Making DVDs from Canon point and shoot camera

[dhmark]

As I have been learning this program, have learned to keep as many parameters the same as possible throughout the process to minimize reencoding. I now make HDV movies burned on regular DVD with original quality.

Now the challenge is to do the same with video shot with a Canon point and shoot camera. Apparently the files are 640 by 480, frame-based, 30 fps AVI . DVD standard is field-based, 720 by 480, 29.97 fps.

The questions are: do you have to switch all these parameters, or can one or all still be in the original parameters and still have a DVD-compliant mpeg file. As I have learned, the less you change the better, but a DVD player still has to be able to read it.

Second, do you get better results by creating a video file with proper parameters, then burning, or do you get better results reencoding in the burning module?
dhmark

[DVDDoug]

Apparently the files are 640 by 480, frame-based, 30 fps AVI . DVD standard is field-based, 720 by 480, 29.97 fps.

The questions are: do you have to switch all these parameters, or can one or all still be in the original parameters and still have a DVD-compliant mpeg file.

Right! The files must be re-rendered to a DVD compliant format.

Second, do you get better results by creating a video file with proper parameters, then burning, or do you get better results reencoding in the burning module?

In theory, it shouldn't matter. But, most people have better luck with the 2-step process. (If the single-step process works with your files, I don't think the quality will be any different... Sometimes the single-step process just-flat won't work.)


NOTE- Sometimes these "strange" formats can be difficult to edit and/or convert. If you have trouble, you may need to convert the file to DVD compatible MPEG-2 with a 3rd-party program.

[Ken Berry]

And in short, none of your video properties in this case comply with the international DVD standards. 640x480 is not one of the frame sizes recognised by either the NTSC or PAL DVD standard. AVI is not DVD-compliant mpeg-2. And 30 fps is not quite the NTSC speed of 29.97 fps -- and is certainly not the PAL standard of 25 fps. Frame based is fine for slideshows, otherwise will need to be interlaced (although it probably could be played using Frame Based on a progressive scan HDTV). In other words, there is nothing you can do but convert it to DVD compliance at some stage before burning. And our experience on this Board suggests, especially with some of the AVI formats used by still cameras, that it is better to convert it either before you even begin editing, or at the very least, as a separate step after editing but before even thinking about opening the burning module.

FYI, this conversion will inevitably involve a quality loss with just about any of the AVI formats used by these cameras. The best in this regard is the older MJPEG format which was the predecessor of the high quality DV/AVI format. But overall, do not expect too much of the quality of your finished DVD...

[dhmark]

Thanks for the advice. I actually did try it, and the quality was not too bad, but nothing to compare to my TV screen because I can only watch the original on a computer screen or the camera LCD. Saving it as a DVD did not save much space, a 3 minute video was originall 313 mb, rerendered to DVD format was 210 mb (high bit rate may not be necessary though, given the quality of the original).
dhmark