DV to DVD All the steps

[Guest]

I just want to make sure I understand this correctly.

I import my DV from my camcorder with FireWire
1 hour should equal around 13 gigs on my HD. Edit the Video, and then save
as DV-AVI, another 13 gigs if it is an hour. I then need a DVD program to
convert to MPEG-2. So I need a minimum of 30 gigs to edit one hour VIDEO?

How do I know when creating my video, if it is going to be to large for a
DVD (4.7 GB). Because when I save it after editing it is in the DV-AVI format
is there a way to know this? Or does the DVD converting software fit to disk?

Thanks

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

You've got it... your DVD software will offer options for compression...
which will allow you to vary the amount that goes on it... figure the one
hour of high quality.

As you add DV-AVI files to a MyDVD 4.5 project, a little meter shows you how
full the disc would be if you burned it at that point... and the burn button
becomes inactive if you overfill it.

You could do with less than the 30 GB if you were not going to go back to
the Movie Maker project for more editing after saving the edited movie....
deleting the captured source file of 13 GB before using your DVD software.
--
PapaJohn

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

 

[Wojo]

And I would actually venture to say that if disk space is an issue then
working with movies and audio/video is going to be a problem. When I started
mesing around I found a 40GB HDD didn't last long. I am now working off dual
160's and most of my clip's that aren't currently in use are backed up on
DVD-RW's. If you really get into this as a major hobby the setup above is
probably minimum.

 

[George Ellis]

"How do I know when creating my video, if it is going to be to large for a
DVD (4.7 GB). Because when I save it after editing it is in the DV-AVI
format
is there a way to know this? Or does the DVD converting software fit to
disk?"

This depends on your length and your authoring software. There are two
'formats' (streams) when creating a DVD, CBR and VBR. CBR is Constant Bit
Rate. At 6000kbps, that is around 1 hour of video. The software may allow
adjusting down to a lower data rate to fit more video on the DVD. That is
the simple solution. Dolby Digital (AC3) support can reduce the size of the
audio, increasing the video content. DD requires licensing from Dolby, so
anything supporting it may cost more and have restrictions on use (there may
be a cutoff on number of copies where you have to buy Dolby's kit from Dolby
at $2000 - depends on the license the authoring package negotiated.)

The other solution is Variable Bit Rate (VBR). Smarter software will
calculate a range of the bitrate that can be used, with the low end helping
determine how much will fit on a disc. When the screen changes are small,
the lower bit rate can be used, using less space. The more advanced
encoders allow this with Tmpgenc being one of the best ones for the price.
With VBR, the rate for a 1.5 hr disc might be 5000-8500 and the encoder
figures out the rest. Of course, that is a high rate for 1.5 hours! With
PCM audio, expect that rate to fall almost to the 3000 low range for 1.5
hours of video. But if the encoder supports AC3 (Dolby Digital), you can
get a higher video because the audio components are smaller. I believe Mpeg
audio falls inbetween them (and may be less compatible with certain settop
players.)

Also on space considerations, some authoring packages will create the
audio/video files, create an image file from those, and then write it to
disc. This could mean an hour long video could use 11GB+ temporarily to
create a full disc.

But, with the right authoring package, 1.5 hrs will fit on a disc. When you
starting getting more than that, quality will definitely fall off. Discs
are cheap these days, so split it can go for a 2 disc set. The boxes are
about 25 cents from online e-tailers. 1.5 hrs on a disc with my encoder
does start showing some artifacts when the movement goes up.

And people wonder why I have 650GB on my editor...