Importing mpeg2 and video quality of final DVD

Question

I had a company create an mpeg2 file from a master for a dvd project I'm authoring. I'm not sure what format the master is on, I'm guessing BetaSP but it is something other than a DV format which is all I can handle. When my client saw the finished DVD I authored he was unhappy with the video quality, it is noisy/grainy. I told him I that is how I received it from this company (the company houses all of my client's masters) but he said his master was of higher quality. So we asked the company what the deal was and they are telling me these two things, both of which I don't believe.
My client had sent them the check disc (an authored dvd) I sent him and I sent the mpeg2 file back to them. They claim that the video quality is worse on the check disc because when you author a DVD it transcodes the files when it creates the vob files. Now the mpeg2 file imported into Encore fine and Encore defaulted to it being "do not transcode". So encore as far as I know definitely did no transcoding. Is there any validity to what they are saying? I don't think so.
They also claim that for optimum video quality I should've requested the master be transfered to DVCAM (dvcam I can indeed handle). So they are saying going from the master to dvcam to mpeg2 would be better than going from master to mpeg2. That makes no sense to me. If the master is DigiBeta, going from digibeta to the lesser quality dvcam and then to mpeg is the best route? Now way right? It seems to me that THEIR mpeg2 encoder just isn't any good.
Any thoughts would be appreciated (so I can argue my case).
thanks
Ryan

Answer 1

I agree with Joe.
DVCAM from DigiBeta is no quality increase at all. If anything (depending on the digibeta) you're dropping quality. You're certainly not gaining anything.
Correct workflow for DVD Authoring with DigiBeta masters is as follows:
1 - Transfer from DigiBeta to NLE Workstation.
2 - Edit as required
3 - Export from workstation to final version*
4 - Create DVD - and the biggest difference is going to be what is used - and
i how
it is used - to do the MPEG-2 encoding that the DVD application will require. MPEG encoding is not a matter of bashing out a PRESET from a menu. That will
i never
give the highest quality. MPEG encoding is every bit as much an art form as the shooting, cutting & producing of the film in the first place, and is a skill that takes both time & experience to learn properly.
NB.
* = This has been a bone of contention for a while now. It is often recommended to go to DV AVI as the interim format, but for absolute highest possible quality, this is not really true as DV AVI (DVCAM) is a compressed form, albeit lightly. Some prefer a more filmic look to their footage (which DV will never give you).
It's all swings & roundabouts. The final Master (for us) is usually a 10 bit Blackmagic type file, or an uncompressed AVI file. Expect to see around 40Gb/hour in this form, even more with a 10 bit file. Does going to 10 bits make a difference? As long as you do not have your NLE set to 8 bits, you bet it does!