: DVD Burn: Quality vs Compression

Can anyone offer some guidelines and/or advice about how much video and audio to put on a single 4.7 GB DVD?
I am using PE 4.I have completed slightly less than half of my movie (about 1 hour including video, audio, & background soundtrack). I burned a trial DVD using the “Fit Contents To Available Space” Quality setting on the disk Burn Menu. The program says that the space required was 3.35 GB. Is this with or without compression?
The DVD looked ok when played on my home DVD player and analog TV.
I’m told that there can be a drop off in quality as the amount of compression increases.
How many more minutes should I put onto this DVD before I begin a second disk (PE project)?
Thanks in advance
Alan Baker
[email protected]

>space required was 3.35 GB. Is this with or without compression?
By definition, a DVD is highly compressed when edit video is turned into viewing video
For SD (Standard Definition, what goes on a DVD) it takes about 13Gig per hour of edit video
That is compressed into MPEG-2 and then converted to VOB to go on a DVD
Exactly how much you fit on a DVD, at what level of viewing quality, is a subject much discussed
Hollywood studios use multi-pass software and will also set coding options by scene, to get the best possible quality
If you have a lot of motion (filming a soccer match) you can fit less high quality video on a DVD
If you are filming a lecture with someone static on stage, you can fit more and still retain quality

Similar Messages

Poor dvd burn quality

gorgeous full hd clip burn into dvd using imovie (imported full quality size) and idvd setting as a professional quality.. but dvd came out so terrible worst than normal dvd.. anyone has idea what software i should use to have best quality dvd.. maximum professional quality dvd?
it lost at least 75% quality than original video clip. fuzzy and blurry.. i'm so upset.. anyone can help me? what should i do.. do i need another software to buy? any suggestion? help please~~~~! thank you

The problem is NOT iDVD.
iMovie 09-11 is a wonderful program assuming that you're using it for what it was designed to do, assemble videos to share on the Internet.
There is a regresssion in quality of the image between iMovie 06 and iMovie 09-11.
I did a compare using the same clip burned to DVD from iMovie 06 and from iMovie 11.
The iMovie 06 clip looked like it came from the camera directly and the iMovie 11 clip looked worse. The difference is the single field processing used by iMovie 09 and 11, and the fact that it throws out every other horizontal line.
I have spent many hours trying (and re-trying) all the iMovie 11 quality "work arounds" but my DVDs never look as good as when I use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09 or iDVD 11. With iMovie 06 you don't have to "work around" anything, you always get a lossless result, with very little effort.
iMovie 06 and iDVD 09 / 11 is a 100% "lossless" combination _and my DVD's look like they came from Hollywood!_

DVD burn quality in FCPX

Aware how to get the best quality out of IDVD with burn speed and other setting, in Imovie, but is there any such setting with the way a dvd is burnt in FCPX?

FCP X automatically detects and adjusts settings on it's own. The image quality is very good.

DVD burn quality

The quality of my dvd after burning is terrible. It is shaky and fuzzy. Looks nothing like my imovie.

Hi
And where did Your movie come from ? Camera, download
If downloaded and in wrong video codec this has to be back converted then en-coded - not healthy for e.g. .avi movies.
Please describe more
• in what codec original is
• if edited in what program
• how did it go from here to iDVD
• and what did You set iDVD to do (change from NTSC to PAL or other way around is no good idea in iDVD)
Yours Bengt W

Compression & DVD Burning Options

I am beginning a fairly large project of digitizing 36 VHS tapes of home movies (recordings of Super 8 projections with grandfather narrating) recorded at SP (2hr) and EP (4hr) record modes. I'm using iMovie because it's easy to use and was thinking of using iDVD for the same reason. But, something that came to mind as an option I wanted to explore was being able to fit the contents of multiple VHS tapes (vary 2-4hrs) on to a single DVD without losing too much of the already poor quality. Any ideas? My secondary goal is to keep it as simple as possible because of the large quantity of video I am dealing with.
PS–I'm importing through a Miglia AlchemyTV DVR PCI card, but I don't think that matters.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

