When you add video files to a project there is a little stop light on the lower left-hand side of the screen that says "conversion result (quality)is:" and it goes from excellent to good to low quality. Now, I was wondering if convertxtodvd compresses the video at all which explains the stoplight going from excellent (something like no compression), to good (some compression) etc. If not what exactly does the stoplight refer to? I realize the program encodes/converts (is that the right word) the video files to a dvd compliant format. I just want to make sure my video files are experiencing no loss in quality (compression). Thanks
I think you are right. The program takes a look at the total number of minutes of all the clips that you add and calculates which bit-rate to use. As the bitrate drops, it reaches "quality" thresholds. If you are interested in maintaining quality, don't add too many hours worth of files. The point where degradation becomes a problem is in the eye of the beholder, but as a starting point, 2 1/2 - 3 hours max is a place to start.
Hmm...can anyone suggest another program that does not automatically compress the files and looses no quality?
VSO Convertx doesn't do any thing special. All the encoders do this. The files have to be compressed unless your source files are already mpeg-2 DVD compliant. How many minutes are you adding to the project, and what are the file formats? Take a look at the bit rate calculator at videohelp.com http://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm As the hours and minutes increase, the bit-rate lowers. The DVD at 4.5 GB, can only hold so much data.
Its usually Tv shows 30-40 mins each. I try for 3-4 each DVD (3 if they are of large size and quality). Formats varying: .ogm .mkv .avi I was under the impression that the formats weren't compressed but rather rencoded (is that the right word) to a dvd format? but that's not the case? This all came about while looking over some anime tv shows when I noticed some artifacting/glitching sporadically. I was hoping for a lossless transition (or at least the minimum possible).
No, you're right, in this context, "re-encoded" is the more accurate term. The point is, they're changed from one format to another. The output file may be bigger OR smaller (in bytes) than the original, and since compress kind of implies something got smaller "re-encoded" is better. A good quality encoder, keeping the bit rate from falling too low (by watching the hours and minutes) , you should be in good shape.
More in-depth explanation: http://forums.vso-software.fr/understanding-the-conversion-advisor-t5616.html No matter the source, even mpeg2, ConvertXToDVD will re-encode regardless of target size.
ConvertXToDVD is a converter...... so it has to look at your files and convert it to DVD Compliant files ready for burning. So in this respect it will change the format to DVD Compliant files! THE ORIGINAL FILE HAS TO CHANGE.... no matter what. Even if you use a DVD-9 the quality of the file that it has to convert won't change just the size. the old adage "Garbage in, Garbage out" still holds true today. If you downloaded a movie from the internet and it's quality is not good.. then converting it to DVD compliant files will not change the quality of the original file to a better quality....... it just stays the same if you have enough space to hold it after converting. You can use ConvertXToDVd and burn to your big hard drive and still get poor quality if the original file is of poor quality! so you have to consider the quality of your original file and then look at the out put. ConvertXToDVd is a great program and keeps the quality as high as it can with the limit of the space that it burns to or the limit of the original file it's converting!
Thanks for all the replies. I understand the "garbage in garbage out" dealy however for example I have a mkv file that is 1280x720 and of very high quality but for whatever reason when i convert it with convertxtodvd I still get artifacts. Perhaps I am just being a videophile though. Could anyone recommend a good encoder that can handle mkv and ogm?
