Official DVDR thread

[jdurg]

I've got a frustrating problem here that I'm hoping somebody will be able to help me out with. Just the other day, I picked up the Family Guy: Season 3 boxed set. That now gives me all three seasons on DVD. Fox, sadly, decided to remove the majority of the commentaries from the episodes and only 2 episodes exist with commentaries on each disc. I would like to go and compile all of the episodes with commentary onto one or two DVDs and have a rudimentary menu. Thus far, I have figured out how to take the two episodes from each disc and separate them into just their video, subtitle, and two audio tracks. (One normal audio track and one commentary track). I then have some software which can take these raw file formats and combine them into their own .vob files and .ifo/.bup files as well. This is where my problem occurs.

Does anybody know of a program which can take the four or five separate .vob files and compile them into one movie? If I could get the proper file format, I could just burn them using Nero. Sadly, every DVD Authoring software I have come across has choked when it sees the .ac3 audio tracks, or will only allow me to use ONE of the audio tracks. So basically, I have to either pick the normal audio track or the commentary track only. I'm not able to choose both of them with any software which I have tried. I have one program which is able to make the proper .ifo and .bup files for ONE video track, but it can't combine multiple .vob files into one DVD. Help!

[1138]

Programs that mux audio and video files are hard to come by. I managed to get a copy of the now defunct Spruce DVD that does it. I'm not sure what the full list of options are.

[videoworx]

Programs that mux audio and video files are hard to come by

well, not really, just expensive. The newcomer is Adobe Encore, and it does a great job, and is much less buggy than Sonic's ReelDVD.

However, SpruceUp, which you mentioned, was one of the easiest DVD authoring apps ever made. Which is why Apple bought them and killed the PC development. It does, however, not encode Dolby Digital audio, which both ReelDVD and Encore DVD do very well. Both are available for around $500 each.

[iron_giant]

Just setup my Samsung HD Over The Air Receiver.

After taking a night to figure out all the ways to set it up (I missed recording Smallville because of not knowing how to set it up correctly the 1st time) I recorded CSI (Broadcast in HD, but the signal going to the Computer from the Samsung was just using the Composite signal - I do not have the ability to record the true HD signal.) onto my Computer.

Then I burned it on a DVD and wow it looked great on my TV. It really did look as good as some other TV shows I have bought.

I used to record TV shows onto my computer off of Comcast Cable, and a show like Monk would take about 1.8 gig with all commercials not record record (about 45 minutes of total show time).

But, when I record CSI (with commercials, 60 minutes of recording) HD Over the Air, the file size was only about 1.6 gig. So, if I was sitting there pausing the recording while commercials came on, the file size would have been around 1.2 or 1.3 gig.

The reason for HD having a smaller file size is that the picture had not garbage/static on the screen. When you are recording onto a computer, garbage/static has to be recorded also, which makes the file larger.

Since the HD is so clean, there is no noise to record, so the file size much smaller. This will help me to record 2 hour shows (without Ads, about 90 minutes) or 4 (maybe 5) 30 shows onto one DVD with no problems.

I am going to return the Samsung 151 to Best Buy for the Samsung 160 (this can receiver both HD and analog signals).

[tomdkat]

Is this DVD burner any good:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...etailComponent

Peace...

[videoworx]

yes, and no. It's portable, which is great if you're on the go, but it does create some limitations, most notably that it only burns dvd's at 2x (burning 4.5 gigs of data will take about 30 minutes at this speed). Some people have told me that it's a little noisy, and can get rather hot (not unlike a laptop, i guess), but these were the only nitpicks. Nero works just fine with the drive using both CD-R and DVD-R formats.
It also is very flakey if you use USB 1.1 (which is the fault of USB, not the device). I would highly recommend using the firewire bus or USB 2.0 connection to burn. Also, be aware is requires an AC adapter - this isn't something you can use on an airplane. BECAUSE of that, I would simply go with a faster Pioneer burner in a generic firewire/USB 2 enclosure. Yes, it's bulkier, but it's cheaper and faster.

anyway, hope that helps...