iMovie handles DV (..as in miniDV tapes or Digital-8 tapes..) which is a pretty much non-compressed format. iMovie doesn't normally include a facility to compress video down to smaller filesizes, except when you Share or Export to some QuickTime setting.
iDVD normally expects to take in some iMovie (miniDV or D-8) footage, and then compress it into MPEG-2 format for burning onto a DVD.
iDVD is only concerned with maximum play-times, and will normally encode only up to 2 hrs on a single-layer disc.
So by bringing your old videos into iMovie and then burning them with iDVD you're up against a 2-hrs-per-disc limit.
After bringing video into iMovie, you might consider exporting it as, for instance, Expert Settings and then Motion JPEG-A (..similar to the sharp, but compressed, movies in Apple's Tutorials..) with audio set to Mono 32000.
This should produce very small, but sharp-looking, files which you can burn - as data - onto a CD or DVD. This will play in a computer, but not on an ordinary DVD player. (..I've just done one while I was writing this; I compressed a 5-minute 21.59GB HDV movie down to 751.9MB, and it looks as sharp as the original Hi-Def footage!..)
Once you burn these small files onto a DVD - using, say, Roxio's Toast - you'll hit the limits (..due to the DVD-burning program's encoding rules..) of 2 hrs, or possibly 4 hrs, per DVD again.
But have you considered using a recent model Philips standalone DVD Recorder? The maximum time which can be squeezed onto a DVD+R or DVD+RW has now been -s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d- to 6 or 8 hrs!
Doing that, you could by-pass iMovie/iDVD altogether, and just import straight onto a blank DVD. You wouldn't clog your computer's hard drive with all that footage; you wouldn't need to wait - for hours - while iDVD transcodes the DV footage into MPEG-2 for burning; it'll burn in 'real time' (an hour's footage taking an hour to burn onto a disc) and you'll save yourself a lot of heartache! ..And yes; you can pause the DVD Recorder while you change VHS tapes, then continue. I find it the simplest way to burn old footage to DVDs.

Premiere Elements 11: DVD Burn horrible quality.

Hello!
I am having issues with getting a decent playback on a video I cut together for a friend.
It involves video shot with some high resolution images inserted in the bottom corners.
When I save as a .mpg file the quality is great, but when I choose burn to DVD with high quality both the video and images are extremely blurry and look to have been made low resolution.
There is only about two minutes of video so available space is not a concern. I've also unchecked "Fit Contents to available space". Is there a fix or work-around for getting a better quality DVD burn?
Edit: After more research I seem to have come across a common problem in that Premiere Elements cannot burn a decent quality DVD without using certain settings that unfortunately can only be played on Blu-ray players. I'm still hopeful that someone, somewhere, has found a way to get it to work with better results than sub-par.

DaVeachi
Problems with the same symptoms can (often do) have different causes. The answers are in the details.
On what computer operating system is your Premiere Elements running on?
A just in case note at the onset....DVD-VIDEO on DVD disc has a frame size of 720 x 480 (NTSC) or 720 x 576 (PAL) whether
DVD-VIDEO standard 4:3 or standard widescreen 16:9. "HD video" can have frame size of 1280 x 720, 1920 x 1080, or 1440 x 1080 HD anamorphic 16:9 which is stretched to 1920 x 1080 for display after encoding.
What are the properties of the source media on that Timeline - video and audio compression, frame size, frame rate, interlaced
or progressive, file extension, pixel aspect ratio?
What is the project's project preset that you or the project is setting? See Edit Menu/Project Settings/General Editing Mode, Timebase,
Frame Size. The program does not always give the "right" setting and defaults to 1080i which may not be a good match for your source.
Then you set the project preset yourself and then import the source.
If interlaced video source, field order may enter into the equation since DVD-VIDEO on DVD disc is characterized by interlaced video, lower field first.
You talk about what sounds like picture in picture. What are the pixel dimensions of these photos that you are using for the picture in picture. How many of them are there in this Timeline?
You are not doing yourself any favors leaving "Fit Content to Available Space" unchecked. More on that later and advise put a check mark for that option. Important...when you are in the burn dialog for your typical project, what does the Quality Area there show for Space Required and Bitrate (with and without a check mark next to "Fit Content to Available Space"?)
What are selecting for your preset standard 4:3 or standard widescreen 16:9 type, and is your program install for NTSC or PAL.
Let us start here and then decide what next.
Thank you.
ATR

