Video editing/DVD burning?

Hi All: This is a combination software/hardware question, so I'll put it here for now unless moderator moves it.

I am using Sonic's MyDVD to upload video from my Canon DVI camcorder. I then do a limited amount of editing/titling then convert to MPG2 and burn to DVD.

The process works fine, the problem is it is very slow, time consuming. So, I'm looking to improve these times somehow.

The three time consuming aspects are:

1. Uploading done in real time, a 30 minute video take 30 minutes to upload.
2. Transcoding to MPEG2 (by Sonic's MyDVD)
3. Burning (by MyDVD to Pioneer DVD-R 4X)

Processor is Athalon XP 2800, 768 megs of DDR ram, the Pioneer 4x seems to be the only other hardware involved. I do use 4X DVD-R media.

Question is, where do I look to speed up this process? Each of the above 3 steps take about the same time, aproximately 30 minutes each for a 30 minute video. So for an hour of DVD, I'm looking at 3 hours of processing time.

When checking in Task Manager, performance tab, I see that the CPU is far from being utilized to it's capacity. Neither is RAM. Also, the system is using the page file, during the process @ about 250 to 300 MB. Unless I don't understand the items in the Performance tab.

I see that there are now 8X DVD burners on the market, but I don't see any 8X media.

I know some of you do video like this, and I'd like to know if you have these same times or have a faster method. I do have Nero 6 on this machine, but I don't believe it is any quicker.

Any and all replies will be appreciated.

Martin

 

Uploading in realtime is as fast as it gets (usually), depending on equipment and transfer method. Some cameras/firewire combo's can do it in about 1.5x realtime (that is 50% faster).
You can sometimes cut this down, by choosing a different output format/codec for the capture. (mpeg 2 is best, because you don't have to re-encode the file, adding yet another 2+ hours).

What you call "Transcoding" is actually encoding, unless you are capturing in mpeg2 format, then I assume you mean Authoring (making the dvd compliant vob's etc.)

Burning is as fast as your burner burns, no speed gain here.

Firstly, Sonic's lower end software, such as MyDVD is notoriously poor. Unlike Scenarist, which is industry standard for editing/authoring, but also comes in at $5000. I suggest you learn to use a more sophisticated program such as DVDLab, and although a bit more time consuming, produces very professional dvds.
Secondly, Encoding, if you are not capturing in mpeg2 format, can drastically be sped up, depending on encoding engine and quality of output. Sonic is extremely poor at this. TMPGEnc is better, but still tediously slow. Mainconcept is MUCH faster, and if you have $500 or so, get Canopus Procoder, for both speed, and quality. Although Mainconcept runs a VERY close second at a much cheaper price.
Third, Authoring. Go with whatever program does what you need. Sonic does it, although very limited. Nerovision Express has more options, but as I mentioned above DVDLab is much better, and the price goes up from there.
Many prefer TMPGEnc DVD Author (different from TMPGEnc Plus Encoder), however it is also very limited.
If your authoring program insists on "transcoding ", then I suggest you change your capture method, or encoding method to get a compliant file to begin with.

There is 8x media all over. Look at any Bestbuy or Futureshop.

DO NOT ever use Nero for encoding from avi to mpeg. It is tediously slow, audio goes out of sync after 2 minutes, and get's progressively worse, blockiness and pixelization is max, there are no filters...get the idea?

Final notes:
A 2.5 hour avi takes me about 30 minutes to edit. About 1.5 hours to encode, 15 min to author, and about 15 minutes to burn. Total time 2:30
Using Sonic, your time 5:00
Athlon XP2500, 768 megDDR, Liteon 4x.

I use Virtualdub to edit.
Mainconcept to encode.
DVDLab to author.
Nero to burn.
I could cut another 15 min or more off this, if I could get virtualdub to frameserve to Mainconcept properly

 

Hi Reboot: Very enlightening. I really appreciate all the information. You are right, 5 hours or more for 2.5 hours of video.

Is this the encoding program you're using?:

www.mainconcept.com/mpeg_encoder.shtml @$119. each?

And DVD Lab @$99.00?

