DVD Architect Studio scene markers

[Bobby]

The file is MPEG-2 DVD format, as the DVD build from DVDSA really goes quick, so no automatic recompression done.

But I am wondering if it would be better to go back to outputting an AVI from PRE instead of MPEG and letting DVDSA do the final compression?

Or, perhaps not. If I do that, it will have to recompress EVERY time I create a DVD image and I do create 2-3 for testing before I get it finally right. There would be a lot of time lost generating each image.

And I don't have to do the manual recompress for the chapter markers until I am ready to do the final DVD version. I can life with the chapter markers being a little off during testing.

So, OK, I think the answer for me is to leave file formats as they are now and just force a manual recompress on the final build.

[Steve Grisetti]

One of the many great features in DVD Architect is that it re-uses rendered files every time you update your DVD. So, no, I don't think it recompresses your source video, even if you use an AVI.

As for whether to use an AVI or an MPEG as your source files for DVD Architect -- well, I kind of have to hedge my original answer.

Yes, a DVD quality MPEG from Premiere Elements is the most efficient format to use in the program.

But, I have to be honest, in my opinion, DVD Architect does a much nicer (and certainly much faster) job of converting an AVI to an MPEG than Premiere Elements does. To my untrained eyes, the DVD from a DV-AVI looks indistinguishable from the original footage!

I'm not going to say that's the definitive answer though. The latter is just the workflow I plan to use in the future.

[Bobby]

Thanks Steve. I may go back to AVI for the current project and see what happens.

But the question is: if I use an AVI as the intermediate form, when I create a test DVD in DVDSA it will have to compress it. If I then make changes (only to the menus, not the main video file) then DVDSA will not compress the AVI again? I have to run out this afternoon, but will try that on my current project.

So there are these times:

1) the time for PRE to create intermediate file (AVI or MPEG)
2) the time for DVDSA to compress the AVI upon DVD build, and does it compress again on a subsequent pass
3) the time for DVDSA to recompress an MPEG if you the markers are not aligned

I will get back...

[Steve Grisetti]

No, I don't believe it will re-compress your AVI if you only make changes to the menus, Bob.

On the Prepare panel, as you are burning your DVD, there's a checkbox for re-using already rendered files. If that's checked, you shouldn't have to wait for a complete recompression of the entire disc. Just what you've changed.

[Bobby]

OK folks - here is some data I took this afternoon. I started with a PRE7 project that was almost exactly 50 minutes long. There were no menu markers, because I am doing that in DVDSA. Times are minutes:seconds.

1) PRE7 time to export MPEG = 13:53
2) PRE7 time to export AVI = 18:44

So the AVI export is almost five minutes slower. Now I created two identical DVDSA projects, one with the MPEG as input, the other the AVI. I set 6 scene markers in each - obviously they were not exactly in the same place.

3) Prepare DVD in DVDSA, MPEG, no recompress = 1:45
4) Prepare DVD in DVDSA, MPEG, recompress = 30:57
5) Prepare DVD in DVDSA, AVI = 27:49

At this point, the AVI is almost 3 minutes faster, so I would consider the total time PRE+DVDSA to roughly be a wash either way.

In both cases (MPEG or AVI) if I made a change to the menus only, the re-build DVD times were 1 second each. But note: it is very important to keep the original VIDEO_TS, etc. files when re-doing - it can only do a smart recompile if the previous files are there. This may seem trivial, but I have gotten used to erasing output files created by PRE because it sometimes has trouble with pre-existing files. The bottom line is that you shouldn't do this with DVDSA.

I did not see any quality difference, and going by Steve's previous comments, using AVI as the intermediate format may be preferable. Since there is:

a) no substantial performance difference PRE7+DVDSA when compression is necessary ..and..
b) using AVI there are no chapter marker issues ..and..
c) Steve likes the quality better with AVI

I think the result is clear - use AVI!

But, if you don't have to recompress (i.e. your scene markers are not an issue) then MPEG would be faster overall.

[Steve Grisetti]

Wow! Thanks for the research, Bob! This is great stuff!

[bStro]

Create a new marker after that first one and give it (the new marker) the name you want. Then drag it over the first marker. Once you're close enough to it, DVD Architect Studio will replace the old with the new. It will also "re-number" the rest of the chapters accordingly.

Rob

[Chuck Engels]

Great tip Rob, thanks ! And welcome to Muvipix

[bStro]

Thanks, Chuck. Unfortunately, heh, I was replying to a post back on page 1 of this thread and didn't notice that 1) there were two more pages, and 2) the question had already been answered.

Rob

[Chuck Engels]

Never hurts to repeat important information, especially when a thread gets this long