DVD Burning Poor quality

I created a slide show in IPhoto including the "Ken Burns" effect. I also added four audio tracks to the slide show. I transferred the file to I DVD with sharing. Two audio tracks were dropped in the transfer and the resulting image quality was poor. Images were wavy and some had skips and tiling. Also the audio tracks that remained sounded like the artist was gargling the words. I'm a recent Apple convert and my I book is only 2 mo. old. Do I have a malfunctioning DVD burner or am I doing something wrong?

I created a slide show in IPhoto including the "Ken Burns" effect. I also added four audio tracks to the slide show. I transferred the file to I DVD with sharing. Two audio tracks were dropped in the transfer and the resulting image quality was poor. Images were wavy and some had skips and tiling. Also the audio tracks that remained sounded like the artist was gargling the words. I'm a recent Apple convert and my I book is only 2 mo. old. Do I have a malfunctioning DVD burner or am I doing something wrong?

How can i improve burning quality of dvd.looks fine in preview on idvd,but final burn quality is poor/

how can i improve burning quality of dvd.looks fine in preview on idvd,but final burn quality is poor.

Had same problem with iPhoto pictures and poor burn quality. Went back to original picture file and dragged images into idvd project from there. Set encoding at professional quality and burned at slowest speed. Got very good result with high quality slideshow when played on TV.
Also tried Old Toad's Aug 30, 2011 advice to get a slideshow into iDVD with transitions, music, etc. from iPhoto.
Again the quaility of the burned CD was very good.

PE11 Rip from DVD- putting a menu on- burning that to DVD ruins quality

First, I've read some things here and there, but can't find the exact same scenarios in other posts, although I'm sure this is a fairly common problem (SIAP):
Here is a summary of the issue:
1) Our guy produced a video for our organization and gave me a DVD-R of the 11 minute project. I imported this into PE11 and on the timeline it says .VOB. Now on the desktop, the 481 mb VTS_01_1 file properties state that it is 720x480, 29 fps... although I find it strange that the clip as imported into PE11 in properties in the project assets window says it's 23.976 frame rate. Making things more confusing (don't even know if any of this matters) is that in an instance of Share->Export to Computer, the "source" says the video is 1920x1080, 29.97 fps. Don't know if any of this matters...
2) Anyways, the reason I ripped it is for the sole purpose of creating a menu on the DVD. So I picked a "HD" template, imported my own JPEG on to it, then attempted as best I could to erase all the buttons except for "Play Movie." AGain, not sure if the Menu functionality has anything to do with the issue, but I figured I'd mention it.
3) I've tried several times burning the video with both DVD-R and +R using both NTSC Dolby and Widescreen Dolby to burn to DVD.
The resulting DVD has a degraded, fuzzy image and the black frame lines at bottom and top seem to bounce and jitter.
The image on the original DVD is clearly HD and looks great, without any bouncing, jittering, etc. Also, the DVD app i used to watch the original on my computer is the same as I used to watch my own burned DVD... So PE11 has clearly degraded the image, something is going on in the export.
Another thing worth mentioning is that as I look at the video footage in PE11 on full screen, I can see that even in PE11, the video quality is not the same as the original DVD and there are obvious artifacts and just nonsense in the picture... Not necessarily as bad as the burn, but similar.
I've done a little reading on these forums about .VOB files... I don't fully understand them. Is it that the image is messed up from the beginning with an import from DVD? IS there a way to do what I want (take hiqual video from a DVD, put a menu on it, then burn it back onto DVD?) with PE11? Or is the only way to make a burn from the original source file before it was burned the first place?
computer specs:
lenovo P500
Intel Core i7 3520M 2.90 gHz
8gb RAM
windows 8 64-bit

