Super-Compressed DVD's
Over 5 Hours on a Single, Recordable DVD-5 (4.7 GB)
Anyone who has been authoring DVD's for a while, has come across the problem
where they run out of space. Or in some cases they need a hell of a lot of
space. If that description fits you, then you have come to the right
place. Here we show you how to fit over 5 hours of video on a single
recordable DVD-5 with 4.7 GB of storage space. This is not something to
use for "The Matrix" or "Star Wars" of course - but for stuff like
documentaries, doubling up old movies, home video clips, etc - it is fine..
Here is a link to a 500 kB (1/2 MB) clip cut out "directly" from my own project DVD
source files.
It is one of the 62 source video clips that fit easily onto the DVD with room to
spare, and the
quality, although nothing to rave about . . . is fine.
The compression was achieved by using low resolution files at a high data rate. This way, the loss of detail is
shown as soft edges, which are a result of the
size being blown up. NOT as the usual crappy artifacts and jagged
edges !! This DVD is perfectly "watch-able" and
no one that has viewed the DVD has felt it is poor quality.
Play 500 kB Sample Clip Full
Screen
IMPORTANT - playing this clip in full-screen will give you a rough
approximation of what it will look like on your TV screen.
To get it to play in full-screen mode, in WMplayer, click the play button and
then immediately hit Alt-Enter to get to full screen mode.
Then replay the clip to view the quality.
All I can say . . . is try it - you'll
like it !!!
sample clip with an intro from the Host,
Shannon Dougherty (2 GB)
Still not convinced? Burn
your own test DVD !! Here is a 20 second clip (5 MB)
from the same video that I used on the DVD. You can download
it and use your own DVD Authoring package to burn a single 20-second
video DVD, and then play it on your big screen TV.
The custom DVD label for my own Test Project DVD
It combined 3 DVD's and 62 video clips into one 4.7 GB DVD with room to spare.
(I used Photoshop for the image and Neato's MediaFace 4.0 to align and print
the label - MediaFace is a great label maker)
Now we do the math for the proof :
The sample clip from above is 500 kB, which is .5 MB = .0005 GB, and plays for
2.03 seconds
To find out how many of these .0005 clips we can fit onto
one 4.7 GB DVD, we need to divide:
4.7 GB divided by .0005 GB = 9,400 clips (the DVD disc
can fit approximately 9,438 video clips of this size)
Total playtime = 9400 clips x 2.03 sec/clip = 19,082 sec
there are 3600 secs in one hour, so Playtime in hours =
19082 / 3600 = 5.3 Hours
Adjusting for Overhead - a
typical video DVD with several menus, and no "extras" - will require about
3% overhead for the menus. So the actual playtime is 97% of 5.3 Hours,
which is .97 x 5.3 = 5.14 Hours (still over 5 hours)
The Method
High Quality MPEG-1 SIF (352x240) source files that max out the allowable data
rate
The Goal in making a super-compressed DVD - is to identify a video
converter utility that will make a super-compressed MPEG files and a DVD
Authoring utility that will accept those files - thereby enabling us to fit tons
of video, with "acceptable" quality . . . on a DVD
recordable disc.
This also requires that any MPEG files that we create must be accepted by
the DVD Authoring program that we select.
In this section we will include the actual converted test video files, so you can see the results for yourself.
Here we show you how this method was discovered, through tons of testing using
various video formats, various encoder packages, and various DVD authoring
utilities. Finally we show you the exact steps used to create one of these I used the following formats with a number of converters for comparison:
DVD player takes the "height" of the video
frames, and adds signaling for vertical retrace. For
example, the full vertical NTSC interlaced resolution is 525
lines, so an analog TV:
scans 240 "odd" lines of visible video from
top to bottom
scans 22.5 "invisible" lines (beam shuts
off) as the scanning position moves back to the top
scans 240 "even" lines of visible video from
top to bottom
scans 22.5 "invisible" lines (beam shuts
off) as the scanning position moves back to the top
cropped D1
704xNN
704xNN
the 8 pixels on either edge of the video frame
aren't supposed to contain useful information. Therefore, some
programs will prefer the cropped D1 resolution to save bandwidth
Many ask, "why 352 instead of 360, which is exactly
1/2 x 720 ??" This is because the MPEG structure uses 16x16 "macroblocks",
and therefore the horizontal dimension must be divisible by 16.
352 is divisible by 16, and 360 is not.
They both transmit the same data rate !! We show this in the table below:
D1 Type
Resolution and FrameRate
Pixels in one Frame = width x height
Data Rate in Pixels per sec =pixels per frame
x frames per sec
NTSC D1
720x480 pixels at 30 frames per sec
345,600
10,368,000
PAL D1
720x576 pixels at 25 frame per sec
414,720
10,368,000
Video
Formats used for testing
This has been a long project, consisting of over a hundred hours of testing,
along with the purchase of tons of DVD utilities.
