VHS Tapes to DVD

I personally Haven"t had any problems burning My DVD"s with DVDLab but some Poeple Have so it basicly depends on if your Burner is Compatible with the ASPI Burning Module...I like to use Nero to Burn the Video_TS folders anyways because for some reason I can fit a Little More on a DVD Burning with Nero....

Cheers

 

Chubbers- download the GoCap tool from Plextor and use it to capture. It has more flex in cap settings. Forget Intervideo's dumb authoring technique, it re-encodes the whole project for the sake of compatiblity across all users skill level. If you switch to Dvd Lab your dvd creation time will also be reduced.

 

RebootJim, PFH, or Minion,
I have Roxio Easy Media Creator OEM software version for burning. That brings up a good question: which program creates the Video_TS files? Roxio or DVD Lab?

 

That's what an authoring program does. It creates the video and a separate audio ts folder during compiling leaving you with the original mpeg stream and a new properly structured dvd of that stream with any menus you've created. Dvd Lab does it this way but not sure about Roxio- never used it.

 

Minion,
What is GOP? I have seen this terminology used (i.e. I only, IPB, IP only)and have no idea what it is or why it is important. Can you give me a brief synopsis of what it is and what it means to the world of video editing/DVD making?

 

GOP is Group Of Pictures...usually made up of alternating P and B frames, with 1 I frame per every 18 frames in NTSC, and 15 frames in PAL.
P and B frames only contain HALF the video data. I frames contain all of it.
In most cases, you can only successfully edit an mpg on an I frame, unless the file get's re-encoded to adjust to the proper GOP.
If a GOP is non-standard in any way, some authoring programs won't accept it, and some standalone players won't play it.

 

pfh,
You have experience using Plextor's GoCap utility and with the ConvertX. I have the PX-TV402U. As you said in a previous post, it spits out AC3. I have downloaded the GoCap tool version 2.0.0.1. I played around with it and am wondering what to do with the GOP settings and size. Just let it go at the defaults? I need some direction in this matter, as I still have no idea what adjusting the GOP will do for me in regards to video quality, et cetera. In other words, please tell me what GOP settings/size to use in certain situations and why. Thank you.

 

pfh,
Does the ConvertX capture directly to mpeg2 with DVD specs? I am wondering.

 

As I explained above, NTSC GOP is 18 frames with 1 I frame. PAL GOP is 15 frames with 1 I frame.
You have the ConvertX, didn't it come with a manual? Something should tell you if it captures compliant D1 mpegs.

 

With the GoCap tool just leave the Gop at 15, check the dvd compliant box, check the custom dvd box if you want to max out the bitrates, and select IPB frames. Don't worry about 18 GOP size- it won't work. It's set at default of 15 because this unit ships world wide (Pal, Secam). Gop settings won't affect quality just compliancy. A NTSC dvd can have UP TO 18 GOP's but also less.
Maximize bitrates for quality............

 

Neph says I need to better the world by sitting in a tub of gasoline and torching myself.

 

We don't need spam on this site. I hope management acts accordingly.

 

pfh,
Thanks for the clarification re GOP.

rebootjim,
The ConvertX came with a manual but it is very poor indeed. If it contains the answers to my questions, I could not understand it. Just as I did not become a pharmacist in a few short months, I also will not become completely adept at this video editing nor adequately understand all of the terminology in a few short months. There is a learning curve and I am trying.....Chubbers

 

Pfh or Minion,
You guys have worked with DVD Lab. Before I download it and give it a try, there is one thing I would like to know for certain. I wish to take some old home movies that are on super 8 film (the kind that goes in the old reel projectors)and videotape them with my camcorder (using a mirrored-coverter box). These are very old films with NO sound (circa late 1960's). After I have the films on my camcorder tape, I will feed the camcorder tape signal into my ConvertX and hardware encode to mpeg2 and then create a DVD. Herein lies the problem: I cannot silence the on-camera microphone on the camcorder so it is going to pick up the click-clack of the reel projector and any extemporaneous sounds in the room when the transfer is done. I wish to overwrite this native audio track (the camcorder audio of click clack)with music during the authoring of the DVD as well as ADD another audio track of narration for my home movie. I think DVD Lab studio version supports at least 2 audio tracks. Using DVD Lab studio version, will I be able to replace the click-clack native audio track with music AND add another seperate audio track of narration?

 

DVDLab Pro (you call it studio version) will allow you to eliminate any audio, add any audio, and have slectable multi-audio tracks.
Providing they are 48khz mp2 or ac3.

 

rebootjim
Yes. there are 3 versions of DVD Lab. Standard, Studio, and Pro version

 

Shows ya how often I look...
Anyhow. I have been using Pro V1.0 forever.
If you want music playing in the background of a vocal track, you will need to make that externally, in something like Goldwave, beforehand.

 

Hi, Guys I just wanted to Post a Comment in regard to a statement made by another Poster who said that the GOP Structure and Size has no effect on Quality Which isn"t True....

Of all of the Frames in a GOP the "I" frame is the Least Compressed Frame and the Frame that has the Highest Quality so if you have a Smaller GOP you will have More I Frames which Means that you will have More High Quality Low Compression frames which means that you can expect a slight Quality improvement with a Smaller GOP.....

For Regular Mpeg-2/DVD Encodeing I use a 12 Frame GOP and I seems to get Slightly better quality useing this smaller GOP ,I can Only really notice it when encodeing very low Quality Source Files...

When Doing Mpeg-2 Captures i like to use a 4 Frame GOP which seems to Improve the Capture Quality but has a Effect on the File Size....

Cheers

 

Gop explained
http://www.zerocut.com/tech/mpeg.html
here's another gop explanation
http://cnx.rice.edu/content/m11144/latest/

 

Minion: Good advice, with a caveat...
Not all standalone players will accept a non-standard GOP.
Not all authoring apps will accept a non-standard GOP.
I do part time work capturing 1152x864 mpeg-2 from specialized cams. This video is then used to catalog what's on the film. It needs specific frame accurate stop motion, thus I encode at a 1 frame GOP.
You can imagine the file sizes of a 4 hour video, at that aspect, and GOP, but the quality is better than DVD, at 17.6 minutes per DVDR5, and 33 minutes per dual layer.