LorcanPMiller
Please get a MediaInfo readout of your VOB at the onset to determine what you have, especially standard or widescreen.
http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en
Special Interest: Frame size, Frame rate, Display 4:3 or 16:9, Scan Type and Scan Order for which I am expecting Interlaced and Lower Field First.
Here is my take on your situation.
1. The Canon 6D can capture 1080p video (1920 x 1080 16:9 at 29.97 or 30 frames per second), but from what you wrote somewhere along the line someone put that through a video "authoring" program to convert it into DVD-VIDEO format on a DVD disc (720 x 480). At this point, we need to know standard or widescreen. Both standard and widescreen will be 720 x 480, but the widescreen will have a 16:9 flag included to stretch the video for display after encoding.
Question:
a. What is on that DVD disc....just a file name VTS_01_1 (file size 481 MB) or two folders named OpenDVD and VIDEO_TS? If you have a file, for Premiere Elements 11, you would use Add Media/Files and Folders to get the file in Project Assets. If you have the DVD disc in the DVD burner tray, you would use Add Media/DVD Camera or Computer Drive to rip the VOB and get the VOB into the project.
b.Your project is going to get messed up and confusing, if you let the program set the project preset for you. You will most likely end up with the default NTSC AVCHD Full HD1080i30 which is inappropriate for your project. So, before thinking or acting on Get Media....open a new project, go to File Menu/New/Project and set the project preset in the New Project dialog for NTSC DV Standard or NTSC DV Widescreen depending on what you find beforehand about the properties of your VOB MediaInfo Then use Add Media/and the appropriate choice based on what I wrote above about VOB already ripped vs DVD-VIDEO ripping.
c. When you have your VOB on the TImeline with the appropriate project setting, right click the file in Project Assets and verify Premiere Elements 11's interpretation of the file frame rate and other to determine if it agrees with the MediaInfo readout. It would be very unusual if there was a differnce, but...
d. Whether you have a NTSC or PAL project, all the SD DVD Templates have a frame size of 720 x 576 (PAL sizing). The ones tagged HD have a 1440 x 1080 frame size. Right now I would advise you to stay with the SD ones, but not be afraid to experience with a HD choice if it appealing and see what happening during encoding.
e. In all this, you did not say what the duration is of this 481 MB VOB file. The standard DVD disc is spec'd at 4.7 GB/120 min. That 4.7 GB in reality is 4.3 GB. You will frequently see the recommendation "for best results, do not exceed 90 minutes on this standard type disc". When you have your DVD disc in the DVD burner tray and are in the burn dialog of Publish+Share/Disc/DVD make sure to check the Quality Area of the burn dialog for the Space Required and Bitrate reading (8.00 Mbps is the max reading).
Based on what you wrote, I suspect that most of your problems were related to incorrect project settings. By the way, if you want to get rid of a menu button text, most of the time double click the text to bring up the Change Text dialog, highlight the text there, hit the delete key of the computer, then hit the space bar or enter key.
If you are replacing the menu's audio, max 30 sec with looping. If you use motion buttons in the menu, max 4.9 seconds. After you get the details of the project setup OK, we can focus in more on the menus...number of Timeline markers etc, and customization of the menus from within the program.
Lots of details. The answers and successes will be in the details. All the contributors here have given you a lot of ideas for exploration and experimentation.
Please do not hesitate to ask if you need clarification on anything that I have written.
Looking forward to learning of your progress.
Thanks.
ATR

More then 2hrs to compresse 60minutes VIDEO file in MPEG 2 DVD BEST QUALITY

On my Dual 2.5 GHz 4GB RAM, is this normal ?