MPEG-1 SIF - 352 x 240, 1150 kbps CBR, Audio data rate 224 kbps,
Audio sampling 48 kHz* (had to go well above 1150 kbps as you will see)
MPEG-2 SIF - 352 x 240, 2000 kbps CBR, Audio data rate 224 kbps,
Audio sampling 48 kHz
MPEG-2 1/2 D1 (HHR - Half Horiz Res) - 352 x 480, 2000 kbps CBR, Audio
data rate 224 kbps, Audio sampling 48 kHz
* even though 44.1 kHz is more common for MPEG-1 SIF, some DVD authoring
packages, such as DVD-Lab will not accept MPEG-1 at 44.1 kHz
MPEG-1 vs MPEG-2 - surpsisingly, I ended
up choosing MPEG-1. The conversion was faster, it was more reliable,
and the quality was great (I mean . . . great for a highly compressed video
stream). The goal here is
maximum compression at an acceptable quality. Therefore we don't care
whether that requires MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. In fact, MPEG-1 SIF is
basically identical to MPEG-2 SIF in quality. MPEG-2 should be a bit
better - however, I did not notice a difference. However, the MPEG-1
standard does not allow for 352x480 video. In fact, not all DVD
Authoring programs will accept MPEG-2 at 352x480, so we also need to keep
nthat in mind.
defining "acceptable" - we
define "acceptable" as being a bit soft looking around the edges -
but not objectionable and free of artifacts and noise. You can always
compress down by reducing the data rate, but that is where you get
artifacts, streaking, ghosting, etc. This is why we max out the MPEG-1
data rate (Video = 1602 kbps) as far as the DVD software will allow.
To keep out the damn artifacts !! Even while maxing out the video data
rate to 1602 kbps, it is still a small fraction of typical MPEG-2 DVD video
data rates, which vary from 6000 to 9000 kbps !!
Womble MPEG Video Wizard, CucuSoft, Ultra Video Splitter, IMtoo MPEG
Converter, WinAVI Video Converter. Each has their own problems, except
TMPGenc Express, which seems to be trouble-free..
Play these test files
yourself - there is a huge world of difference going from DVD-compliant MPEG-2
files at 352x240 vs 352x480 when using Womble (which sucks for
MPEG-1 conversions) - but TMPGenc Express created 352x240 SIF files
that look just as good as the 352x480 1/2 D1 files !! That was quite a
surprise. Still, if you go with 1/2 D1 MPEG-2 instead, you will still be
able to squeeze a LOT of video onto one disc, because even though there are
twice as many lines, for some reason the file sizes are only about 15% larger
than the SIF files - another surprise :
Play Womble sample conversion - MPEG-2, 352x480
clip using this size got rid of the jagged edges - but they should not be there in
the MPEG-1, and
it is unacceptable to have to go to this size just to have something watch-able
There are a few cases where you might want to compress the hell
out of your video and store it in the DVD structure on your PC - or burn it onto
a DVD-recordable disc:
use DVD's to backup old VHS tapes where you are not
concerned with high quality but want to store several tapes onto one DVD
transmit DVD's over the Internet by posting them to
alt.binaries.movies, or storing them on a server for download
store more than one movie on a single DVD
create DVD with numerous Menus and hours and hours of your
favorite clips, and send it to friends and family as a gift
There are also VCD groups on UseNet, but although VCD's give you
highly compressed MPEG1 on a CD, that does not give you much play time and not
nearly enough for a movie.
What DVD Authoring Utilities will accept as
Input
Here are the allowable standards for MPEG-2 video as shown by
TMPGenc DVD Author, and as you
can see, there are several acceptable resolutions. The framerate is also called "Hz" (Hertz):
NOTE: the acceptable input source file resolution can vary from
utility to utility
Both 720x480 and 704x480 are from the NTSC's CCIR 601
standard
352x240 is for both MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, and is also called SIF (Source
Input Format), also known as Low Level (LL)
352x480 is for non-interlaced, which is called "progressive" scanning - used at
24 fps
The Compression Method Explained (the key to
this entire technique)
There is no magic here. You do lose quality, as you always will when
compressing. However, this method chooses the type of quality that
it lost - edge sharpness and resolution. Much of the
higher data rate bits in digital images and in video are used for sharp
edges. Soften the edges and you
don't need the bits. video The only
degradation is that the video gets a bit "soft" around the edges. It does
not have the artifacts that we are so used to seeing with MPEG-1 clips.
This is why you should use the maximum legal data rate. This is
not great quality - of course not, since it get's doubled in size - but
it is perfectly "watch-able" and not bad at
all.