[tomdkat]

Thanks for the feedback videoworx. I was looking at that unit mainly because of its slim line. I won't be traveling with it or anything. It would be for my home machine. I'm already looking at adding USB 2.0/Firewire ports to my machine at home so my options are basically open.

Any pros/cons with going with an external USB/Firewire device than an internal IDE one?

Peace...

[videoworx]

Any pros/cons with going with an external USB/Firewire device than an internal IDE one?

The cons are always transfer speed and cost. However, the advantage is that you can move the bastard to any machine you want (can you burn dvd's in linux?)

[tomdkat]

Thanks for the info. Is an internal IDE burner faster than even a Firewire attached burner? Is an internal device "easier" to manage since it's internal, like a CD-ROM, or is that really a "wash"?

Originally Posted by videoworx

T(can you burn dvd's in linux?)

Yup, you sure can.

There are people discussing the internal IDE Pioneer DVD A06 (I believe the model is but I'm not sure) on a Linux mesage forum and there are various packages available to burn DVDs with Linux.

Peace...

[aintnosin]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Any pros/cons with going with an external USB/Firewire device than an internal IDE one?

As long it's USB 2.0 or Firewire, there should be no difference at all. The only problem is that the DVD burner needs its own socket for power.

[tomdkat]

Here is someone else seeking advice:

DVD Recorders

Peace...

[3DMan]

Any of you guys know anything about the OptoRite DD0401 ? $150 for an 8X DVD RW seems pretty good. Of course, I see the Pioneer A06 is $130, but it's 4X.

[videoworx]

a friend of mine bought the plextor 8x just to show off - he has yet to succesfully burn an 8X disc that works in a dvd player - and considering the cost of 8x media, I just won't touch +R at that speed (or any speed, for that matter).

Be advised, Pioneer released the A07/107 drive (an 8X DVD-R/+R drive) at Comdex last week, which will be far more reliable (because i said so)...the features include redundancy systems to ensure proper recording on crappy generic media, even warped and unevenly labeled discs.

Philips also showed off a 16x burner, but they can't guarantee reliability, because of the spin-speed (175mph spin rate).

btw - 4x burners can burn an entire movie in 15 minutes, they really aren't THAT slow.

[3DMan]

Shit.

[tomdkat]

Here's a newbie lookinf for help:

DUMMIES GUIDE TO DVD WRITER/RECORDER. Can anyone help?

Peace...

[3DMan]

So does anybody know anything about when dual-layer rewriters will start coming out? I'd hate to get a single-layer and then have one that does double the storage come out a few months later. Be great if I would burn multiple edited years of my daughter's videos on one DVD.

[videoworx]

Hey, 3dman, i was in Florida for a week, hence the delayed response...

dual-layered +R burners will be out this spring, with -R burners to follow late summer/early fall. The only delay, apparently, will come from compatibility. DVD players are VERY picky about layer changes, and content must be split across both layers for the player to read a dual-layered disc (so if you record 30 minutes of video onto one layer, the recording software has to put SOMETHING on that 2nd layer in order for the player to recognize the media). Very techical, and eventually, automated - so you won't have to worry about it once these burners ship (and updated versions of say, Nero, ship with them). DVD authoring programs will also need required updates in order to recognize and deal with dual-layers directly (currently, when you author for a dual-layered disc, it's output to a DLT tape - and the replication plant takes care of the rest).

anyway, there's no harm in picking up a single layer dvd burner(they sell for around $100 and less). When these dual-layered burners finally do ship, they will come at a significant price (well above what single layered burners are selling for).

[3DMan]

Originally Posted by videoworx

anyway, there's no harm in picking up a single layer dvd burner(they sell for around $100 and less). When these dual-layered burners finally do ship, they will come at a significant price (well above what single layered burners are selling for).

True, true. And since anything with decent compatability and half-way decent price will probably be around Christmas, I guess I'll pick up something now. Besides, since this is home movies of my daughter, I care more about compatability than length. Think I can get a 50 minute and a 61 minute on one DVD-R with good quality?

