DVD outupt quality?

[videoguy]

Hello, I have been trying VS11.5+ this past week. I am looking for an NLE that has the 'Auto repeat movie' feature when burning to disk. UleadVS has this, but my previous NLE (Pinnacle Studio) does not.
Anyway, I notice a slight difference in the video quality of the burned discs, especially in clips where there is panning. I have been burning a project to DVD & also HDDVD to regular dvds. I used the same clips in both NLE's. I'm using HDV .m2t files, taken from my Sony hard drive recorder.
The clips in the timeline show the following properties: MPEG2 Transport, UFF, 24 bit 1440x1080 16:9, 29.97 fps, Data rate 25000 kbps, Mpeg layer 2 audio.
In Project Properties: Edit format is Mpeg, 24bit 720x480 29.97 fps, UFF, DVD-NTSC 16:9, VBR 8000. Project Options: Media type: NTSC DVD, Quality 100%, 2 Pass Encode.
In Share/Create Disc: MPeg files, 24 bit 720x480 29.97 fps, UFF, DVD NTSC 16:9, Video data rate 8000 kbps, Audio data 384 kbps, Mpeg layer 2 48khz. Stereo. Do not convert compliant mpeg files is checked.
In Disc Template Manager/Edit/Options, I see a ' Ulead MPEG Now Encoder' driver. Are other codec drivers available? Do NLE's have their own codec for burning? Could this be why the output quality is different? I really want to get this figured out so I can make UleadVS my new NLE.

[Black Lab]

Read THIS regarding your panning issue.

[2Dogs]

If you're looking to produce a standard def DVD from HDV footage, I don't think the "Do not convert compliant mpeg file" setting is relevant, unless you are first producing an mpeg2 file from your project, and then inserting that into the burning module of a new blank project to create your DVD.

It's entirely possible that the mpeg encoder used by VS will give different results from the one used in another program. There is no choice in mpeg2 encoder, however.

There is a bit of a grey area, however. It is reported by people making AVCHD disks that they get better results when outputting directly to the disk with their project on the timeline, rather than first creating an AVCHD file from the project and inserting that into the burning module of a new project. With AVCHD, the direct to disc approach enables more settings, which might be the cause of the difference in results.

There may also be a difference in the two approaches when applied to standard def DVD's, however, and it's something I've been meaning to test. You might make up a short test project, and see if there is any difference in the finished DVD (though it will be simplest to set VS to output to DVD folders rather than to waste DVD discs or mess with DVD-RW discs)

So, workflow one would be to create DVD folders directly from your project, by doing all your edits and then going to the Share>Create disc step.

In workflow two, you would instead use Share>Create Video File and then insert that into the burning module of a new blank project, and in that, make sure you select "Do not convert compliant mpeg2 files" to ensure that smart render is enabled.

There should be no difference in the results, but then of course "the cheque should be in the post" etc.....

[videoguy]

Hello, thanks for the replies. I played around with Vegas Pro this weekend, and it also produced an excellent quality dvd (possibly better than Pinnacle). I guess it must be the codec in the VS software. The Sony and Pinnacle dvd output was much more smoother and clearer in the panning, almost unnoticeable. Objects in the far distance were also a little sharper.
Darn..... I was hoping to make a switch to UleadVS, because I could still utilize my large SmartSound collection with it. Oh well......

thanks again......robert