DVD burning questions

dean-w62 wrote on 5/12/2015, 3:44 PM

Hi there,

I'm reasonably new to video editing but I seem to have picked up MEP+14 pretty easily and can edit & export video files no problem. I usually exported my files as MP4 with bitrate of about 15000kbps / 25fps however I have purchased a new camcorder which shoots m2ts files at 26,000kbps / 50fps.

So I am about to try burning a dvd with a menu for my first time and have got a couple of questions that I love answered and hopefully someone can help me.

1. When I edit my video for disc, should I export the file as .mp4 / 480p first then burn that single video file or should I just edit it as normal and burn the timeline as is (multiple video files).

2. From reading on the internet I understand that DVD quality should be around 7700kbps / 480p, how can I downscale my 26000kbps / 50fps / 1920x1080 source files to 7700 but keep as much quality as possible? Its obviously possible as a retail dvd movie as good quality and a good run time. I should only need approxiamatly 50 mins run time on my disc.

 

3. Should I rely solely on MEP for editing & burning or should I use it along side another Authoring software?

Thank you in advance for any help

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 5/13/2015, 7:06 AM

Hi

. . . . MEP+14 . . .

Do you mean MEP 2014 Plus ?  If so please use this name - MEP 14 Plus does exist and is still in use with a few members here and it helps to avoid confusion over versions - IIRC MEP 14 does not support HD video

. . . . When I edit my video for disc, should I export the file as .mp4 / 480p first then burn that single video file or should I just edit it as normal and burn the timeline as is (multiple video files). . . . .

1.   No and Yes in that order.  Edit the project as normal, use the MEP Burn tab select DVD and burn to disc.  I would advise you use quality DVD-RW rewriteable discs for the initial burn - I do this as I often find minor changes in the project after viewing on a TV are required  - also you can reuse them - (saves money).

Once this RW disc is as I want it - I then use Nero to copy the DVD-RW to DVD-R (again use quality discs - cheap non branded discs tend to be of variable quality and fail regularly).

2.  You do not need to change anything MEP will take care of it for when you burn the DVD.  The only thing I do is increase the bitrate to the maximum possible - improves quality when played on a HD TV with upscaling.

3.  I do with no problems - even with projects that have up to 7 different movies on one disc.  I think this is because I use one particular brand of printable DVD-R and DVD-RW only. In my experience problems burning are most likely caused by cheap discs.

HTH

John EB

Last changed by johnebaker on 5/13/2015, 7:11 AM, changed a total of 4 times.

VPX 16, Movie Studio 2025, and earlier versions 2015 and 2016, Music Maker Premium 2024.

PC - running Windows 11 23H2 Professional on Intel i7-8700K 3.2 GHz, 16GB RAM, RTX 2060 6GB 192-bit GDDR6, 1 x 1Tb Sabrent NVME SSD (OS and programs), 2 x 4TB (Data) internal HDD + 1TB internal SSD (Work disc), + 6 ext backup HDDs.

Laptop - Lenovo Legion 5i Phantom - running Windows 11 24H2 on Intel Core i7-10750H, 16GB DDR4-SDRAM, 512GB SSD, 43.9 cm screen Full HD 1920 x 1080, Intel UHD 630 iGPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)

Sony FDR-AX53e Video camera, DJI Osmo Action 3 and Sony HDR-AS30V Sports cams.

dean-w62 wrote on 5/14/2015, 10:22 AM

John,

Thank you for your reply, it was really helpful. I've purchased some Verbatim DVD-R's I hope that they are good enough quality. I will stay away from really cheap discs & will also use DVD-RW first (this is a brilliant tip).