Questions with Video Studio 10

[VinnyC]

I am using Video Studio 10. I want to burn my VHS movies to DVD. Should I select MPEG-2 or NTSC DVD as the media type in "Project Properties? Also, which should I choose when I burn to a DVD? Should I use a variable two pass bitrate for the capture process?

Many thanks,

Vinny

[Ron P.]

Should I select MPEG-2 or NTSC DVD as the media type in "Project Properties?

The project properties only come into play if you're going to use Smart Render. How did you transfer/capture the VHS movies to your PC, and in what format? Remember avi is a container and can have any one of 800 codecs/formats. If you captured via firewire through some pass-through device that allows DV, then the project properties can be DV (avi). If you captured to MPEG-2, then either NTSC DVD or MPEG_2 would work. There may be some differences. You can have an MPEG-2 file that does not meet the DVD standards, such as frame size and frame rate.

I would use a constant bitrate, unless you have video that has both fast movement and still or very slow movement. Variable and 2-pass allows VS to examine the video on the first pass, looking for those deviations. Then it will adjust the bitrates, using higher bitrates for the fast movement, and lower for the slow or static ones. This is most useful when you need to squeeze as much video as possible onto a disc.

[VinnyC]

I used Easy Cap to get the VHS movie to Video Studio. I selected NTSC for the format. My movies run an average of 75-90 minutes. Some of the movements vary. I need to get the whole movie on the disc so from what you explained it seems like two pass would work? Thanks for your response!