aware that at the bottom of the menu, you get 'Customise', and through this, access to the fine tuning of compression/quality that I referred to in my earlier message.

[snoops]

You can also create new "Disc Templates" by choosing the "Disc Template Manager..." in the Settings and Options (bottom left menu button).

I recommend adding or editing the templates so you can simply choose the template later, instead of changing everything manually every time.
I removed the templates I never need, and edited the first one in the list to match my "standard" settings. This one is chosen by default in a new project.

But the project settings are not saved in the disc template. So make sure to check them in a new project. It'll have the last values used (like auto repeat and clip playback options).

[maddrummer3301]

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[GarryLPM]

Ok, here¡¦s a new thought regarding getting the best volume from your DVD burns while getting the best audio & video attached to your project. I didn¡¦t know about the Disc Template manager, so first of all thank you for that piece of knowledge. When I went into Disc Template manager, my default was set at HQ 4:3 Dolby Digital. Then a flash went off inside my head, I suddenly realized why my AVI project that I shrunk down to a Standard Play MPEG had such excellent sound on my burnt DVD. You see if you adjust the template first, let¡¦s say I select Standard Play and then immediately convert that to an MPEG file and burn it---you¡¦ll get Standard Play audio & video quality!

In my case, I had an AVI file that under my default setting was even too big to fit onto a dual layer DVD (8.5 GB). So I first shrunk it into a workable Standard Play 4:3 MPEG and saved it to my hard drive. Then I burned that shrunken MPEG as a new project but with my default setting! So now I¡¦m able to get the best of both worlds, first I¡¦m able to shrink my AVI to a MPEG that can now be burned on just a 4.7 GB DVD+RW. But wait¡Kby maintaining my default setting, when I now burn this MPEG I¡¦m burning it at High Quality with Dolby Digital sound! That¡¦s why my movie looked so fine and sounded so fantastic!

If from the very start of burning a project you change your setting via Disc Template manager, you¡¦ll get exactly that same quality picture and sound on your DVD. So if instead I just changed my default setting to SP with a 4:3 aspect ratio, yes my project could fit onto a 4.7GB DVD+RW but if I then burned it, I would end up with a Standard Play picture quality with no Dolby Digital sound!

So my advice is always keep your default set at HQ (4:3 or 16:9) Dolby Digital but reduce your project to a MPEG first and save it on your hard drive. Then start a new project of burning your MPEG at your default setting, which is a High Quality picture with Dolby Digital sound!

Does this make sense to you?

[maddrummer3301]

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[GarryLPM]

Here's a flash, use the forums search feature.
You would learn even more and how powerful the EXPORT feature is by using the Forums search feature and reading previous posts about MovieFactory.
It's a powerful program.
.

Hi Maddrummer:

But are you serious about that above suggestions of yours? I did exact that, I went to search: http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/search.php I typed in ¡¥Export Video¡¦ in the space of ¡¥Search for Keywords¡¦ and in the Forum section I chose ¡¥DVD MovieFactory¡¦. And you know what result I got? I found 243 matches! By the way this topic of mine is the second on the list. I¡¦m sorry but trying to sort out all that mess is so inefficient, this is the exact strategy I used to find the application ¡¥AVI_MUX GUI¡¦ to fix audio sync problems in AVI files. I searched for a week, I looked at forum after forum from all over the world and after all that, only one person mentioned this application in an obscure techno¡Xgeeky elitist experimental video self-help web forum! And as far as I can tell, no person has yet realized my creative idea, which is to export video in order to shrink your project purposely. I¡¦m not talking about exporting so that you can do something else with your project but to export it purely for the single-minded purpose of getting more volume out of your DVD burn. Then you integrate that recently export video of yours back as a new project and burn it with a High Quality picture with Dolby Digital sound.

Correct me if I¡¦m wrong but I don¡¦t see any of those voluminous topics with reply after reply ever addressing this case!

[Velojet]

And as far as I can tell, no person has yet realized my creative idea, which is to export video in order to shrink your project purposely. I¡¦m not talking about exporting so that you can do something else with your project but to export it purely for the single-minded purpose of getting more volume out of your DVD burn. Then you integrate that recently export video of yours back as a new project and burn it with a High Quality picture with Dolby Digital sound.

Sorry, GarryLPM, you're going to have to explain this to me in terms of bitrates - which are the fundamental determinant of the quality/size trade-off.

As I understand it, you're telling us that you compress your video at SP to fit your disk - which means lowering the bitrate - then burning it at a higher bitrate (HQ). Is that it?

If so, you can't get back the lost bits and recover the lost quality by burning it at the higher bitrate of HQ! I can't see the point. Or am I missing something here?

[GarryLPM]

Sorry, GarryLPM, you're going to have to explain this to me in terms of bitrates - which are the fundamental determinant of the quality/size trade-off.

As I understand it, you're telling us that you compress your video at SP to fit your disk - which means lowering the bitrate - then burning it at a higher bitrate (HQ). Is that it?

If so, you can't get back the lost bits and recover the lost quality by burning it at the higher bitrate of HQ! I can't see the point. Or am I missing something here?