I found Virtual Dub on SourceForge for free.

But, based on what I understand as of now, I need to upload from camcorder to PC with MPEG2 encoding. That would be a big help. I just hate to spend another $219. on this, good grief, with the drive and burning software it has already cost me enough to buy another machine.

Learn new software....AARRRRGH! It has taken me months of leaning, installing software, crashing the software, uninstalling software, reinstalling the software, making coasters, etc. to produce acceptable DVDs that will actually play on my DVD player.

Interestingly, Windows Movie Maker is usable, but the DVDs burned with their program will not play in my stand alone DVD player.

The softwre is such a drag. Especially that Sonic. They have the worst support of any MFG I have ever run accross. Their software fails repeatedly, their support site shuts me out by changing my password, their techs don't read the email they get or don't really care. They charge $99. for their software then they want $79.00 more to show you how to use it! That is how intuitive it is.

What I do now, is use Windows to import AVI files, Sonic to edit, encode and burn.

What can I use to import MPEG2 from camcorder?? And then edit, create menus etc. and burn? I have only been editing AVI.

I need more help.

Martin

 

Nice to see you've done some research
Unfortunately dvd burning is not a cheap hobby, and if it were easy, there wouldn't be a plethora of help sites on the net.

Yes, that is the Mainconcept I am talking about. It is (IMHO) the fastest, easiest to use, encoder of all.
The best bang-for-the-buck authoring software is DVDLab.
Vdub has about 9 versions, all free

Unfortunately Sonic only want's to support Scenarist, and when they charge $5000 or more, they'd better support it! This leads to very poor support for everything else.

Capturing to mpeg is dependant on software. There are (again expensive) programs that allow it. Free ones all cap in avi.
There are ways to save time though. It's a steep learning curve.

If you want to go the free route, here's a shortlist:
Virtualdub
DVD2SVCD* (does avi to dvd too) http://www.dvd2dvd.org/
*You will need an encoder such as EclCCE: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=46664
DVDAuthor and DVDGui: http://dvdauthor.sourceforge.net/

If you want the best, tried and true (and fast!), spend a few more dollars on the software I mentioned above.

BTW, I have a full noobie's guide to DVDLab here: http://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=220092

PM me when you get a minute. I may have other answers.

 

Thanks Reboot for all that good advice. Right now, I'm short of time. My 10 year old daughter's soccer team won the district title in the Georgia State Soccer Tournament. We leave tomorrow at noon for Columbus Ga., where on Saturday her team starts in the first of three playoff games leading to the state championship game Sunday afternoon.

I just got home from her final team practice and have so much to do before we leave I don't know where to start.

I'm going to have a lot of video to encode when I get back, so hold the phone, will pm on return.

Thanks again

Martin

 

A very low cost solution you might test, is to use Power Producer 2 Gold from Cyberlink.com to capture your DV camera video.

I've had very good results in terms of excellent video and audio in my DVDs created from VHS captures using this program. and it accepts DV camera inputs as well.

PP2 Gold encodes to MPEG 2 as the capture is made and 15 sec after the capture is done the video is ready for editing, menu creation and burning., using the 60 minute (HQ) capture setting results in video that is as good as the original... and any audio on the tape is converted to Dolby Digital format if you wish as well.

I personally use the captured MPEG 2 file in TEMPGEnc DVD Author with the AC-3 plug-in to do more complex editing on captures over 60 min. and that gives me great results as well, however, for someone not wanting to spend large amounts of time or money, PP 2 Gold may meet your needs for speed, quality and low cost.

The editing capabilities are limited, but if you only want to trim excess from the start and finish from the video , try the 30 day free trial version, it has no lilmitations on use and is fully functional.... you can even include an auto-starting software DVD player (a Power DVD version) as part of the burning process for use on computers .

 

Thanks Howard, I'll go to Cyberlink's web site when I return from Columbus.

