dvd quality

[WimDC]

Hello,

I'm using Corel VideoStudio X2 (yes, it's an old version, but it has enough options for me).
Everything works fine, but since I have a flatscreen, my DVD's have a poor quality (and my DVD-player only connects to my TV with scart, not with HDMI)

I know that's a very basic configuration.

BUT, why is the quality of commercial DVD's (that I bought) much better (on my TV) than the DVD's I make myself

As it uses the same hardware (flatscreen and DVD-player), I think I use the wrong settings in Corel Videostudio.
(when editing, I use a combination of AVI-files (digital filmcamera) and MPG-files (digital photocamera).

What settings do I need to have the same quality as commercial DVD's?

Wim

[BrianCee]

As it appears you only have a standard definition DVD player then basically you should make your DVDs using mpeg-2 video in PAL format with a frame size of 720 x 576 at the highest bitrate you can use without making a file to big to fit on the DVD.

but there is more to it than that but with the limited information you have supplied it is difficult to provide more details - you also need to make sure when editing you are not changing anything in the video format such as field order etc.

[Ken Berry]

Commercial DVDs are also produced in studio settings, using equipment and software costing probably in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They also fit high quality content on the same size disc as we use but with multiple pass encoding to maximize quality. And on top of that, they also produce the discs by stamping/printing rather than using the laser/burn method open to us. That is just to start with, but as mentioned by Brian, there are all sorts of other factors involved, including the quality of your original video, its bitrate (which equals quality), its size, and the Properties you used to burn it to the actual DVD.

Personally, I play my home DVDs on a Sony PlayStation 3 which is an excellent DVD and Blu-Ray player which, moreover, upscales standard def DVDs to a higher quality though it can never equal full quality Blu-Ray. But the PSP is one of only a few Blu-Ray players which has this upscale feature, and moreover connects to a HDTV via the high quality HDMI cable. Given that you are using SCART, you are never going to get higher quality than from a standard def DVD player, and the end quality will probably look worse the larger the screen of your HDTV... Sorry but that's the nature of the beast...

[WimDC]

Thank both for the information.

Can you tell me something more about "...when editing you are not changing anything in the video format such as field order..." (Brian) and "...its bitrate (which equals quality), its size, and the Properties you used to burn it to the actual DVD..." (Ken)

As a beginner, I now capture the AVI-files from my camcorder and/or add some MPG-files from the digital photocamera (of my son) and start editing.
What "field order", bitrate, and burning properties should I use?

Wim

[BrianCee]

please read :-

http://documentation.apple.com/en/motio ... tasks=true

and

http://help.encoding.com/knowledge-base ... deo-files/

[Ken Berry]

That Apple document, while accurate, is a bit dated. My problem with it is that it tends to be misleading by implying that only 640 x 480 videos are the most likely to use Upper Field First, while 'professional' video tends to use Lower Field First. That was certainly true some years ago, but now the reverse is virtually true. Most video these days uses UFF, and it is only DV/AVI cameras which still use LFF. (Mind you, I personally still prefer LFF DV/AVI for my standard definition video, and I understand that many professional videographers still prefer the tape based system that goes with it in high def HDV format -- though ironically that format also uses UFF...)

One thing you said worries me -- namely that you are mixing your .avi footage with mpg footage. If as I suspect your avi footage is in fact from a DV camera using tape, it will be LFF. But most still cameras which can also film video these days use UFF. And there is a basic rule of video editing that you should not mix LFF and UFF video in the same project. One or the other will suffer in the final output -- jerky motion in fast panning shots and jagged vertical lines being common problems.

One possible way around this is to use Frame Based instead of either UFF or LFF in the final video Properties. To get this you would need to choose Share > Create Video File > Custom. Choose mpeg-2 as the type of video you want to produce (that's the format necessary for a DVD), and then click on the Options button then the General tab to change to Frame Based instead of Lower Field First which is IIRC the default in VS X2.)

[WimDC]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and I will try the "frame based" setting.