Forum Member Ken Berry has posted the following in this thread:
http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?p=124800#124800
Explanation of Field Order / DVD Compatible MPEG2 files / iso image files
1. Most video is interlaced, which means that each image is made up of lines, and half of these lines, in alternating order, are transmitted quickly to a TV screen, followed a micro-second later, by the second half, and the human eye puts the two sets of lines together and sees them as a single image. Depending on the technology involved, either the second set of lines (e.g. 2, 4 , 6, 8 etc) will be transmitted first, or the first set (e.g. 1, 3, 5, 7 etc). This is called Field Order
Depending on where your original video came from, it will have either one of two possible Field Orders: Upper Field First (UFF --- which in effect is the first set, 1, 3, 5 etc) or Lower Field First (LFF -- 2, 4, 6 etc). Normally, for instance, video from a mini DV camera is LFF, while that from a mini DVD or hard disc digital camera is UFF. You need to right click on some of the clips within Video Studio (either in the timeline or in the library pane) and select 'Properties' and you will see what it is. That Field Order must be maintained throughout a project, including the burning stage. If the Field Order gets changed at some stage, it will not show on the monitor (whose display technology is different from a TV), but will show up in the final DVD. One of the common faults is that motion will be jerky, and another is jagged edges in rapid movement or panning shots.
You must also not mix LFF and UFF video in one project. The result for one set of clips will be that their field order will be wrong if you choose either LFF or UFF, so those clips in the final DVD will show the same faults described above.
Still images are in effect Frame Based, but you can include them with either LFF or UFF video witout problem.
2. 'PAL DVD' as a choice will definitely produce a DVD-compatible mpeg-2, but choosing 'mpeg-2' will not necessary produce a file which is DVD-compatible, and that is the important thing here. Mpeg-2s can be used for a variety of things, including for example, SVCDs which have a frame format which is not DVD-compatible. Choosing the pre-set 'PAL DVD' template is really just to ensure that newbies, or people happy with the properties of that template, choose (without thinking) properties which are definitely DVD-compatible.
But if, on the other hand, you learn about the many variations of properties possible which will still produce a DVD-compatible mpeg-2, you will have a much greater degree of flexibility. And of course, it is also important here to know which properties will *not* produce a DVD compatible file. Otherwise, VS will force a rendering in the burning module, and that is something you want to avoid, both because a second rendering of an mpeg-2 entails quality loss, and also because it often causes VS to grind to a halt.
3. An image file (.iso) is NOT an alternative to a DVD-compatible mpeg-2. An .iso is a *final* product, whereas a DVD-compatible mpeg-2 is only the intermediate step required to produce a final product. An .iso image file is really only another format containing the full structure of the final DVD, and is otherwise identical to the Video_TS folder, only requiring a program capable of reading the code in order to be able to burn it to an actual DVD.
My own personal preference is to 'burn' a Video_TS folder. (Please get out of the habit of calling this just 'the vob files' -- A Video_TS folder contains much more than 'just' the vob files.) I choose this because most software DVD players (like, say, PowerDVD or WinDVD), will be able to be pointed to a Video_TS folder on your computer hard drive, and will play it like it was an actual DVD. This allows you to check whether everything seems OK on your project before you possibly waste a blank DVD only to find the project has some fault in it. Few software DVD players can play an ISO image file -- though no doubt people will jump in here and say there are.
But as I said, it is a matter of personal choice, and part of that choice must be based on convenience. Video Studio cannot burn a Video_TS folder, even one it produces, to a final DVD. You need a third party software package like Nero or Roxio for that. On the other hand, VS *can* burn an .iso image file to DVD (as can Nero and Roxio etc). So if you don't have Nero or Roxio, this would be the logical choice.
To find that special VCD DVD Disc Image Recorder, you have to use the XP menu and go to wherever you normally go to find VS10. In the same drop down menu where VS10 is found, the Disc Image Recorder should also be listed.
4. However, that brings us to the Extra Content and Bonus Pack files. If you have not loaded *all* the Extra Content, your version of VS10 will be missing an awful lot of features, including not the whole range of templates and transitions and possibly also the Disc Image Recorder. I simply cannot remember where that is located, but seem to recall it may in fact be in the Bonus Pack (which also contains an older version of WinDVD and the very useful program Cool 3D which allows you to produce very ...er ... cool animated 3D titles for your videos). You can choose what you like from this Bonus set of files as their absence does not affect the operation of Video Studio itself.
Not all elements of either the Extra Content or Bonus files are auto-installing. Samples like additional video files, still images, masks, audio files etc can be just copied and pasted either to the sub-folders of VS10 which use similar files, or else to a central folder on your computer where other editing or authoring programs can find them easily. The Disc Image Recorder should have its own entry and should have a set-up or executable file for its installation.