DVD architect vs compression
 

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to burn a DVD using DVD architect 4, I have only two videos (624mb total) and DVDA is warning me that they will both be compressed, why is that? I'm not busting my 4.7GB limit, in fact I'm only at 14%

Did you compress into mpeg2 with the correct template to make DVDs?

No I did'nt, my files are in WMV format.

WMV is not a valid file type for creating DVDs. So thet needto be transcoded. Mpeg2 is the ONLY codec in the spec for DVDs.

Hoo ok ok, I think I'm missing the basic knowledge about rendering for DVD's.

So if I understand, when I'm done with a project on Vegas and ready to render it, if I want a small file for the web I can render it in WMV but if I'm planning on making a DVD I have to use the "DVD architecte 24P NTSC Widescreen video stream" template under the MPEG-2 file format.

I see it renders it out in 720x480, what if my file is HD 720P?

thanks.

That's correct, Don. Please note that when you render to mpeg2, it is video only. You then render the timeline again to ac3 WITH THE SAME NAME THAT YOU RENDERED TO MPEG2. When you go into DVDA just drag the mpeg2 file to the timeline and the ac3 audio file will follow it down to the timeline.

Happy editting,
Michael

Then it shrinks it to 720 x 480, which is the max size for DVD.

Are you kidding me? I have to render twice!! audio and video seperate, wow I had no idea.

For the HD to SD thing, will it stretch it un-naturally because of the different aspect ratio?

The audio render is very fast. Maybe 3-5 minutes for a full DVD.

And no, the aspect ratio will be preserved, so no worries there.

Ok so the only logical explanation I could come up with as to why the audio and video would be seperated on a dvd is probably because of the language option right? (If the DVD offers english or french language)

And I'm curious to know, is it the same procedures with a MAC? with .mov files?

the LD be rendered to MPG as well but frankly it really doesn't make sense to do that in most cases. First AC3 is asmaller file size which allows for a higher bitrate for the video. Secondly, by naming both files the same IE; my movie.mpg and my movie.ac3 when you bring one into DVDA the other will follow automatically. As stated previously, the audio render to AC3 is extremely fast so no time is wasted.

As you spend more time around this, you'll learn. What seems illogical to you really has a lot of logic.

The files are separated because the default compression that happens when you make an mpeg file is NOT in the spec for DVD. DVD Video *MUST* be Mpeg2 and with some very specific parameters. The ONLY audio file types legal for DVD use are .ac3, and uncompressed LPCM audio generally stored as .WAV files or .AIFF files on the Mac.

.mp3 files, .wma files, and others are not suitable audio formats for DVD production. Thus you have to render your audio separately from the video.

And yes, the procedure is the same on a Mac, SGI, Linux platform, or anything else you want to author on.

Thanks Perrone, Michael and Don, thanks to you guys now I have the "basic" knowledge of creating DVDs. I will be testing everything we talked about in the next few days.

Ho and by the way Perrone, I just added a reply to this thread, can you take a look at it please? thanks!
Fluorescent vs skin tone - Page 2 - The Digital Video Information Network