Tip: Movie Maker to DVD

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

There are lots of posts about problems or issues when making and movie and
burning it to a DVD.... is the process an easy one or a problematic one??

On my website and in my posts, I preach the side road though TMPGEnc for the
highest quality DVDs, something that reflects the experienced judgment of
those who do lots of DVD work... but personally I've never taken that route.
I've found the 2 step process of Movie Maker and MyDVD to produce great
playing and looking DVDs. But then, I've always been a believer of content
being more important than pixels.

My first DVD burner came with my Toshiba laptop 1-1/2 years ago.... a Media
Center Edition of Windows XP, which included the OEM version 4.5 of Sonic's
MyDVD.

I've made about 25 DVDs, not a lot... and it's been an easy 2 step process
for each. Render a movie in Movie Maker to either WMV or DV-AVI format, and
import the movie into MyDVD, whip up a menu and burn the disc.

I'd always been uneasy about pressing that burn button because of the many
posts I've read about problems.... but in my 25 DVDs, I've only had one
instance of an error message part way through, and tossing the disc in the
garbage. The rest were perfect.... and I couldn't find a modern DVD player
that wouldn't play them.

So my personal disc making experience is limited but easy, fun and positive.
I hear about the easy process of Macs doing it from iMovie to iDVD.... I
don't have a Mac, but I've read lots about them and think that my 2 steps of
Movie Maker to MyDVD is just as easy.

--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[R.E. Jeffery]

Thanks for tip, I have previously always saved to WMV then converted back to
MPEG2 before burning to DVD. On you comment content is more important than
quality I would agree. This way I get abot 4.0 GB on a DVD about an hour
and five minutes. The quality is not brilliant, there being pixalation if
the camera has swang rapidly for any reason. Would it be petter to use AV1
as opposed to WMV? Wpuld this reduce pixalation?

Ray

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Hi Ray,

A good day to ask that... I just finished burning the master DVD for a
project.. the video runs almost an hour and is of a lecture. The camcorder
was in the same position throughout and on a tripod aimed at the speaker.

Other than head/mouth/upper body movements, there's lots of text added by
Movie Maker... using white lettering on the standard 'News Banner'
animation.

There are more artifacts in the text effects when rendering to a DV-AVI file
versus a high quality WMV.... so I opted to use WMV files to feed the DVD
process.

In your case, it seems like DV-AVI could be the better choice.... I'd go
with that type first.
--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..

 

[Jeffraham Prestonian]

Thanks for tip, I have previously always saved to WMV then converted back
to MPEG2 before burning to DVD. On you comment content is more important
than quality I would agree. This way I get abot 4.0 GB on a DVD about an
hour and five minutes. The quality is not brilliant, there being
pixalation if the camera has swang rapidly for any reason. Would it be
petter to use AV1 as opposed to WMV? Wpuld this reduce pixalation?

It should. I found WMV unacceptable for projects that
would eventually go to DVD -- way too many compression
artifacts, especially in transitions between still photos. For
anything going to DVD, I only capture in DV-AVI, save as
DV-AVI, and let the DVD authoring software optimize the
output to fit a 4.7GB disc.

The true test is to buy a few re-writeable DVDs, and do
an A/B comparison on a DVD player/television. Your
computer monitor tends to perceptually "amplify" the
compression artifacts, due to its higher resolution.
Some things that look heinous on your PC monitor may
look fine on the TV.
..

 

[Guest]

If you are worried about making DVD Coaster than I would suggest using Roxio.
I have the software right the DVD to a .ISO file and then use that to create
the disk. This way I can make sure nothing else is going on on the system
when it burns. It's also handy because if you fail during a burn you have to
sit through the rendering process again.

John

 

[Jeffraham Prestonian]

If you are worried about making DVD Coaster than I would suggest using
Roxio.
I have the software right the DVD to a .ISO file and then use that to
create
the disk. This way I can make sure nothing else is going on on the system
when it burns. It's also handy because if you fail during a burn you have
to
sit through the rendering process again.

Anyone afraid of burning coasters should invest in a
few re-writeable DVDs. Practicing with them, prior to
*any* new burning operation, is a worthwhile practice.

Something else to try, if "coasters" are a prior problem --
set your burn rate to 4x. Most media can deal with that,
and you're less likely to have buffer issues at lower
speeds.

Of course, not running other applications, and doing
all this after a frest reboot can't hurt, either.
..

 

[John Kelly]

On my website and in my posts, I preach the side road though TMPGEnc for
the
highest quality DVDs, something that reflects the experienced judgment of
those who do lots of DVD work...

Excuse Me !!!! We have already had the admission from one other MVP that he
is out of date with regard to the issue of quality and as a regular reader
here and discounting the "Instant Expert" exactly who else are you
referring too when making the above remark.....there4 are the occasional
"Geek's" who like you refer to TMPGenc as being free and the best thing
since sliced bread...but no, hang on a moment...you also said...

but personally I've never taken that route.
I've found the 2 step process of Movie Maker and MyDVD to produce great
playing and looking DVDs

That's strange !!! Did you forget the remarks you have made in the past??

Reading the rest of your message causes me to ask, Where is the Tip??? What
is the Tip???

You have only made 25 DVD's....I made more than that last week!!!! So,
about this remark...

something that reflects the experienced judgment of
those who do lots of DVD work

Who are you referring to again???

I think that your whole message must be based on those secret
thoughts...."I hope this is right.....must pad it out a bit....will have to
use what others say...hope they are right..."" etc and finaly...

But then, I've always been a believer of content
being more important than pixels

News Flash.....the CONTENT is comprised of PIXELS

--
John Kelly
www.the-kellys.org
www.the-kellys.co.uk
Check out free video hosting at www.the-kellys.org
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All material gained from other sources is duly acknowledged. No Value is
obtained by publishing in any format other peoples work

 

[George Ellis]

I would go straight to DV-AVI as it is a lossless format. I do not believe
WMV is a lossless compression format. So going back and forth could lose
data. It could save some of the noise.