Wow¡Xtake a breather and slow down. You¡¦re trying to tear apart this process like it was a scientific puzzle and it¡¦s not. You¡¦re trying to work out this entire conversion ratio process at the micro level when you should be thinking at the macro level. Let¡¦s put aside DVD¡¦s for a minute and let me refer to VHS tapes. Now these tapes come in 3 speeds (typically), there¡¦s Standard Play (SP), Long Play (LP) and Extended Play (EP). Each speed comes with its own picture resolution and maximum capacity of minutes it can load. So for an example a T-120 VHS tape has a capacity of 2hours for SP, 4 hours for LP and 6 hours for EP. And the more expensive T-160 VHS tape has a capacity of 2 hours and 40 minutes for SP, 5 hours and 20 minutes for LP and 8 hours for EP. The thing about VHS tapes is that they are all rewritable unlike some types of DVD¡¦s. But let¡¦s take a typical T-120 VHS tape, the more compact you make the setting, EP versus SP, the quality of the picture is just slightly degraded and the sound can¡¦t be as vibrant if the soundtrack is compressed. The more volume of tape you give a project, the greater your sound and picture quality will be on the playback. But now let¡¦s say that T-160 VHS tapes are not only much more expensive than T-120 VHS tapes, let¡¦s pretend that unlike the T-120¡¦s the T-160¡¦s are non-rewritable.

So if I want to tape a movie and let¡¦s say it¡¦s lengthy, it¡¦s running time is 3 hours. If I want to get the best quality picture and sound, I would need to tape it on a T-160 tape at a SP setting. But that would mean that I would be spending a lot of money for a tape that I can never reuse. But at the 3-hour mark, I wouldn¡¦t be able to fit my movie on a T-160 tape at a SP setting. Yes, I could play it on a LP or EP setting but still I would be wasting my money by taping something on a more expensive and non-rewritable VHS tape. But what if I could first record my movie on some other kind of medium, a different kind of tape let¡¦s say a DAT (digital audio tape). So now let¡¦s say by saving this movie on a DAT, it has now compressed the movie. But if somehow I were able to play this compressed version on my TV via a DAT player, the quality of picture and sound in the playback would be half as good as if I could watch it at a SP setting on any VHS tape. So now let¡¦s I could transfer this compact movie version and record it back at a SP setting on a T-120 tape. So this is the situation, I once had a 3 hour movie that at a SP setting couldn¡¦t fit onto a T-160 VHS tape, I shrunk it then recorded it back onto a T-120 tape at a SP setting! So now I¡¦ve saved myself money by not having recorded on a non-rewritable T-160 VHS tape but I¡¦ve also been able to manipulate this movie to fit on a T-120 VHS tape at a SP setting.

So now forget about bitrates and look at the exporting video options on the DVD MovieFactory, it resembles the same sort of settings as VHS tapes. My 3 hour movie at a High Quality picture (4:3) with Dolby Digital sound setting still couldn¡¦t fit onto a 8.5 GB DVD+R DL (that¡¦s an expensive non-rewritable dual layer disc). But by first compressing it at a SP (4:3) setting, I was able to shrink it and saved it to my hard drive. Then I burned it as a new project at a High Quality picture (4:3) with Dolby Digital sound setting on a 4.7 GB DVD+RW. So in the end I¡¦m able to save money by not wasting a non-rewritable dual layer disc but at the same time I¡¦m able to get my project on a 4.7 GB rewritable disc at the highest setting for picture and sound. That¡¦s looking at this process at a macro level, you¡¦re trying to figure out this situation at the micro level in terms of bits of information being compressed, reshaped and becoming expanded again. Forget it¡Xlook at this process on the macro level and transpose this situation in your mind in terms of VHS tape.

I hope this explanation answered your question.

[maddrummer3301]

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[Ron P.]

Garry you say "forget the bitrates", sorry but that is exactly what you are changing when you are selecting the different HQ, SQ, SP, EP settings. The bitrates are being manipulated or changed.

Like Velojet stated, when you compressed AVI file to SP (which is a lessor quality then an AVI would have) VS threw out, never to get back, details. Then when you try to save the SP file has an HQ, or higher quality then what you started with, VS can not replace the details. It has nothing to replace it with. It's simple mathmatics, (which math is what the whole compression/decompression theory is based on, mathematical computations), if you have 200 pixels, and you want to shrink that down so that it will fit somewhere that does not have enough space for the 200 pxs, then you remove some of those pixels. So if you have to remove 100 of those pixels, you now only have 100 px to work with. So when you try to create another file that would have 200 px, where is the program going to get those additional 100 pxs? They are no longer available in your 100 px file.

Reducing the bitrate, throws out bits, that can not be magically added later. If your theory works, then one would be able to create a video file with a bitrate of 800, then using that video file, create a video file with a bitrate of 8000 and have the quality be the same as the untouched video file... Sorry not possible...

[Velojet]

... you¡¦re trying to figure out this situation at the micro level in terms of bits of information being compressed, reshaped and becoming expanded again. Forget it¡Xlook at this process on the macro level ...

Hmm. It's not me "trying to figure out this situation at the micro level in terms of bits of information ...". It's your DVD disks. Bits are all they understand. It's not a "scientific puzzle" - just plain fact.

Go back to your original problem - being "short of space for burning an 8.5G DVD". Your dual-layer disk can hold ~65 million bits. Somehow you've got to compress your "very big AVI file" so that its video and sound can be re-recorded using no more than that number of bits. And that means losing sufficient bits from your original recording. Your choice of what you call "macro level" settings is what determines how many bits are lost - and in exactly what manner they're lost.

As vidoman says, it just comes down to "simple mathematics". Have a good read of his explanation - particularly his point about MF5 throwing out, "never to get back", information - and if you want more gory details, please come back with more questions. We're here to help!