Need Settings Help: Poor quality DVD from HD sources.

[211]

I'm using the 30 day trial of VisualStudio x6 to create a DVD from multiple different video sources (MOV, MP4, MPG, WMV etc) that are all recorded in HD or near HD qulity. The total size of all these videos on my HDD is upwards of 7Gb. My problem is, when I burn the DVD it compresses down to just over 950Mb and the quality is noticably degraded.

I realize there will be some quality loss going from source to DVD but is there anything I can change in the settings to achieve the highest quality DVD output?
It seems like from 7Gb to 950Mb, its not even trying to maintain any quality. Not even half the single layer DVD disc gets filled.
I also have DL DVD's to burn to. Basically, I want the highest quality DVD from these HD sources regardless of final output size.

[BrianCee]

What is the total viewing length of you finished video.

Are you burning a "standard" DVD to play in your every day DVD player or are you burning a Hybrid or Blue-Ray

what settings did you use to burn the DVD - what bitrate/frame size/format etc.

[211]

What is the total viewing length of you finished video.

Are you burning a "standard" DVD to play in your every day DVD player or are you burning a Hybrid or Blue-Ray

what settings did you use to burn the DVD - what bitrate/frame size/format etc.

So I misspoke earlier about the file output size. According to the software (green bar at the bottom of the DVD window) the file size is 3.18GB/54 Min 1 Sec.
I'm using Smart Menus and burning to standard DVD-R format discs to play on a set-top DVD player (but I also have DVD-DL available to burn to). Settings are as follows

The question still remains. Is there any way to maintain better output quality? There's tons of disc space available and I'd rather burn to DVD-DL for maximum definition than suffer the quality loss I'm experiencing now.

Thanks for your prompt reply.
I've been tasked to assemble these user submitted videos to DVD for an upcoming fundraiser event this Saturday. Needless to say, there's a bit of pressure on me to produce a good quality DVD that will be shown infront of several hundred people.

[Ken Berry]

Given that your project is less than one hour, then using the maximum bitrate of 8000 kbps recommended for a high quality DVD (8000 kbps), your project will all fit on a single layer DVD.

That being said, the varying formats you are using have fairly widely disparate rates of compression (bitrates too), which will account for the final compression factor you are seeing in the end DVD's size. The only way I can think of to exert a little control over that is to convert each of the different formats to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 (using the max 8000 kbps bitrate) *before* you actually finally compile your project (Share > Create Video File > DVD). Then when you have made that new mpeg-2 of the whole project, consisting of the newly converted mpeg-2s, you choose Share > Create Disc > DVD, and accept the defaults (as long as the overall project remains under 1 hour).

You could up the final bitrate to, say, 9000 kbps, which might marginally increase the final quality (and size). But it is questionable how much the human eye could perceive that quality increase. Worse, many stand-alone DVD players have difficulty playing home-burned DVDs with a video bitrate over 8000 kbps. (Remember that commercial DVDs are produced differently -- by pressing rather than burning...)

Note also, for the record, that many of us here have difficulty when trying to burn DL discs generally. Sometimes it works; sometimes it sticks at the changeover point; and sometimes it just doesn't work at all...

[211]

Thanks so much for the reply, that was amazing information.

Here's another option. The organization that's throwing this fundraiser gave me a budget to work with (software and expendibles). I could EASILY justify the cost of a sub-$100 burner if it meant quality would be maintained.
What if I were to purchase an external Blu-ray burner and BD-R discs?
Would this open up my options as far as being able to maintain quality (this will be viewed on a large 1080p projector screen)? Would I still want to convert all the source files to Mpeg2 or would the software be smart enough to recognize that I'm working with Blu-ray and set its own high-quality default settings?

BTW, I should also mention (back to the standard DVD topic). I'm burning these files to ISO first. This allows me to view the contents of the dvd structure (title menu, look and feel, etc) before burning a stack of coasters.

[Ken Berry]

No -- that is a separate operation. You would need to, in the end, choose Share > Create Disc > Blu-Ray.

The other complication is which of your original files you might need to convert and what you would convert them to. BD-R format discs can accept either high def transport stream mpeg-2 (.m2t) or AVCHD/h.264 mpeg-4 high def video with .mts or .mpg extensions. (BD-Rs will of course accept other formats, but they will be converted to BD mpeg-2 in the burning process unless previously converted to either BD mpeg-2 or mpeg-4 AVCHD.)

So at the very least I would be looking at first converting the .mov, mp4 and WMV files -- even though you will possibly find that the .mov and .mp4 files may have been created using the h.264 codec in the first case. If so, then conversion will be very quick and not involve any quality loss.

[211]

No -- that is a separate operation. You would need to, in the end, choose Share > Create Disc > Blu-Ray.

The other complication is which of your original files you might need to convert and what you would convert them to. BD-R format discs can accept either high def transport stream mpeg-2 (.m2t) or AVCHD/h.264 mpeg-4 high def video with .mts or .mpg extensions. (BD-Rs will of course accept other formats, but they will be converted to BD mpeg-2 in the burning process unless previously converted to either BD mpeg-2 or mpeg-4 AVCHD.)

So at the very least I would be looking at first converting the .mov, mp4 and WMV files -- even though you will possibly find that the .mov and .mp4 files may have been created using the h.264 codec in the first case. If so, then conversion will be very quick and not involve any quality loss.

At this point the above option may require more time than I have. Good to know for next year though. Maybe I'll stick w/ the DVD format but play around with some pre-conversion.
Question... how would converting each file to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 PRIOR to compiling the project help in the final compression.
When I go into the MPEG settings and select 8000 bit rate, then finally process my final output file it says "rendering...". Isnt that what the program is doing? Converting the files; same as if I did it prior to compiling??

[Ken Berry]

It's just that having DVD-compatible mpeg-2 for all those disparate files will make the burning process far less complicated. If on the other hand you proceed to simply add the files in their original formats into the burning engine, then the conversion of each and every one of them still has to occur, as part of the burning process. The burning process is complicated enough as it is without this extra burden, and it has been our long and tortuous experience that simplifying things from the get go will produce a better result in the end.

Another factor is that the conversion processes will take just as long whether done individually or as part of the burning process. So you don't really save much time doing it the latter way, and if the result is more certain, better to follow our suggested workflow.

[211]

Thanks Ken for your amazing and prompt suggestions. This will be a yearly event so the learning curve is not even at its apex yet.
Hopefully by next year I'll learn a little more about converting to Blu ray and we could invest in HD playback/recording hardware.

Its a shame I cannot showcase these videos in the spectacular definition they came in as. I guess my other option is to skip the DVD conversion process entirely and use a PC to connect to the projector... But that puts additional burden on me since my job is to *simply* hand over a DVD to the guys in charge of audio/video and be done w/ it. I would have to cough up my media center PC for the event...