Still camera videos on DVD

[pkcouch]

Hello,

I wanted to ask a question of the experts here. (I think) I know the answer to my question based upon my readings here in the forums...

I have videos that I have taken with my digital still camera. Their properties are as follows:

MJPEG compression
24-bit, 640x480
PCM, 11.024kHz, 8-bit mono

So in order to put these onto a DVD for television viewing, they will need to be re-rendered using one of the standard built-in DVD templates. The properties of the templates, of course, are different from the above. And I do not believe a DVD template would have the frame size and audio properties above.

So the net result is that I will be rendering a second time source material that was highly compressed to begin with. So I will likely end up with a DVD with source material that is not framed right or the quality is even worse due to the second rendering.

So the bottom line is to enjoy these on my computer? I've never looked into doing a VCD, so would that be an option?

Thank you in advance for your advice,
Paul c.

[etech6355]

Just use any template that's 4:3 720x480Ntsc or 720x576 Pal, depending on where your located, the properties should be frame-based which should keep the quality pretty fair.
MJPEG yields pretty good video as long as you recorded at full framerate 30/25.
I would make a dvd and see how they look. Depends on the quality of your cam.
I wouldn't go VCD but SVCD is closer to 640x480 which is 480x480.
I would make a dvd first.
Don't expect miracles in quality. These cameras record in a format that the intention is to send over the internet and view on computer screens.
You can convert them and they don't look that bad.

[sjj1805]

No don't use VCD - that would be poorer quality than DVD.
The aim as you appear to be aware from your post is to render once, though this is not always possible.

Do you intend to edit the video from your still camera?
If not you can render directly to a DVD compliant MPEG2 Format
(rendered once)

If you need to cut bits out, then try editing the video as it is to see the results (rendered once).
If you find that you need to convert it to another format for any reason, then I would suggest that you again use MPEG2 so that you can later 'smart render' and only the bits that have changed will get rendered a second time. If those changes are straight cuts rather than transitions, and you do not include other changes such as titles, then again rendering will be kept to a minimal.

If your video is in MOV format then you may need to install the PATCH for Kodak .MOV files

As your sound is in mono, don't forget to duplicate the sound to the other channel
Select Duplicate audio channel in the Attribute tab in the Options Panel then select which audio channel to duplicate.