It took 3h30 minutes. Will I see a difference using DVD Fastest Encode ? For exemple, can it be possible to have a problem like the DVD freezing in some DVD player because I'm using a faster Encoding setting like DVD Fastest ?
This is my workflow for now:
-Export from FCP, AUDIO ONLY current settings, self contained.
-Export from FCP, VIDEO ONLY current settings, self contained.
-Import to Compresor the self contained files and compress the audio file using Dolby 2.0 before sending to DVDSP.
-Import to Compresor the self contained video file and compress using DVD Best quality MPEG2 2-pass before sending to DVDSP.
I do NOT export from FCP directly to Compressor.
Joyeux Noël,
Jean

DVD burning - Can't figure this out

I've exported my 35 minute sequence to compressor then to DVDSP and the resulting DVD is poor: colors are off, shakes and jiggles in my stills, video cuts out momentarily in spots, interlacing on some clips. My settings and workflow are as follows:
Sequence Settings:
Pixel Aspect Ratio (HD (1440x1080). Anomorphic 16:9 is UNchecked
Field Dominance: Upper (Odd)
Editing Timebase: 29.97
Quicktime Video Settings . Compressor: HDV 1080i60
Audio: 48kHz
Depth: 16 bit
Video Processing: Render in 8-bit YUV
The media used for the sequence includes HDV, stills, Pro Res LT.
Also, I have used some Magic Bullets Looks filters
I use File > Export > Quicktime Movie
Make Movie Self-Contained is checked
Recompress All Frames is unchecked
Setting: Current Settings
In Compressor, I'm using DVD Best Quality 90 Minutes
I have NOT tweaked the Video Fromat or Quality settings in the inspector tab. These settings are as follows:
Video Format: Automatic
Frame Rate: Automatic
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Field Dominance: Automatic
Average Bit Rate is 6.2mpbs
Maximum Bit Rate is 7.7Mbps
Motion Estimation: Best
Mode: Two pass VBR Best
Resize Filter: Better (Linear filter)
Output Fields: Same as source
Deinterlace: Fast (Line averaging)
Anti-alias: 0
Details Level: 0
Rate Conversion: Fast (Nearest Frame)
Any suggestions as to how I can improve the qualithy of my outcome? I'm inexperienced with FCP and DVDSP. A lot of this stuff is just too complicated for me. All I want is a good quality DVD that doesn't look like crap. What am I doing wrong? thx

Try this
1. Set your sequence (timeline) compressor to ProRes @ 1920x1080 square pixel
2. Convert your HDV material to ProRes @ 1920x1080 square pixel. All your video material should be the same format.
2a. Make sure your stills are smaller than 4000 pixels in any dimension. It is best if they are no larger than they need to be. You DO NOT want to scale up still images.
3. Edit your material
4. Output a self contained file using "current settings"
5. Use Compressor to create your m2v and ac3 files for the DVD. If the program length is less than an hour, use a CBR (constant bit rate) conversion at 6 to 7 mbs. 7 mbs may cause some older players to choke.
6. Bring the compressed video and audio files into DVD, build and burn your DVD.
x

Any good alternatives to DVD burning? VCD? S-VHS?

I am totally disillusioned with the time it takes to encode and burn a DVD with my PB. AppleCare acknowledges that it takes 8x - 10x source material for successful burning & if you look on these (amazingly honest & helpful)forums you soon learn that DVD burning on any Mac can be very intimidating and problematic.
I am wondering if there is info readily available for alternatives:
1. VCD burning. I have a ton of small clips and could trim down larger clips to burn onto cds. Are there crazy problems with this as with DVDs?
2. This PB has an S-VHS output & I got a stereo audio cord for output. Will videos created like this be viewable? I suppose it depends on the quality of original material & how do I find this info?
My PB is loaded with every imaginable video and audio pro & standard app. including ToastTitanium7, FinalCutPro, CinemaTools, DVD-StudioPro, QuickTimePro7 etc.
I was praying that DVD burning was a lot simpler than my experiences with Windows based machines. There one needed to have a stand alone powerhouse & Re-Install Windows every couple dozen burns to get rid of all the corruption but not even doing that with a Mac seems to make the process as easy as Advertised. Live & learn.
thanks,
frank