Original Image - resolution 400x533 - File Size is 45 k
Here we will compare two
ways of compressing - this is a still image, but since video is nothing
more than images stuffed into frames . . . the same theory applies:
leave it at full-size,
and just compress down the quality to make it very "lossy"
take the same image, keep
it sharp and clear but shrink it down in resolution to half the display
size. And let the viewer blow it up to twice its size, making it
the same display size as the original image.
Image 1a - Original Image saved at
high compression - 18.4k artifacts are everywhere !!
Image 1 - Original Image - 45 k
Image 1b - Original image resized by
50% (200x267)
18.4k - same file size as 1a, but Clear. But it is
small
Image 1b - this is the same 200x267 18.4k
small pic, but it is being blown up by the display here.
Right-click to download it and open it in another image viewer to see -
it is a small, postage-stamp size pic !!
The HTML code lists the pic size as 400x533, forcing the browser to
resize it
But the file is still the same, and is only 18.4 k
Slightly "soft" edges, but still very clear !!! So much
better than the full-size compressed image - NO Artifacts !! THIS
IS THE SECRET TO THIS METHOD !!! Compression by using a small
display resolution and letting the DVD player blow it back up - not by
quality reduction !!
Round-Up of the Utilities
The following is the results of about 3 months of testing
. . . for in-depth statistics I used GSPOT to get data rates,
video and audio parameters such as aspect ration, CBR vs VBR, sampling rate,
etc. I used the "MPEG-2 Validator" to give a count of I, B, and P frames
in any MPEG-2.
When testing, and even
when creating DVD's you often need to play a VOB file separately, or play an
MPEG-2 file. Sounds simple - but it is not. VOB files
contain video that is streaming at very high data rates . . . about 6000 to
9000 kbps. A lot of players, even if they accept VOB format, can't keep up.
*** Number 1 *** MPC
- Microsoft's Media Player Classic v6.4.9.0 - works well, and you
should definitely get this freebie. It is the old "Active Movie" player.
Someone dug it of the archives because people like us needed to be able to play
many different video formats, and WMplayer just was not engineered correctly and
has never been able to decode the more complex formats such as MPEG-2 and MP4.
Mplayer Classic does a good job of playing most VOB, MPEG-2, and even MP4 files
(get the 3ivx codec to play these). In addition, if it can't keep up with
the VOB data rate, there is a "Decrease Speed" button on the console.
WMP - Microsoft's WMplayer - whether you have v9, 10, or 11 - you will
not be able to play MPEG-2 files properly with WMplayer. Forget about it.
VLC Media Player - this has been dubbed the "it will play anything you
throw at it" player. For files it does not have a codec for - it uses
"Fake codec" as a workaround.
VOB to MPEG-2 Converters
The Mixed Menu VOB File ( VTS_01_0.VOB ) is the biggest
challenge for conversion. It is often called a "mixed VOB" and it is
normally the first VTS_01_0.VOB file. The problem with conversion is that
it can contain still menus, motion menus, menu transition clips, etc. Only
Womble, which is not even a "player" per se . . .
successfully converted those files. In fact, only Womble played them
properly. I was able to play them with MPC, but had to slow down the speed
quite a bit.
Nothing worked on Menu Vob's except Womble !! Video Redo, TMPEexpress, and
TMPGenc Plus all failed. With Video Redo Plus I was able to convert the menu VOB to MPEG-2 but
it converted only the first 5 seconds of the 15-sec VOB, and the rest was lopped
off for some reason. I opened that MPEG-2 in TMPGenc Express and it could
only see the first frame !! It played through the clip and audio was fine,
but only the first frame showed. Then I tried opening the converted MPEG-2
with TMPGenc Plus - and it also showed only one frame - but that frame was the
"last frame" of the MPEG-2.
*** Number 1 for Menu VOB's ***
Womble MPEG Video Wizard - this was the only converter
that converter the Menu VOB file perfectly. The only diff was that the
converted file's duration (13:26) was a couple of seconds less than the original
VOB (15:08). This is due to the first 4 "still menu" frames. In the
VOB, as I single-stepped through the I-frames starting at the beginning:
the 4 menus were shown as still images - the timing for those first 4
stills was spaced apart by 1/2 sec (00:00, 00:15, 1:00, 1:15) - not sure why
then the first
video clip played starting at 2:00 - which is the first menu-to-menu transition video
- the I-frame steps at that point were sequentially timed at 30 fps (2:00, 2:01,
2:02, etc)
after that, the other menus transitions played, one after the other
until done
When I used Womble to convert this VOB to MPEG-2, the converted
file had the first 4 menu stills as
successive I-frames timed at 0:00, 0:01, 0:02, 0:03, and then the first video
began running at 0:04 and ran normally at 30 fps. This is why the final
converted file is 2 seconds shorter than the VOB !!
