Best DVD results.... DigiBeta to DVD??

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PimpDaddyDA

Well-known member
Hi all....

I need to burn a quality DVD, looking the best as possible. (2 hr flic)

Should I download via firewire to DigiBeta....then, go DigiBeta to DVD?

Thanks for your input...

Darryl
 
Passing it to Digibeta won't improve the quality of your footage.
if your master is what you have on your computer, stick with that. convert that to mpeg2 and burn the dvd. keep bitrate fairly high for best quality.

Andrea
 
WEll if you could firewire to digibeta, but digibeta doesn't have firewire. If you could go SDI to a digibeta you would get the best transfer. If you had a real time MPEG2 encoder then from the digibeta to DVD you'd get the best DVD, but you probably don't have access to any of this so a service that makes DVDs professionally would. If not sorry to say your computer can make you one but once you go over the 60 minute running time, a whole new compression scheme that is less desirable comes into play. It's all about what software you are using. Some are very much better than others. In macs DVD Studio pro makes DVDs that are substantially better than does iDVD. But then again PCs have even better DVD making software than what is sold for Macs. It's about what you want to pay for.
 
What was the footage originated on, DV? If so, many NLEs can encode straight to MPEG2 (the DVD format) from your original source material. Going to DigiBeta would actually degrade your footage, but only slightly.

Although Walter recommends a real time conversion, I would disagree. Real time does not allow for a two pass VBR (Variable Bit Rate) encoding. This allows software to analyse your footage and assess how to optimally ecncode it onto the space you have on the DVD.

It may be a good idea to use dual layer DVD's, as this doubles you capacity from the 4.7GB on a standard single layer. 2 hours will fit onto a single layer fine, but for the best quality you would need dual layer - however, they are more expensive and can be less compatible. Personally I would try a single layer first and see if it looks good enough to you - it shouldn't be too bad.

Software wise, I use Compressor straight from FCP and then construct the disc in DVD Studio Pro. Although I haven't done direct comparisons, I can't see how the quality could be any better, it is excellent. Simply use the 120min High Quality Encode Preset and you won't go too far wrong.
 
Can I burn the 2 hour flic using the VBR 2/pass setting?

Also, should I get a 9GB dvd? Do the 9GB dvd's play on all dvd players just like the 4.7 ones??

Thanks,
Darryl
 
>Although Walter recommends a real time conversion, I would disagree. Real time does not allow for a two pass VBR (Variable Bit Rate) encoding. This allows software to analyse your footage and assess how to optimally ecncode it onto the space you have on the DVD.

I didn't say that correctly. I was referring to dedicated MPEG cards such as digital rapids that do multipass processing and have all sorts of additions including Proc amps. About the best you can do at home is software for Mac and Pc which does pretty good encoding but there are major differences in quality depending on the software. Basically one can make perfectly acceptable DVDs at home. Problem with encoding over 60 minutes of video is it uses more compression but there is noting you can do about that.
 
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