 

I played with power producer for a week.
Other than it's capturing abilities, I discarded it as too limited in functionality otherwise. It's got a difficult method of making menus, doesn't seem to do auto-chaptering, you can't import custom images for backgrounds, resizing menu links is ???, motion menus are next to impossible (i gave up on it before even trying), you cannot select the same background for all menus, you must select each one, one at a time, no global settings, adding multiple videos must be done in play order, it won't take multimode ((S)VCD/DVD on one disk), it can't handle AC3 audio...sorry, I just don't like it.
IMHO a total waste of $50.
Spend $100 on DVDLab and get a program that (other than the capturing) will do incredible things with (S)VCD/DVD.
Use Virtualdub to capture, it's free.
Encode in a good encoder (Canopus, Mainconcept, CCE, Tmpgenc, there are others).

 

Well reboot, PP2 Gold may meet martinr121's limited needs for speed, quality and low cost, if he doesn't need advanced capabilities for editing and menus, it may work out well for him, PP 2 Gold certainly produces a good quality MPEG 2 file as soon as the capture is complete... and besides, the free trial will soon show whether this program will work for his purposes.

I Use PP 2 Gold as a capture program and then use TEMPGEnc DVD Author to handle the resulting MPEG 2 file... I tried numerous other programs and PP 2 Gold is the only one I could get to give me video and audio that stay in sync after video is captured to MPEG 2.

For my really critical DVD creation, I use iuVCR 4.8.8.341 (using the huffuv 2.1.1 codec) to capture .avi, then TEMPGEnc 3.0 Express to create the MPEG 2 file and TEMPGEnc DVD Author for editing and burning... waiting 5 hours for TEMPGEnc Express to convert a 45 gb .avi to MPEG 2 doesn't bother me, but might be a little too long for martinr121 's needs.

 

I admit, it's capturing abilities are great. But that's it.
It can capture in mpeg2 format, which solves one huge time constraint in encoding files. Not so good, if you need to edit the file though, unless you get something like Womble.

Admittedly, tmpgenc's encoding times are horribly long, and even the new version 3 only shaved 3 minutes off a 2.5 hour movie, and it's still twice as long as Mainconcept or Canopus. For most, the price is right, and they don't mind waiting. Great if you only do one dvd a week. It just doesn't cut it, if you're trying to author/burn 3 a day!

iuVCR is an excellent choice! At $27.95US I would recommend that over PP2G any day, although I'll stick with vdub mostly because I'm used to it.
Huffyuv is my codec of choice, but then again, I have tons of room to spare. For those with limited hard drive space, XviD seems to be the preference, although personally, I find XviD, DivX, et al, are mostly junk, and only use DivX lowmotion mpeg (at 6000kbps) for low quality downloads that I encode half D1, and if I can get away with it, I frameserve and avoid codecs completely.

 

I copied some home-made VHS tapes for my sister to DVD using PP 2 Gold and since they were only 50 min. long the HQ setting in PP 2 Gold gave me very good DVDs that looked as good as the original tapes.

For limited purposes, PP 2 Gold is a fast and fairly inexpensive solution for creating good quality captures to DVD as long as you don't need to do much editing or need complex menus.

BTW you can select your own custom backgrounds under the User-Defined heading in the menu creation function.

 

Interesting isn't it how passionate we get regarding the usefulness OR not of a particular programme.
Personally, I like the new Roxio product, Easy Media Creator 7 as a complete audio/video editing and burning suite.

Roxio.com

 

I've found from experience that software that works for one person's computer, doesn't necessarily work for someone else's.

I tried Ulead Video Studio 7, Roxio 6 and 7, Nero 6 Ultra Vision Express and none of them would reliably give me quality DVDs with the video and audio in sync, though others report good results using those programs... just not for me.

People usually get passsionate about software that works for them, but when I recommend software, it's always with the caveat that they should "try before buy" because what works with my particular hardware setup is no guarantee that it will work for others... all anyone can really do is give an honest evaluation of software and hope that it works for someone else.

 

I agree with you on this one Harold. I tried every one of those programs, and more, and still couldn't get either the flexibility I wanted, or something as stupid as AC3 audio not being a valid input stream. One would think that dvd authoring apps would take AC3, but I guess not.
Anyhow, I have stuck with DVDLab for everything I do, even (S)VCD encodes to dvd, with multi-movie menus.