*** I am not sure why the menu stills are placed 1/2 sec apart in the VOB.
Perhaps that is a DVD structure standard so that the player can identify them as
Menus, and NOT videos.
*** Number 1 for Movie VOB's ***
Video ReDo Plus - converts the VOB files from a DVD to
MPEG-2 without having to re-encode. So it does it extremely fast.
Conclusion - you just can't convert a "menu VOB" to MPEG-2
100% correctly. There is
no 1-to-1 relationship because of the way Menu stills are placed every 1/2 sec
in the VOB, and that spacing is lost when converted to MPEG-2. And you certainly
can't edit a converted menu VOB in MPEG-2 format, convert back to VOB, and
expect it to work.
Video Conversion Utilities that do not Re-Encode
*** Number 1 *** Video ReDo
Plus - converts the VOB files from a DVD to MPEG-2 without having to
re-encode. So it does it extremely fast. Nothing is as fast as
Video Redo . . . nothing. We're talking a few minutes for a 1 GB VOB file to
MPEG2 conversion. It is a bit expensive for a 1-trick pony ($50), but it is a
must for any DVD video buff.
Problem - it does not work properly on VOB files with menu
transitions - in a test sample I used several Root menu to sub-menu
transitions in both directions. DVD-Lab placed the still menu images
and the video transition clips all into the same VOB (VTS_01_0.VOB).
*** BUT it works fine for all other VOB's (the video VOB's)
- and those are the VOB's you will be using it for anyway - not the Menu VOB
!!!
Boilsoft Splitter & Boilsoft Joiner -
this combo allows you to rework the MPEG clips for a DVD movie where you just want to cut
out and keep portions - FAST. You can actually join "n" clips in DOS using
"copy /b file1.mpg+file2.mpg+ . . . .+filen.mpg
fileout.mpg" - but you cannot split them. The Boilsoft joiner makes it
much easier and faster than using DOS.
Some people think that a VOB is an MPEG-2 and all you have
to do is change the extension. WRONG !! This is a myth.
They're very similar, but a VOB has extra data and different
headers. The truth is that a VOB is an MPEG-2 wrapped in VOB headers,
which is why it is possible to convert a VOB to an MPEG-2 quickly, if you use a
converter that DOES NOT RE-ENCODE. VOB stands for "Video Object" as defined in DVD specifications. Although a
vob file is also an MPEG file, it has additional data that a standard MPEG
decoder will not understand, e.g., the private data, which only a DVD decoder
will understand. Those data include information about the file offsets and time
duration of all chapters included in the VOB file.
Video Conversion Utilities that Re-Encode (i.e. "transcode")
*** Number 1 ***
TMPGenc Express 3.0 (they now have 4.0 released)
- this is the hands-down winner and the undisputed king of
video converters. The other ALL have multitudes of problems, and there are
so many problems that it is truly unbelievable. But not Express 3.0 - it
is almost perfect, and as far as the converted files - when it says "standard"
it means it !! You can count on these conversions - you can rely on them.
They work and they look great. And most importantly - the DVD Authoring
Utilities will accept these files !!!
Nero Recode 2 - trumpeted as the "holy grail" of compression, it is
not what it seems and I have not figured out a use for it yet. It is two
utilities - an MP4 (proprietary codec) converter, and a recoder. Like DVD Shrink,
you can use this to throw out certain parts of a DVD and recook it. But you
can't use its MP4 compression for DVD's - at least not that can play on anyone
player. This utility makes MP4 files in a proprietary format, that can only be
played on WinXP with the Nero codec - or with the 3ivx codec installed and using
WMplayer v6.4. To me, the compression is not better than DivX or Xvid - sure you
can compress way, way down - but the video becomes blurry and unusable if you do
that. The fact that Nero Recode MP4 files require users to have installed a
special codec, makes it pretty useless for the masses. Great potential though,
if Microsoft releases an upgrade that has the codec, so everyone can play the
files.
Womble MPEG Video Wizard - the fastest, smoothest MPEG2 NLE (timeline)
editor. You can scrub through an MPEG-2 clip smoothly on the timeline - amazing
because no other editor I know of can do that. This is GREAT - GREAT !!! It lets
you set up In and Out points, split, join, etc - then create a batch process to
output all the clips to MPEG1 or MPEG2. I loved this program, until I saw the
resulting video clips !! Creates 352x240 MPEG-1 files with horrible "jaggies"
on the edges. Even higher resolution MPEG's have slight jagggies.
