Need help with first DVD workflow

N

Neutral

Active member
Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right section to be posting this. If it's not someone please advise me where would be better.
So I need some help. I'm working on my first DVD. It's a 1h15 tour documentary and a 1hour live performance. Two separate videos that hopefully will fit on one disc. So my first question is, should this be on DVD5 or DVD9? The record label is breathing down my neck as they need to know production costs. And I've never done this before :S

I am nearing the final stages of both videos. Color grading. I am working in Davinci resolve. What format should I export to for DVD? You obviously have to keep it in a size range. From what I understand DVD5 carries 4gb and DVD9 carries 8gb.
How do you determine what the size of your exported file will be? And If I end up going with DVD9 does that mean I can export a higher quality file since I have more space?

Not sure if it matter's but this was my workflow so far:
Edited in Premiere. Exported to lossless AVI codec. Converted to Prores (80GB file I think). And now color grading that file in davinci.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Like I said I've never done this so it's all a little confusing and stressful since I'm nearing deadlines.
 
There's no way it all will fit on a DVD5 without MAJOR compression and quality loss. You want dual-layer.

The only format you can use is DVD-compliant MPEG-2. Any other format will be converted to that by a DVD authoring app (and Encore doesn't do an especially bang-up job with it), so your best bet is to export your project in that format and giver the DVD authoring app something it doesn't have to recompress.
 
Use dual layer as David suggested. Go with the highest bit rate that is reliable on DVD. If you are replicating the disc then encode at 8500 kbs CBR for video and 320 kbs for audio. If you are duplicating the disk then encode at 7800 kbs CBR for video and 256 kbs for audio. Duplication is a lower bit rate to address comparability issues with various players. Replication is a completely different process so a higher bit rate is ok.
 
If you're using consumer/prosumer tools, then you're going to be making this as a dual layer aka DVD9 if you want to keep the quality up. If you've got access to a decent compressionist/author then you could be able to get away with a DVD5. I do it all the time depending on the content. The video bit rate would be about 4.1 on a DVD5 and 7.6 on a DVD9 assuming a single stereo dolby AC3 track and minimal menus. Most of the consumer tools don't look so great at a bit rate around 4, but if you look at a lot of the "Hollywood" releases that's where they often are.

Mark Williams said:
If you are replicating the disc then encode at 8500 kbs CBR for video and 320 kbs for audio.
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NOPE! It won't fit. 7.8 is what you need. 8.5 is too high and would only fit two hours. You're total is 135 minutes, correct?
Audio rate is wrong too. Use the standard Dolby AC3 stereo format which is .194 Mbps
Also, CBR is not the best way to go. It forces easy scenes to eat up space and doesn't give the encoder the flexibility to allot more space to visually complex scenes. A good multi pass encoder relies on VBR to make not just the most out of space, but the most out of the image quality.

Mark Williams said:
If you are duplicating the disk then encode at 7800 kbs CBR for video and 256 kbs for audio. Duplication is a lower bit rate to address comparability issues with various players. Replication is a completely different process so a higher bit rate is ok.
Click to expand...
Not really correct either. The higher bit rates aren't an issue on duplicated discs over replicated discs on current players, and any player (usually old laptops from 15 years ago) that did have issues choking on higher bit rates would do so regardless of whether it was a dupe or replicated. It's still a good idea to keep the video under 8 as you could encounter an older player.
The only issues that you might see between duplicated and replicated discs is that duplicated discs can deteriorate over time and are more susceptible to environmental damage like sunlight. That's what makes duplicated DVDs have playback issues. Replicated discs are better, and much cheaper at volume.

If you're really getting hung up on this stuff you may want to hire a professional DVD author. They can help you with getting the most out of the movie for DVD and BluRay and often will save you money by getting you a better deal on the cost of replication on larger runs. At least that's what I do for my clients.
 
Thanks so much for the replies guys.

I will be exporting/rendering my final product from Davinci. So from what I gather I should export to DVD-compliant MPEG-2 codec? And how do I get it to render a file size that will fit on the DVD? Or when choosing that codec does it do it automatically?

So I think dual layer (dvd9) holds 8.4GB correct? And I have 2 video's both about an hour long. That means both would have to come out to 4.2gb each?
 
Neutral said:
I will be exporting/rendering my final product from Davinci. So from what I gather I should export to DVD-compliant MPEG-2 codec? And how do I get it to render a file size that will fit on the DVD? Or when choosing that codec does it do it automatically?
Click to expand...
Sort of. You'll need a DVD spec MPEG2 file for the DVD, but how you get there is up to you. Usually, the master is output in its native resolution and codec (for example ProRes422HQ HD), then that file is taken to an encoder that compresses it to standard def MPEG2 that is compliant for DVD and will be the appropriate size.

Neutral said:
So I think dual layer (dvd9) holds 8.4GB correct? And I have 2 video's both about an hour long. That means both would have to come out to 4.2gb each?
Click to expand...
They don't have to be the same size. A dual layer disc can play one continuous movie that is 8.4gb but it will hold for a second when it switches between layers. On pro level software you can choose the point where this happens so that you can hide it in a fade to black or something similar so that it's less noticeable for the viewer. In your case if you encode both movies with a little room to spare, then your authoring software should (might? could?) simply place each video on it's own layer and there will be no pause in transition. If you max out the size on the encode, then it might put that layer break somewhere you won't want it and it will look like the disc freezes for a second when it switches layers.
 
Mark Williams said:
Well, over 10,000 DVDs done and no returns so I must be doing something right.
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Sorry Mark, My reply yesterday sounded a little harsher than I intended. I must not have had my coffee when I was writing that. I should be glad that someone else is still in the DVD business these days!
 
Yes, DVD's are about to be a relic. I am selling my few remaining in inventory this week and I will be done with DVD's after a six year run. The sad thing is you can really get good prices on a 1,000 DVD replication order.
 
Mark Williams said:
Yes, DVD's are about to be a relic. I am selling my few remaining in inventory this week and I will be done with DVD's after a six year run. The sad thing is you can really get good prices on a 1,000 DVD replication order.
Click to expand...

I started doing DVD authoring for commercial releases back when you had to explain what a DVD was. I went through the whole learning process when a blank DVD-R cost $30. Each. And the burner I think was about $7500? I can't even count how many titles I've worked on, thousands for sure, which means millions of DVDs out there. Every summer for the past few years I thought to myself that this might be the last time that I'll be working on DVDs. Last summer was just as busy as ever. This summer will have a few less projects, but the movies I'm working on still want to release on DVD and BluRay. The reality is that there is still a market for discs. A lot smaller in volume than it was a few years ago, but it's still there. The funny thing about the DVD business is that a lot of the clients I've lost over the past few years haven't gone away from making DVDs, but gotten out of the business altogether. Without the income of DVD sales their business models no longer were profitable.
We're going to get to the point where we won't be making any DVDs at all, but we're not quite there yet.
 
Neutral said:
I'm working on my first DVD. It's a 1h15 tour documentary and a 1hour live performance. Two separate videos that hopefully will fit on one disc.
Click to expand...
These two timeline won't fit on a DVD5, as David mentionned, without severe compression. Either a DVD9 would do ok, or two separate DVD5 would do just fine as well.
I've compressed a 1h22 dance show to a DVD5 and it's running between 7100kbps and 9200kbps. The audio track will be stereo AC3. Everything will fit onto a DVD5 easily, with simple menus.
Unless you hardly compress both videos (I'd say between 3000kbps and 5000kbps) you won't fit these two timelines onto a single DVD5. A DVD9 is the only choice if you want both timeline on the same disc. Not much expensive, depending on the copies you have to produce.
 
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