Thanks for the response, doood.

[videoworx]

Think I can get a 50 minute and a 61 minute on one DVD-R with good quality?

You can fit up to (approx.) 90 minutes of footage before compromising on quality. You can always fit a lot more, but it helps if you have an authoring program that encodes dolby digital, rather than PCM, audio (which gives you more space for video - up to 180 minutes before the footage looks no better than VHS). The quality of the DVD will also depend on the source material (footage shot on VHS or hi8 will look worse at a low bitrate, than footage shot on MiniDV or Digital8 - the chroma noise generated by the older formats requires more encoding space).

hope that helps...

[3DMan]

Originally Posted by videoworx

You can fit up to (approx.) 90 minutes of footage before compromising on quality. You can always fit a lot more, but it helps if you have an authoring program that encodes dolby digital, rather than PCM, audio (which gives you more space for video - up to 180 minutes before the footage looks no better than VHS). The quality of the DVD will also depend on the source material (footage shot on VHS or hi8 will look worse at a low bitrate, than footage shot on MiniDV or Digital8 - the chroma noise generated by the older formats requires more encoding space).

hope that helps...

Yeah, it's all XL1 3-chip MiniDV footage(on frame mode), with a smattering of transitions and movement, so I guess there might be some loss. Obviously this is a matter of "opinion", but how much loss of quality is there going from PCM to DD? And why is it that old single-layer retail dvds can do about 2 hours? Do they have better compression schemes?

Thanks dude, it helps a LOT.

[videoworx]

And why is it that old single-layer retail dvds can do about 2 hours? Do they have better compression schemes?

DVD's can have a maximum bitrate of 11Mbits/per second. This is the TOTAL bitrate, combining audio/video/subtitles, etc...
PCM audio takes up big chunk of the pie, not only reducing available space on the disk, but also available bitrate.
Dolby Digital encodes at variable rates (I usually encode mine at 384Kb/s). This maximizes video quality (because you can now increase the video bitrate), and allows for longer programming. If you know what you are doing, you can probably squeeze 2 hours without anyone noticicing dancing pixels...
The good news is that your XL1 is a 3 chip camera, and is very good at retaining chroma information. Your loss will come from the DV compression, which loses 2/3rds of the chroma information(I assume you're editing in DV land, and not uncompressed). Recompressing again to MPEG-2 will lose a bit more, but I'd say you are definitely going to be happy with the results. You will notice that well lit (outdoors, for instance) footage will look fantastic, and low-lit footage will suffer from dancing pixels in shadowy areas (DV, and MPEG-2, reads and writes data in 8 bit colour mode, which doesn't leave a lot of space for dark colours). If you watch any single-layered DVD that's over 100 minutes, you'll notice the same thing.
MOST consumers will never be able to tell, but since you own an XL-1, I'd think you're a little more pickier - you may want to play around with a few different clips before burning the entire 2 hours of footage (which will take a VERY long time).

stopping now before I ramble on even more...

[Draysoth]

Just some general tips...

Buy brand name blanks. I bought 85 cent dvd-rs, and they crap out when playing near the end of the disk.

Also, buy a quality player... I nabbed the newest Plextor, and its been great. I also suggest reading as many reviews as possible on what people suggest before nabbing a burner.

So far Memorex DVD+R's are working well for me, but don't play in all systems... they do work in Xbox's and PS2s tho!

[skav]

I'm having a lip sync problem with a film burnt to disc.

The film starts off fine but then, say, when there is about half hour to go, the sync is out by about 2-3 seconds.

I use 'Power Producer' software and a BTC DVD-R/DVD-RW/CD-R/CD-RW drive.

I've searched up this topic on google but nothing has seemed to help even though I know this is a common problem.

any help will be appreciated!!

Skav

[videoworx]

I use 'Power Producer' software and a BTC DVD-R/DVD-RW/CD-R/CD-RW drive.