This was such a wonderful app too !! It is the only MPEG-2 editor that
allows you to smoothly scrub through and preview a huge VOB file. Oh well,
too bad.
WinAVI Video Converter - the fastest VOB <--> MPEG2 converter that
re-encodes (Video ReDo does not re-encode). Su, unlike Video ReDo you can change
display size, framerate, etc. Also works with RM and WMV and AVI. This is the
fastest converter I have tried and I have a ton of them. However it has
incredible errors in the program itself:
clipping is there but does not work unless you clip all 4 sides.
the Quality setting for WMV has no effect on the output at all
you cannot name your output file
you cannot set your output folder and have it "stick" - it always goes
back to the default folder setting. etc etc etc.
you cannot change the frame rate - so if your input is PAL (25 fps) and
you want to convert it to NTSC (29.97 fps) - you cannot because there is no
frame rate setting !! I am working on a great PAL DVD called "Scare
Tactics" and converting it to NTSC, and therefore I simply cannot use WinAVI
!!!
I emailed their "support" 3 times and they replay with "non-answers" such as
"the clipping function does not work with clipping because that would slow the
program down" - STUPID answer !! BUT for doing what it does - convert fast - it
works very well.
IMtoo MPEG Converter - this "was" my favorite - but not any more !! It
still is the simplest, smallest, and most powerful interface. and it does
convert virtually any format to any format, including iPOD mp4 (both 30GB and 60
GB iPod - and it has a profile for each. Also, it can can quickly
and easily create custom conversion profiles, and can stack up videos in a list
and even apply different conversions to each file, and then let it run as you go
watch TV.
BUT all the MPEG-2 conversions result in MPEG-1 containers !!!
This is proven by viewing their properties in GSPOT where the container is
"MPEG-1 Program Stream" and the video is "MPEG-2". So this is
confusing - but bottom line, the video is indeed MPEG-2, but for some wierd
reason the put it inside an MPEG-1 container !!!
In addditon, all IMtoo MPEG-2 converted files will not play in
WMplayer (audio but no video). I am sure this has something to do
with the weird MPEG-1 container structure, that no other MPEG-2 uses.
The workaround they sent me is to install the Trial version of the Elecard
MPEG-2 player, and this installs a codec that does allow WMplayer to play
IMtoo MPEG-2 files. However, you should not need to install this weird
workaround IMO.
when trying to import the video clips into DVD Author, it complains that
the bit rate is sky high and it will not accept the clips !!! IMtoo
and even GSPOT shows the bit-rate as normal, but apparently the MPEG-1
container is throwing off DVD Author
there is only one bit rate option - VBR. NONE of the profiles have
a CBR option - they are all VBR, although they do not tell you that in
the video settings window - it just says "Bit Rate" with no reference to
CBR or VBR. This is a problem - for example, DVD Author
cannot open IMtoo MPEG-1 352x240 video files, becaue ythey are VBR. The
problem is that by the DVD standard, MPEG-1 files must be CBR.
Otherwise with some DVD Authoring packages such as TMPGenc's DVD Author
2.1 (the most recent), they cannot find the max data rate becaue they
have no analysis routine for MPEG-1 input files, assuming that they will
be CBR.
CuCusoft converter - works with mutiple formats but I had flashing
white artifacts in my MPEG-2 converted files that had light, flowing grey
backgrounds (cannot handle slightly varying shades apparently).
Total Video Converter - has many many formats, but I do not like the
interface. You have to go to a separate window to select the format and then
come back to the main window.
Ultra Video Splitter - converts and splits VOB files to MPEG1/2, AVI,
WMV. It has major
drawbacks !!! Here they are:
NO PRESET PROFILES. no way to create or save PROFILES
NO AUDIO SETTINGS !!! You have to accept the aduio you get. So for MPEG-1 files, for example that you want to use with DVD-Lab
for DVD authoring - you can't because they all come out at 44.1 kHz audio
sampling rate, and DVD-Lab insists on 48 kHz.
FAKE HIGH RES VIDEO !!! I finally
figured out how they keep the file sizes so small even at "higher resolutions".
They fake it !! The file size is kept so small because it replicates
data into large "blocks". Viewing the MPEG-2 at full screen size you can really
see this !!!The resulting video clips are all the same, highly compressed size no matter what the
resolution
is !!! Here is the surprise, using a short 10-sec segment on all files, using Audio of
224 kbps in all cases:
I used Gspot to verify the resolution of the files and they were
all correct. BUT The resolution of 352x48- is twice that of 352x240 yet the file
sizes and bit-rates are basically identical. And even the full 720x480 file is
not much larger than the 352x240 !!!
These are the smallest size 720x480 MPEG-2 files I have ever seen
- if only they were "real". But as stated this is done by faking it. The 720x480 is
actually large blocks (4x4, 8x8 or maybe 16x16 - not sure) of identical pixels.
