The stage between producing a vsp file and burning it to dvd

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 9:57 pm

What I am talking about is when you have put all your clips onto the timeline, trimmed, edited them to your satisfaction, saved it as a VSP file and are ready to burn the project to the DVD. Unfortunately the VS 11 manual allows a multitude of options at this stage and does not give any clear guidance. For example:

1) On P110 it discusses creating a Video File but does not say whether this is essential, advisable or simply optional.

2) If you decide to create a Video File the manual is totally silent about the best way to go forward - I'm talking about any necessary steps before burning the DVD. The Create Video File menu gives you 3 options at the top which allow you to produce an MPEG file. However, the the 2 menu options at the bottom (4:3 and 16:9 DVD) also allow you to produce an MPEG. So, you have 3 options: a) Use one of the 3 menu options at the top; b) Use one of the 2 menu options at the bottom; c) use one of the 3 menu options at the top and then apply one of the 2 menu options at the bottom to the resulting file. They all seem to produce an MPEG file that you could use for burning the DVD, but absolutely no guidance is given in the manual on how best to proceed.

3) When you you go to the Create Disc stage the situation is just as confusing. You could add the Video File discussed above or, apparently, you could simply add the VSP file. Again there is a total lack of guidance in the manual. Why produce a Video File if the VSP file will do? What are the pros and cons of the 2 methods?

As you can see, the manual is of little use to a beginner such as myself. Is there anywhere that I can find more detailed and useful information?

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:00 pm

Have you looked at the Tutorials section of this Board? See http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewforum.php?f=27

That also contains a recommended workflow in one of the top stickies on that page.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 12:17 am

Someone who can and does read and searches this board is clearly at an advantage

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:35 am

Suggested work flow by SJJ1805 for Video Creation

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:58 pm

Thanks for the replies. I shall follow up the links.

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:58 pm

Ken Berry wrote:Have you looked at the Tutorials section of this Board? See http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewforum.php?f=27

That also contains a recommended workflow in one of the top stickies on that page.

I have now looked at the Explanation of Field Order / DVD Compatible MPEG2 files / iso image files tutorial and it seems to be relevant to my question 2. Para 2 of the tutorial says:

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.

Can I take it that, as a beginner, I should therefore go for one of the 2 PAL DVD options at the bottom of the Create Video File menu? However, would it be advantageous to first use the MPEG Optimizer at the top of the Create Video File menu to tweak the project before using one of the PAL DVD options?

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:24 pm

Berzelius wrote:
Ken Berry wrote:Have you looked at the Tutorials section of this Board? See http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewforum.php?f=27

That also contains a recommended workflow in one of the top stickies on that page.
I have now looked at the Explanation of Field Order / DVD Compatible MPEG2 files / iso image files tutorial and it seems to be relevant to my question 2. Para 2 of the tutorial says:

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.

Can I take it that, as a beginner, I should therefore go for one of the 2 PAL DVD options at the bottom of the Create Video File menu? However, would it be advantageous to first use the MPEG Optimizer at the top of the Create Video File menu to tweak the project before using one of the PAL DVD options?

If you want to create a DVD just choose one of the PAL DVD options, check the box that says "do not render MPEG2 compliant ...." for some added creation speed .

I'm not sure if it is adventageous to use the optimizer. As I have never used it. Someone else may be able to answer that.

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:45 pm

Clevo wrote:If you want to create a DVD just choose one of the PAL DVD options, check the box that says "do not render MPEG2 compliant ...." for some added creation speed .

I'm not sure if it is adventageous to use the optimizer. As I have never used it. Someone else may be able to answer that.

Thanks for the reply. Where do I find the "do not render MPEG2 compliant ...." box? I'm using VS 11 Plus.

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:07 pm

I'm not at home at the moment but it's pretty obvious when you go through the burn modual. Just tick the box.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:05 pm

Sorry -- it's not very obvious at all!!

In the burning module, go to the middle icon of the three down in the bottom left of screen. It is the Project Settings icon. The 'do not convert' box is in that and can be easily overlooked. However, unless you have changed it some time (and by the sounds of it, you haven't!), it is now ticked by default on installation in VS11 and, I think, VS10.

The point of it is, though, fairly obvious. In the Editor stage, you have produced a DVD-compatible mpeg-2. You can, when you get a bit more experience, vary the internal properties of the file at that stage e.g. by changing the bitrate used. The default setting is 8000 kbps, which allows you to burn about 1 hour of high quality video to a single layer DVD. Lowering the bit rate to, say, 6000 kbps will allow about 90 minutes of good quality video. Lowering it still further to, say, 4000 kbps will give you 2 hours of average quality video.

However, the default Project Properties in the burner module (in the top window of that icon I referred you to) may be different from the properties you used to produce your mpeg-2 in the Editor module. But it is important to avoid multiple renderings of mpeg-2 since each render involves a small, but incremental loss of quality. So if the the 'do not convert' box is ticked, then the mpeg-2 you have already produced will not be further converted -- which is a good thing. It also saves enormously on the time taken to produce your DVD in the burning module.

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 11:10 pm

Ken Berry wrote:Sorry -- it's not very obvious at all!! In the burning module, go to the middle icon of the three down in the bottom left of screen. It is the Project Settings icon. The 'do not convert' box is in that and can be easily overlooked. However, unless you have changed it some time (and by the sounds of it, you haven't!), it is now ticked by default on installation in VS11 and, I think, VS10.

The point of it is, though, fairly obvious. In the Editor stage, you have produced a DVD-compatible mpeg-2. You can, when you get a bit more experience, vary the internal properties of the file at that stage e.g. by changing the bitrate used. The default setting is 8000 kbps, which allows you to burn about 1 hour of high quality video to a single layer DVD. Lowering the bit rate to, say, 6000 kbps will allow about 90 minutes of good quality video. Lowering it still further to, say, 4000 kbps will give you 2 hours of average quality video.

However, the default Project Properties in the burner module (in the top window of that icon I referred you to) may be different from the properties you used to produce your mpeg-2 in the Editor module. But it is important to avoid multiple renderings of mpeg-2 since each render involves a small, but incremental loss of quality. So if the the 'do not convert' box is ticked, then the mpeg-2 you have already produced will not be further converted -- which is a good thing. It also saves enormously on the time taken to produce your DVD in the burning module.

You are absolutely correct.... Just remembering now the first time I needed to find that check box.

My apologies.