Fast DVD Burning
 

I haven't had too much experience with DVD authoring software beyond Encore and Nero, but I am looking for a program to burn DVDs faster. Nero does an alright job for getting something out fast (I use an old version - Nero Vision Express 2) but the quality is terrible... lots of blocking going on. So what do you suggest for burning the fastest yet still best quality DVDs? How long does it take generally... duration of video vs duration of burning time?

Thanks!
-Corey

Ok, let me throw this out there... are there some steps I can take to make the transcoding and burning process run faster with a specific program??? Just looking for a quick way to get DVD's out. Thanks!

Do you want it good or do you want it fast? There is an inverse relationship between the two. Always has been. Always will. Full stop.

I think what you're talking about is transcoding. You can search here for many good recommendations on options. I like frameserving out of PP via debugmode to TMPEnc. The key is to get your bit rate as high as practically possible. For pieces over about an hour or so you'll want to go two pass VBR, but that takes time.

I can burn up to 18X but would I? Not on your life.
As Tripp mentioned it's not how fast you burn but the quality you get from the burn. If the program you're using now isn't doing the job then you need to 1) use better software and 2) when encoding use the proper bitrate for the job.
Burn at no more than 4X using good quality disc's and I would have to think you'll see a tremendous difference in the quality of the finished product.

Again as Tripp said, use the highest bitrate you can for that particular job and a slower burn speed. Also what kind of computer are you using. A DuoCore will burn faster than a non Duo but a Quadcore will move the project thru faster. I typically burn 2 hour DVDs on a Duocore at 4X speed in about 30 minutes maybe a bit less. I don'tsit there and watch them burn. That's like watching grass grow ;-)
That is of course after rendering and preparing which doesn't take long.

Maybe I'm not working in the most efficient way then. I have a single core 2.4ghz w/ 1.5gb of ram and work in Premiere Pro CS3. I usually export everything to an AVI file to save as a master as well as burn DVD's from. Maybe I should export as an MPEG from premiere so save time transcoding? Any recommended settings in premiere to burn from? Of course I want good quality, but I was on track of taking overnight to burn one DVD, which I can't do. I have a client who wants 10 DVDs of an upcoming project that is 1.5hrs long. Simple burn to disc, no fancy menus. It'd be crazy to tell them it's going to take at least 10 days to get that to them, providing that each disc burns as planned overnight.

To be honest, the whole transcoding/encoding/file type mess confuses me. I need to read up on it a bit more to completely understand it, but I was hoping somebody could share what works for them. Again good quality DVDs are important, but I'm sure there is a quicker way that what I have been finding. Now off to translate your responses using google! Haha, I appreciate it, Thanks.

So what are some good programs out there to burn with? I just tried using DVD Flick with ImgBurn as a free way to try... but am not happy with the results at all.

Looking for something that can save time when burning multiple copies versus waiting to transcode for each copy. Thanks!

Something's going pear shaped with your transcoding, methinks. From CS3/PS, you can go straight to Encore. I used to do it that way but I wasn't pleased with the quality. Taking recommendation of many here I now frameserve via debugmode to TMPGEnc and like the results much better. It takes no more time than exporting to Encore. If you go to an intermediate file before the final transcode, make sure that you use a lossless codec or quality will suffer some serious degradation.

Adobe has never ever been mentioned on any list of good mpeg2 compressors; the quality has improved over time, but it's still way behind other products.

Here is my list of preferences.

Fastest and best: Cinema Craft. Sounds strange, as Tripp put it, most of the time you need to make a choice... TMPG for example is very good, comparable to CC, but it's awfully slow. I have no idea how they do it, but it's incredibly high quality (used a lot at Hollywood)... no wonder they want $2K for the entry level version... the Pro version is about 10x more.

Next would be Procoder. Drawback with both of these two is that neither one of them burns the mpeg2 file to disk, so you still need to use Encore for DVD authoring.

My personal choice for fast DVD creation is Edius - I can burn DVDs very fast, straight from the timeline. Transcoding is faster than realtime even on my oldish editing computer. No need to export a file after editing - just pop in a disk and you're done.