DO NOT USE THIS UTILITY !!!
DVD Authoring Utilities
*** Number 1 ***
MediaChance DLD Lab Pro - I finally figured out how to use DVD-Lab
Pro, and it was well worth the time to figure it out. It has so much more power
than DVD Author that there really is no comparison. I now realize, is that I was
wrong about the elemental streams taking forever. I had been using TMPGenc Plus
to demux, and it does take a long time - but somehow DVD-Lab does it in a
fraction of the time. It demuxes a 5-minute video clip in about 30 seconds. It
does require twice as much drive space because it keeps the original mpg file
and create one mpv and one mpa file. But with today's monster drives, even that
is not a problem. Plus when finished - after testing the DVD you can delete the
files.
The DVD-Lab "connections" page is extremely helpful to understand and see
what is going on. It shows the complete DVD layout, along with lines and arrows
that show how everything is connected. And you can change the structure byt
simply drawing in your own lines. Awesome. I can link to any menu from any menu
and then back again. I can play single clips and return to the menu even in "sub
menus" (which DVD Author cannot do). And you can also create "Playlists", which
allows the user to play any single clip and return, or click "Play All".
Click Here to see an actual
DVD Connections page
of a very complex DVD, with 1 main menu, 3 sub-menus, and 54 video clips
I am sure there are many other high-end DVD Authoring programs that can also
do these things, but DVD-Lab is very cheap, considering all that it can do.
SONIC Reel DVD - very difficult to learn and use. Like DVD Lab
Pro, it also only works with elemental streams. At least it does automatically
convert program streams. BUT it took every single "DVD Compliant" MPEG-2 that I
threw at it and complained about problems (except for Womble exported MPEG-2
files). The most common error was "GOP length" errors but there were a few
others. Even TMPGenc converted "DVD-cinmpliant" MPEG-2 files resulted in import
errors. Very confusing program too.
TMPGenc DVD Author v1.6- stay away from v2.0 (v2.1 is OK though).
The most user-friendly DVD Authoring package of all. But it has major menu
limitations. Only the Main menu can contain "tracks". All sub-menus can ONLY
contain "Chapters". In otherwords, each sub-menu is a single Track, and that
single Track contains multiple "Chapters". You cannot create a sub-menu that has
buttons that link to other sub-menus. You cannot play a "Chapter" on a sub-menu
and have it return to the sub-menu when completed - it will always play ALL
subsequent chapters. For example, if you click on Chapter 3 and there are 11
Chapters in that sub-menu, then it will play Chapters 3 through 11 before
returning. You cannot create a custom menu EXCEPT for those based on the
Templates. When you click "Edit Menu Theme" you are shown a series of
"Templates" to choose from, and you cannot add objects to them.
ULEAD DVD Workshop 2.0 - the best "all around" DVD Authoring program -
great interface, very user friendly, and somewhat powerful (though not nearly as
powerful as DVD-Lab). You can have any menu link to any other menu. Great
player within lets you view every clip. But for my own case -
both v1.3 and 2.0 have no sound with certain PC's,
including my Dell Dimensions. I spent 2 years emailing ULEAD about this and
working with them to get it fixed. Never happened - so on both of my Dell
machines, it has no sound in the final DVD output (works fine in the DVDWS
player). It does have sound on my other machines but they are
slow. It could be the Powerleap upgrade CPU and not the Dell, because both my
Dell's have a Powerleap processor installed. But I doubt it.
The Goal - create a DVD that can store either 2 to
3 movies combined, or tons of video clips all on one disc. For short video
clips I wanted them to return to the menu upon completion and NOT continue to
the next clip, which is why I had to use DVD Lab and NOT USE DVD Author. I
also wanted the user to have the "option" to play all clips sequentially.
The following meets all of these goals.
The Method - use High-Quality MPEG-1 files as inputs to DVD-Lab, with the
following settings:
MPEG-1, 352x240, Video Data Rate 1602 kbps CBR,
Audio data rate 224 kbps, Audio Sampling Rate 48 kHz, Frame Rate 29.97 fps
The Software Packages - there is only one VOB-toMPEG-2
converter on the market that does it at high-speed, without re-encoding, and
that utility is . . .
Video ReDo Plus !!
After months of testing, I have found that virtually ALL video
converters except one, have major flows and mistakes in them. And I mean
major !! The only one that is accurate, fully featured, reliable, and powerful,
is
. . . .
TMPGenc Express 3.0 !!
The same can be said for "affordable" DVD Authoring programs. They are
all lacking in some major way, or they have some major limitation . . . all
except one . . .