The problem lies with the software. I would contact Cyberlink to see if they've updated the program, as it has a MAJOR flaw. Power Producer encodes the videostream at 30 frames per second, which is not the correct NTSC frame rate. It should be 29.97 frames per second. The result is that after about 6 minutes you will start to notice a slight lip sync issue, which will get worse and worse as the program continues.

There is no fix for this using Power Producer. You will have to contact Cyberlink and bitch at them, or switch to a different application. Check out www.dvdrhelp.com 's forums and see if there are any cheapie alternatives...

[skav]

I'm actually from the UK. It may be a fluke but what I did was, reduce my writing speed to 2x instead of the maximum of 4, I played the last 10 mins of the film and it was perfect.

I'm going to try another just to see if it was luck or not, hopefully it wasn't.

I will still definitely get in touch with Cyberlink though, the program is very temporamental.

Thanks!!!

Skav

[aintnosin]

Question: Has anyone seen 8x DVD media in the stores? The drives are all over the place and dirt cheap, but I don't see the point of upgrading until the media is readily available.

[skav]

Never seen them in the stores, mind you, I've never really looked, but try ebay since that's where I get my media from. No doubt there will be 8x speed media there.

It's always good to reduce your writing speed anyway to prevent errors.

Skav

[3DMan]

Originally Posted by aintnosin

Question: Has anyone seen 8x DVD media in the stores? The drives are all over the place and dirt cheap, but I don't see the point of upgrading until the media is readily available.

I've heard that some writers and 4x media will burn fine at 8x. I'm sure there are dvd writing/video editing forums that talk about it.

[3DMan]

I officially re-kill this thread.

Saw an interesting bit of info on some hacked firmware here. Apparantly, it may be possible to get an NEC 2500A 8X DVD writer to write dual-layer. And these suckers are only about $80. Interesting.

[tomdkat]

Ok, I was watching a VHS tape last night and the video was having "issues" and the VCR had difficulty tracking properly.

So, I'm thinking about getting a standalone DVD-R recorder. Nothing fancy and I don't need a built-in HD (at least I don't think I do) and I don't need TiVo or similar functionality.

Here are two units that have my attention:

Pioneer DVR-320-S
Panasonic DMR-E55S

Naturally, I'm partial to the Pioneer unit but I'm open to trying the Panasonic if it will work better for me.

My primary use is to transfer VHS videos to DVD-R. I would want the DVD-Rs to playback on my Pioneer DVD players and I'm not sure if the Pioneer unit above would be a better choice since I've got Pioneer DVD players. I have played DVD-Rs and DVD-RW (I think) sent to me by 1138 and brian and I don't know what drives/recorders they used to burn those DVDs.

Thanks!

Peace...

[videoworx]

well, 2 notes here - I have a DMR-E60, which is similar to the 55, and I love it. Never tried the Pioneer recorder, so i can't tell you anything about it...

now, a friend of mine has the Panasonic DMR-80 model, which has a hard drive. The discs it burns can NOT be played in my Pioneer DVR-105 drive (my internal PC DVD burner). Which is odd, because MY Panasonic can...maybe he uses shitty media, I don't know, but take that any way you want.

btw, my local tweeter store just cleared out its store inventory, they were the selling Pioneer recorder with the Tivo for $399 (it sells for a LOT more than that).

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by videoworx

well, 2 notes here - I have a DMR-E60, which is similar to the 55, and I love it.

Great! Have you noticed any quirks when burning DVD-R discs at all or is it a pretty straight foward process?

Peace...

[videoworx]

Great! Have you noticed any quirks when burning DVD-R discs at all or is it a pretty straight foward process?

well, if you're someone who was stumped at programming the clock on a VCR, then you may have problems - but for the most part, stand-alone recorders are idiot-proof. You don't get to make fancy menus, and you can't edit footage(unless you use DVD-RAM on the Panasonic models), and chapter stops are made whenever you start a new recording.

I would definitely recommend brand-name media, especially if you are going to buy a Pioneer recorder...