I can only speak from my experience, but I've not found creating and burning DVDs to be at all intimidating and certainly not problematic. Every video DVD I've created has gone smoothly; your mileage may vary, of course. Please note that these forums are for people who are having problems; the many, many people who use their systems with no trouble at all have little incentive to post in a troubleshooting forum.
I notice that you list a number of pro apps including DVD Studio Pro; DVDSP is not intended for consumer use and has a very steep learning curve (although DVDSP 4 has a mode with a simplified interface that's easier, but it still takes some learning). If you want simple, you should be using iDVD; that's Apple's consumer application for creating video DVDs, and the latest versions of iDVD and iMovie (part of iLife '06) make it, in my experience, about as easy as it can get. You can get results with DVD Studio Pro that you cannot with iDVD, but it's going to take work, just as working with FInal Cut Pro will involve more learning time than working with iMovie.
As to creation time for the disk, that's strictly a function of how fast your system can process. Compressing to MPEG-2 (which is the format video DVDs use and which is what takes the majority of the time involved in burning the DVD) takes a lot of processor horsepower, and a single-processor PowerBook isn't going to be as fast as a dual-processor G4 and much less so than a G5. If you're encoding and burning DVDs regularly, you might want to consider moving to a system with higher processing power. To optimize compression time on your PB in the meanwhile, make sure that no other application is running when you're processing the DVD and that your system has plenty of available hard drive space (for the temporary files that will be created).
As to alternatives, that depends on your needs. If you need playback in a DVD player, then burning a DVD will be your best route. Very few players can play a VCD, and as MacNoel said, quality isn't stellar. Whether or not VHS would be an acceptable alternative only you can say.
Regards.
Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?

I would like a recommendation for a DVD burner app that will burn quality movies. What does everyone use? I downloaded a couple of free ones from the App Store, but I was not satisfied with the quality of the movie that I created in iMovie.
Thanks!

babowaNov 4, 2014 7:32 PM Re: What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?
Re: What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?in response to mikmarjas
I use Roxio Toast as well as iDVD. The quality is also dependent on a) the camera/quality used, b) the process used in iMovie (which version?), and c) which method (quality settings) is used to export it from iMovie. Every process/step (including the encoding for burning) will compress the video and may result in a slight loss of quality.
babowa, how do I go about knowing the correct steps that you mentioned to produce a good quality video? My videos look good on my computer, but on the tv the quality is greatly diminished.
Thank you for your response and help!

IDVD Burn Quality (Cam iMovie '11 iDVD disc

I'm planning on buying a Canon HF21. During my research I found that the HD camcorder>iMovie>iDVD>Burnt DVD produced a very undesirable, low quality disc when played on a DVD player on an HD TV.
During my research I found plenty of other threads on other sites asking questions regarding quality, but have resulted in a "you can't get BluRay ..." tangent.
I do have a BluRay player and I understand that it takes special software/equipment to "burn-your-own" BluRay. I can play regular DVDs on it and use the built in "up-convert" to improve the quality a little.
I guess the "simple question" is: Can iDVD or another software package burn an SD DVD that is comparable in quality to one that is commercially produced? Again, I'm not looking for a BluRay solution, just a burned disc that doesn't lose quality due to compression, etc.
It seems, according to the other threads, the "weak link" is iDVD. I have just upgraded to iLife '11 if that makes a difference. So, iDVD will work by doing xxxx? or I need to get DVD burning software yyyy?
Thanks in advance.

You seem to have double posted this information.
I will repeat what I told you in the other thread:
Can iDVD or another software package burn an SD DVD that is comparable in quality to one that is commercially produced?
Sure - or very close to it. The limiting factor ISN'T iDVD, it's the video content used. In general, commercial DVDs use very high quality video - well lit. great focus, tripod. etc. It is also carefully processed during encoding.
It seems the "weak link" is iDVD.
DVDs are only standard definition devices as mentioned here many times. It is more likely that iMovie is the weak link in HD video production. MANY people still use iMovie 6 HD because it is the last version that doesn't have interlacing issues with HD content. It you want to know more, check out all the comments in the iMovie forums. There are things you can do in iMovie to make things better - but I want you to understand that iDVD ISN'T the weak link.