Using the maximum legal data
rate for MPEG-1 (i.e. the highest quality possible), you will get over 5
hours of video (about 5.1 hours) on one, 4.7 GB,
recordable DVD !!!
Using "average quality MPEG-1
files, you could get up to 8 hours on a
single DVD !!
Introduction to this Technique
After studying and testing for months . . . I ended up with a
preference for high quality MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 SIF files at 352x240. I have
no preference between MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 at this video size, since visually you
cannot tell the difference. So I use MPEG-1 because MPEG-2 did not give me
any apparent quality difference and the utilities convert MPEG-2 more slowly.
It all gets converted in the end to "MPEG-2 like" files (VOB) anyway, by the DVD
Authoring program.
The Key - convert the Video to small Display
size, 352x240 MPEG-1's while maxing the data rate - letting the DVD Player Expand them to Full Screen.
The purists will frown upon this technique, and they are right
as far as authoring excellent "showpiece" DVD's. But that's not what this
is about - so let them
frown while you kick back with a bunch of snacks and beer and watch over 5 hours
on one disc !! This method works and it works very well. You have to
see it to believe it.
The trick is to convert your video to the highest quality 352x240
MPEG-1 files as you can !!! Keep in mind that we will be using very small
videos, and your player will be doubling their size . . .
so in order to have decent results, you will need very high quality clips.
To do that, you max out the DVD standards. You create
352x240 clips with the highest allowable data rate. DVD Author is a great
yardstick as far as testing the DVD compliancy of files - if it will accept the
file, you can bet it is DVD compliant !!! BUT realize that other programs
such as DVD-Lab are much more forgiving of things like data rates, so you may
wish to go that route instead.
This means exceeding the usual standard MPEG-1 video bit rate of
1150 kbps, yet still staying within the upper limit . DVD Author will complain if you
create an MPEG-1 with too high a data rate, and
will refuse the file. It will even refuse an MPE-1 at 2000 kbps, which is
fairly common. The message it gives is:
1856 kbps is the max MPEG-1 data rate
allowed
(as a side note - for MPEG-2, it says the max is 9800 kbps)
Calculating the max Data Rate
It is very important to realize that 1856 kbps is the TOTAL Data Rate
not just the video data rate.
Total Data Rate = Video + Audio
+ Control bits
Most video conversion utilities allow you adjust the video and
audio streaming data rates separately. Then when the mpeg is playes, the
streams combine into one total data rate. If you use TMPGenc Express
3.0 and set it to 1856 kbps, you will be setting the Video data rate. Then the total bit rate
(you can use GSPOT to view that) comes out to 2110 kbps
(1856 video + 224 audio + 30 control) !!! So for Express 3.0, the rule of thumb, if using 224 kbps for audio, is to subtract
that audio + control bits (which is 254 since 224+30=254) from the max data
rate to get your video data rate. So the max video data rate you should
use for MPEG-1 is:
1602 kbps CBR !!!
(1602 kbps CBR video data rate = 1856 total - 224 audio - 30
control)
NOTE: using 1602 places you
right at the upper limit - so if DVD Author still complains,
then simply shave a bit more off the video data rate in the
Express 3.0 converter, and use something like 1580 kbps
Using HHR (Half-Height Resolution,
also called 1/2 D1) MPEG-2 Clips
You can use 352x480 MPEG-2, so that you get twice the vertical
resolution. But surprisingly, this does not get you much.
Going to 352x480 MPEG-2 instead of 352x240 MPEG-1 essentially doubles the vertical resolution,
and it
also allows you to use high data rates, since the max for MPEG-2 is 9800 kbps
!!! And surprisingly, 352x480 files are not much larger
than 352x240 files, if using the same bit rate setting !!
But of course -
as with MPEG-1 SIF, you will want to increase the bit rate for HHR
files, while at the same time not going anywhere near as high as
a standard full D1 MPEG-2 file of 6000 to 8000 kbps. I recommend 2500 to
3000 kbps. I must say, this trick does not really get you much in the way
of added quality unless you dramatically increase the data rate, which ruins the
whole point of doing this !!
The Steps to create a 5 Hour DVD
Here are the steps and the software I use:
1) if you are taking your source video from
existing DVD's - decrypt and save the DVD VOB's to hard drive and go
to Step 2
if you are using your own footage - capture
the Mini DV footage as AVI files to
your hard drive (or MPEG files of your capture card
supports it) and skip to Step 3
2) use Video Redo to combine all VOB's and save them to a single, Huge MPEG-2
file - (the audio will stay in synch, and the conversion will be done extremely
fast since Video ReDo does NOT re-encode)
3) use TMPGenc Express 3.0to make the cuts and convert the files
- this utility is preferred because it allows CBR, which is the
standard for DVD MPEG-1 at 352x240 - whereas IMtoo does not allow CBR) to put in
all your clip cuts and convert the huge MPEG2 file to numerous MPEG-1 files at
352x240. Make sure to use the following settings:
4) use a reputable DVD
Authoring package to Author the DVD (I prefer DVD-Lab Pro):
If you are lucky enough to have DVD Lab Pro ($199, don't even
bother with the regular DVD Lab for $99) - then here are some tips. It is
the best DVD package for the money and man is it ever powerful !! The
sky's the limit on what you can do.
