Final .wmv file dimensions for DVD burning?

[rudympohl]

Hi everyone:

I am a newbie at video-editing and am presently working on my first so-called "professional" video, (talk about jumping right into the fire - I got talked into this by my brother-in-law the videographer )!

This 7-minute video is for a fairly ritzy, fund raising event at a high-brow hotel (The Chateau Laurier, for those who live around here), in support of a local charity working with autistic kids - so this video HAS to be good. I will be burning it onta a DVD that will be shown through a digital projector onto a screen in a large meeting room/hall with probably a few hundred people in attendance.

The DV footage has been shot in DV Standard format (4:3) and that format is what my presets were set at when I captured the footage and what I have been exporting my .wmv files at.

My question is: When I save the .wmv file which will be burned onto the DVD, what file dimensions should I save it at - 640X480, 720X540, 800X600, 1280X960, 1440X1080?

Am I correct in assuming the bigger the better as far as image quality is concerned, as long as I maintain the 4:3 aspect ratio?

Thanks a lot,
Rudy

[Steve Grisetti]

Well, there's certainly no point in burning it larger than 640x480, Rudy, since that's the resolution (essentially) of your source footage.

But are you sure you want to create a WMV? Why not just output a standard DVD? Not only will the quality be excellent but, if it's a big hit, you'll be able to distribute (or sell) copies as souvenirs!

[rudympohl]

Hi Steve:

My method of going from a .wmv file to DVD relates to the issue I posted here last night. Because of the way the videographer shoots his footage there is always only one good audio channel, either the right or the left and it always varies. To deal with this he wants me to set the "bad" audio channel to zero volume and then output the final video in mono.

There's good news and bad news. The good news is PE7 does allow you to output a .wmv in mono. The bad news is PE7's DVD burning presets do not allow for mono output.

Thus the only solution that I have been able to come up with is to produce as high a quality .wmv file as possible and then burn it onto a DVD with some other software than PE7.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Rudy

[rudympohl]

Hi again Steve:

Could you help me please with some further clarification regarding source resolution.....

So are you saying in your previous post that if my source footage was shot at DV Standard 4:3, then it is 640X480, and that is the best resolution I can ever attain, so there's no point in saving the file any larger than this? Is a 640X480 source file adequate for projection onto a screen 6 to 8 feet wide?

How normally is a video produced that is shot with a standard format camera that still has enough image quality to able to be projected onto a typical projection screen?

thanks,
Rudy

[Steve Grisetti]

Yes. Standard video is 720x480 non-square pixels -- which translates to 640x480 square pixels once you output it as a WMV.

This, believe it or not, is what standard video has always been -- even when you're watching it on a 40 inch diagonal TV or projected on a big screen. (HDTV uses over four times that resolution.)

In short, whenever you've seen projected video, you've likely been looking at 640x480. But, unless you were sitting right up next to the screen, you probably didn't notice how "over-rezzed" it was.

In other words, use the 640x480 setting. You'll be fine. Just as fine as if you took any DVD and projected it. Anything else is overkill, since even outputting it to a higher resolution doesn't change the fact that your original footage is only essentially 640x480.

[rudympohl]

Thanks so much Steve!

If I can return for a moment to my .wmv verses DVD output issue....

As I mentioned in a previous post, the videographer I'm partnered with always records audio in stereo, but only one channel has good sound - a big surprise to me (It's because he uses lappel mics and the built-in camera mic). So he needs to have me set to zero the bad channel and then output file in mono.

The problem is that PE7 will not output DVDs in mono, only stero.

What solution can you suggest?

Again the only one I can think of is two-step one, where first I create a .wmv file 640X480, and then burn that onto a DVD. Will this produce the same image quality as if were to have used PE7 to burn the file directly to DVD?

Sorry, for all the questions, but my deadline is approaching (client is coming here tomorrow night) and after spending almost 3 weeks just getting my new computer system up running, my STRESS level is rising.

Thanks again,
Rudy

Thanks,
Rudy

[rfjg]

Thanks so much Steve!

If I can return for a moment to my .wmv verses DVD output issue....

As I mentioned in a previous post, the videographer I'm partnered with always records audio in stereo, but only one channel has good sound - a big surprise to me (It's because he uses lappel mics and the built-in camera mic). So he needs to have me set to zero the bad channel and then output file in mono.

The problem is that PE7 will not output DVDs in mono, only stero.

You could use the audio fill effects:

"Fill Left" or "Fill Right"
The Fill Left effect duplicates the left channel information of the audio clip and places it in the right channel, discarding the original clip’s right channel information. The Fill Right effect duplicates the right channel information and places it in the left channel, discarding the existing left channel information. For example, you might use this effect on footage shot with a monaural microphone plugged into only one channel of a camcorder, extending the voice of a speaker from one channel to both.

You will still have stereo, but both channels will have the same audio

[rudympohl]

rfjg......... you're a genius!!!

I didn't even know these audio effects existed - talk about taking on a job before you even know the software!!!

The two audio effects you recommended solved my problems with 3 mouse clicks!!!!

I owe you BIG time!

(Can you tell I'm a little excited?)

Rudy

[Chuck Engels]

This is why it is best to get a good detailed description of what someone is trying to accomplish.
Using the Fill Left or Fill Right does not give you Mono Rudy, it only gives you the same signal (duplicate) from both channels, it is still stereo.

My fault, I should have asked what you wanted a mono output for (which would mean a single channel as in mono = 1).
Then you could have explained what you were doing and we could have come to this conclusion a long time ago.

Thanks to RFJG for the great solution, the muvipix hero of the day !!

[rfjg]

rfjg......... you're a genius!!!

ah, not really, but thanks!

PRE has a lot of depth, eh. I'd also, recommend Steve Grisetti book, like http://muvipix.com/products.php?subcat_id=45 or the PRE 2 in a Snap book (by Chuck & Steve) http://muvipix.com/products.php?subcat_id=22 even though based on an older version of the program, its Excellent!

[rudympohl]

Hi Guys:

Thanks a million for this help. And yes Churck, had I known I could have explained it all better. My brother-in-law, the 40-year veteran videographer, told me that this is what's he's always done - that is, he gets audio from a lappel mic in one channel and audio from the camera mic in the other channel and says that his long-time video editor has always just set the "bad" channel to zero volume and output the file in mono. So I've trying like crazy to export some kind of video file in mono - grief.

Well, when I finally got hold of his editor, he told me this is not in fact what he does. He messes with the channels to try to produce something approximating the sound of mono but the file still has two channels. If I had know that, it would have saved so me much time and grief.

Also, I got kind of roped into doing this freebie video job for this autistic charity ("It'll be easy Rudy, no sweat, it's job a little tiny job", says my brother-in-law). Well that was 3 weeks ago when we still had lots of time and before I knew I would be taking 2 complete HP computer systems back to the shop with problems and then get a third system custom built while having to wait almost a week because of a shortage of Intel Core i7 chips in Ottawa.

.... need I go on???? (No please don't)

Anyway, as a reasult of all that lost time I was not able to get around to actually working through all the training material for PE7 - nor a lot of Steve's book, which arrived 2 days, and I have read a lot of it..... soooo, I didn't realize that PE7 had these amazing audio effects! But they do, .....salavation comes in many forms!

Anyways guys, this forum is so great and you folks are amazing, I would simply be up the creek without this community.

Many many thanks, once again!

Rudy