Cross platform DVD burning - Mac/PC/home DVD player

All right, Geniuses, re: cross platform DVD burning, I have read and read and spoken to many people. Out of 6 1/2 billion people, NOBODY can answer this question. Shane Ross probably can't answer it with a straight face.
How, where, why, when, what do I use to burn a DVD - who knows, maybe up to 90 minutes - so that I can play the same DVD on my Mac, your DVD home player, your boss's PC, whether it's Real Player, Windows Media Player, QT, mmrphmm-mmrphmm, or quakiifrafermessendt (w/chrome) format.
I am running Mac G5, dual proc. 2Gig, 3.5 G. RAM, OS 10.3.9, Final Cut Pro HD 4.5 which includes FCP, Compressor Live Type, DVD Studio Pro 3, Cinema Tools.
The editing part is a cinch. Even with my eyes open. I've used Mac since 1978 and shoot broadcast. Oddly, dropped frames, A/V synch, phase shifting, etc are no problems.
Also, I have about 300 shows that I did on VHS, 3/4", Betacam, and DV. I have an A to D converter that works great converting these tapes to digital which I store on my hard drive. What I need to do, let me back up... about a year ago I had to buy a PC because Mac doesn't support Solid Works 3D program. So, there, I said it, I own a PC. And that's why I have a problem. Or more accurately, a quandry. Rather than tie up my Mac, I might as well use the PC to record my videos to, then burn to DVD, then to edit them or run them through DVD Studio Pro on my Mac for authoring, then back to my first problem, How, where, why, when, what do I use to burn a DVD - who knows, maybe up 90 minutes - so that I can play the same DVD on my Mac, your DVD home player, your boss's PC, whether it's Real Player, Windows Media Player, QT, mmrphmm-mmrphmm, or quakiifrafermessendt (w/ultrascuzzyectoplacticdefoid) format.
Of course, I want highest quality. Absolutely, my finished DVDs have to play on PC, Mac and home DVD players. If you've gone this far, someday I might need to put some of this on the web. I like options. It might be delivered as a stream, or a download. Another compression question?
Simple, huh? Is there anything else you need to know? Should I fire up my old wire recorder, or are you going to suggest another 3rd party peripheral? Which would make me wonder, why hasn't Apple addressed this obvious disfunction.
BTW/ I have found Memorex DVDs work best on my system. Any comments?
Regards.

Welcome to the forum!
Time for a reality check: burned DVDs (and even stamped DVDs) are NOT 100% compatible with all DVD-Video reading devices. Period. It just the Nature of the technology and that fact that player and drive manufacturers rush products to market that are not fully in compliance with the DVD-Video standard.
That said, I've had only two individual playback compatibility complaints in the last 6 years with well over 2000 DVD-R discs authored in DVD-SP and burned from my Macs on an external Sony DVD burner. Those two complaints were rectified by burning a DVD+R disc for the clients.
Things I have learned:
· Windows Media Player doesn't play nice with DVD-Video. ULead and other DVD players for the Windows platform do work very well (I have to WinXP systems to test on). PC playback compatibility is dependent on many, many things; the user's video card, RAM, drive type (and condition), processor speed ... the list goes on and on. It's impossible to predict if ANY disc will work in any given PC.
· Memorex is at the very bottom of the list for quality media. Don't get me wrong; they do have a wonderful warranty. If you send back any discs they will replace them with equally poor quality media at no charge. Memorex is simply a marketer - there's no telling what brand or quality of media you're actually getting when you purchase their brand ... but you can be assured it will be cheap.
That said; I'll agree that your workflow seems a bit backward. Authoring to DVD and then editing? Makes no sense. You're losing quite a bit of quality in that process as well as adding unneeded steps. If you must capture the footage with a Windows system and it needs editing, capture then convert to a QT codec that matches your FCP Sequence settings so when you move the files to your Mac for editing, everything actually plays nice.
If your program doesn't need editing and you just want to transfer it to tape, I'd recommend using a stand-alone DVD recorder so you don't have to tie up either computer.
-DH

: DVD Burn: Quality vs Compression

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