DVD from laserdisc - help

[magnoliafan]

Hi,
I am trying to make a DVD by capturing a laserdisc, and I had some questions. The initial frustration comes from the inability to fit the whole movie onto one DVD disc. First, here is what I am doing:

1. Capturing LD with Dazzle PCI card and MGI Videowave 4. MGI VW 4 is hardcoded with a file limit is 4GB, so I wind up with several 4GB files per side. (VW 5 evidently does not have this restriction).

2. "Produce" them with MGI to (A) convert raw AVIs to a format usable by DVDit and (B) combine 4 of the files into one AVI file that is half the movie (does both in one step). Currently using DivX codec in MGI to make an AVI at 640x480 and about 1400 Mbps (after many attempts, I am using these settings to try to get a file small enough to fit on the DVD disc). For some reason I can't get it to go directly to MPEG-2 in MGI. GRRRR

3. Use converted AVI in DVDit PE to make DVD. Using highest quality for video (around 8 Mbps I think) and just PCM audio (not AC3 or anything so as to save space).


I can only fit about half of it on one disc, which is why I only converted half of the raw AVIs to one master DivX AVI. So, I have the following questions:

A. What bitrate should I be using to get the best results that will fit at least half the movie on one DVD disc? Either when making the master DivX or MPEG if I can get it to work.

B. Can I fit the whole thing on one disc and still have it look decent? (I guess this goes with the preceding question).

C. Should I convert the AVI to variable bit rate to save space before making the MPEG as part of the DVDit process?

D. Should I make the master AVI at 720 instead of 640? Will I gain much or just waste space?

E. If I could crop out the letterboxing in the AVI, it would reduce the file size a lot. How do DVD creating software like DVDit handle files that are widescreen? Can it put the bars on for me more efficiently?


Am I missing anything? Doing too much? Ideas?

Thanks!

[ralla]

I am not familiar with DVDit. Is this a DVD authoring tool? In any case, you might want to try using Viddub to capture the full AVI file and then convert to MPEG-2 using TMPENc. You can get these programs on vcdhelp.com.

If you want to change the files (edit, merge, effects). Then you should use Adobe Premiere, Ulead or Videowave 5 to edit the AVI files. These "non-linear editors" are good for manipulating AVI files, but MPEG (1 or 2) are compressed and create problems. Once you have the final AVI file, then use TMPEnc to encode to MPEG-2. TMPEnc has a very good-quality flexible encoder. I think the NLEs use low-efficiency compression on purpose to reduce the problems with editing MPEG files, but results in low quality/size ratio.

Good luck.

[magnoliafan]

Thanks for your reply! I appreciate the info.

Yeah, DVDit is another DVD authoring tool, like MyDVD or Ulead Moviemaker. I have tried all three and I like the features of DVDit, but I can't get it to burn a DVD. Ulead makes a DVD, but it is not readable on all DVD-ROM drives (all I've tried - maybe a UDF thing?). I have the trial version of Ulead, and it doesn't have the menu creation functions that DVDit has, but maybe the full version does?

I got TMPEnc and am trying it now. I used it to make the MPEG-2, and then Ulead to make the DVD. But the results came out really jerky, like "Max Headroom" jerky in some spots. I am trying it again now.

Should I try a different program to make the DVD from the MPEG-2? What else works?

Ulead continually wants to convert whatever MPEG-2 I throw at it to a "DVD MPEG-2", which takes more time. I guess it checks to see what the file properties are (bitrate, etc) and if it doesn't meet its expectations, it converts it. I am trying TMPEnc to make an MPEG-2 at 720x480, 29.97 fps, 5 Mbps, Layer-2 audio at 48 khz and 384 kbps. I'll see what it does.

Thanks!

[jemby]

What is the file format you are using for dvdit, what are the files sizes before you put it in dvdit, and is it insync and/or does it stutter before you use dvdit? What is the size of your wave file? Which Dazzle card is it?

[ralla]

For TMPEnc you should "load" (bottom right button) the DVD (NTSC) template before encoding, this should stop the conversion during DVD burning. I only have a regular CD-burner, but don't have any problems using the same technique to burn VCDs.

ralla.

[jemby]

Unfortunately if you are using dvdit, it will still convert it. If nothing else it will convert the audio. From mpeg audio to a wave. Dvdit converts all audio to wav before burning. This can be a good thing in that many standalones can't play mpeg audio. If your standalone can't play mpeg audio and you have encoded muxed without changeing the audio format, it will either have no sound(this way the problem is obvious), or it won't play at all. Dvdit authors spec dvds, and mpeg audio isn't spec. Programs I know of that won't convert the audio are Spruceup,Dvd Junior, and dvdwise.