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by videoworx

well, if you're someone who was stumped at programming the clock on a VCR, then you may have problems - but for the most part, stand-alone recorders are idiot-proof. You don't get to make fancy menus, and you can't edit footage(unless you use DVD-RAM on the Panasonic models), and chapter stops are made whenever you start a new recording.

Great!

I would definitely recommend brand-name media, especially if you are going to buy a Pioneer recorder...

Thanks for the link. How does one know what kind of drive is in one of these standalone burners?

Peace...

[chlngr1970]

Tom, talk to me when we get together about getting a burner...

On to MY question...

Does any body know of a program that can author DVDs in 16:9 Anamorphic? I finaly got my Dual layer burner, and would like to make some DVDs for my future WS display...

j

[aintnosin]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

Tom, talk to me when we get together about getting a burner...

On to MY question...

Does any body know of a program that can author DVDs in 16:9 Anamorphic? I finaly got my Dual layer burner, and would like to make some DVDs for my future WS display...

j

Pinnacle Studio 9 can do it. So can Sonic MyDVD v6.

[videoworx]

I highly recommend Adobe Encore for the PC, and DVD Studio Pro for the mac...

[Icon769]

I'd like to know what type of device do I need to transfer old vhs of tv shows, or home movies onto dvds. Is it a recorder that gets installed in the computer, or is it something that resembles a dvd/vcr player? Any recommendations? I'm completely new to the transfering my vhs to dvds.

[Icon769]

Anyone?

[videoworx]

I think this has been answered about 8 MILLLLIIIOOOON times in this thread, but it boils down to 2 options:

A. If you are not computer savvy, get a stand-alone DVD recorder. Panasonic makes a great model for around $350 (DMR-E55S). You can record up to 2 hours per DVD-R, or 4 hours on a double-sided DVD-RAM disc (ram discs can only be played in panasonic players).
You can record more per dvd, but the quality will degrade significantly, especially if the source material is VHS (chroma noise produced by VHS will cause lots o' artifacting at low bitrate recording settings).

Next year, stand-alone dual-layer dvd recorders will be out (it's pronounced "DVD+R-DL" right now, but i'm sure some marketing genius will call it "SUPER-DVD" or something), allowing 4 hours on a dvd that can be played on any dvd player.

B. If you are competent with PC's and software, you will want to avoid the cheap best buy garbage that says it can do everything with a touch of a button using a USB cable. This produces crap that will look worse than your original VHS tapes, and DVD's that won't play properly on some dvd players.

step 1. buy a dvd burner. Pioneer's DVR-108 is an excellent burner, and can burn dual-layer media (currently, DL discs costs just under $9 each). NEC makes a great alternative model. Both drives are around $85 online. Single-layer burners are about $20 cheaper. Spend the extra.

step 2. buy an analog-firewire converter box. Canopus makes the best bang-for-the-buck model (ADVC-100). ADSTECH also makes one that bundles the software you will also need (see below). Costs vary from $150-600 depending on what you get. If the box doesn't come with a firewire PCI card, and your PC doesn't have one, you will need to buy one. $15 with cable online anywhere.

step 3. buy Adobe Premiere. Editing software is vital in cleaning up home movies, especially VHS. Premiere Pro 1.5 can clean up chroma noise with a single click, and can burn edited video to a DVD with another click (something final cut can not do, mac-users note). Premiere by itself costs $699, but you can get it for less if you buy in the ADSTECH bundle mentioned above (the bundle, with the hardware, and far more software costs $550-599 online). Educational version is $299, so if you know someone in school - get them to buy it.

That's it. Now, some might consider the PC route overkill, but if you spend anything less, and don't devote the time in learning editing software - this isn't for you. Get the cheapy Panasonic burner and you will be very happy.

btw, Sam's Club has a killer deal on blank dvd-r's right now. 50 8x Verbatim's in a spindle for $29.98 - can't beat that anywhere else (generic media is cheaper, but should never be used for archival stuff - data tends to float away on those things).