*** scroll down for details on DVD Lab Pro, Elemenral
Streams, and file type Conversions ***
My own Project DVD's Final Results
As to the super-compressed DVD's, it is amazing how good the
videos actually look on my big-screen TV, considering they are MPEG-1 files. Try
making a short sample and see for yourself !! Again - the trick is using very
high quality MPEG-1 at much higher data rates than most MPEG-1 files.
Here I have used I used high quality source video and used the
highest "legal" MPEG-1 data rate for the target video - which according to
TMPGenc is 1856 kbps. I set the video to 1602 kbps, the audio to 224 kbps, and
that leaves enough room for the 30 kbps mpeg-1 control bits. The data rate is
about 1/4th that if a standard DVD, but about 3 times that of a standard desktop
video clip. So this is a "happy medium" between compression and quality.
3 DVD's into 1 - for my own test project I
compressed all 3 DVD's from the 1st Season of "Scare Tactics", which is 53 video
clips, plus 8 clips from the 2nd Season onto one DVD. I ended up
with a whopping 61 video clips a total playtime of 3.13 hours, with 3.9 GB of
space taken up - leaving a ton of space leftover if I decide to add more later
(800 MB leftover space).
The menu selection allow the user to watch any single clip and
return to the menu - or he can click the "Play All Clips" button at the upper
right of each screen to play all the clips on that screen sequentially.
Since I had so much leftover space I added 8 clips from Season 2 and created the
4th Menu.
The final DVD - file structure
3.9 GB required - disc capacity is 4.7 GB
To convert from system to elemental streams - you de-multiplex the
single file containing the single system stream (video and audio streams that
are interlaced together into a single stream) into two separate streams in two
files (one video and one audio).
To convert elemental streams to a system stream - you multiplex two
elemental streams together to form one stream of interlaced video and audio
data.
The Elemental Stream File Types
Common Video Elemental Stream files - mpv (MPEG-1 Video) or m2v
(MPEG-2 Video)
Common Audio Elemental Stream files - AC3, mp2, mpa, wav, and LPCM (pcm
or raw)
NOTE: surprisingly, the most popular audio file . . . MP3's
. . . are not used by most DVD Authoring packages
MP2 (MPEG-1 audio Layer 2) vs MPA (MPEG Audio
- Layer I, II, or III)
These are very similar files. But are different formats, and utilities always seem to
support one or the other - not both. DVD Lab will import
either and can use either as the audio stream for any movie on the
DVD.
MP2 is a standalone audio file, that can also be muxed together
with video to make an MPG file.
MPA is always an elementary stream and is never used as a
standalone audio file. This is why Premiere works well with mpa -
because it works with elemental streams. This is also why IMtoo does
not work with MPA files - it specializes in standalone audio and video
files.
NOTE: quite a few utilities will actually allow you to
change the extension mp2 to mpa and will work fine that way !! In
general there should be no need to do this - but I include it here because
it has been mentioned so many times in other discussions.
MP2 is usually 196 or 224 kbps at 48
kHz sampling. MP3 is usually 128 to 256 kbps at 44.1 kHz
sampling. MP3 has better compression and allows for "joint
stereo".
How to get your Audio into Elemental Stream Formats:
There are many conversion utilities - so use whatever works for you.
Here I have listed the utilities that I use, personally, and can vouch for:
AC3, MP2, WAV - use IMtoo to open these files and convert to other
formats - or use IMtoo to export any other audio file to these formats
MPA - creating MPA files is not easy because very few utilities
support conversion to mpa. The only utility I am aware of is DVD Lab,
which creates mpa files on the fly as soon as you import an mpg file (it
automatically demuxes mpg to two elemental stream files . . . mpv and mpa).
You can use Adobe Premiere to import mpa but not
export to mpa (the Main Concept MPEG encoder can only create
system streams, "mpg" only). Even the old workhorse, TMPGenc Plus, cannot save
to mpa format. It does have a built-in utility called "MPEG Tools"
that can
mux an mpa together with a video stream into an mpg system stream .
. . but it cannot creat mpa files.
But don't worry - you will probably never need to create an mpa file.
And if you do need one (for a DVD Lab project, for example) the utilities that
require mpa files come with their own demux routines or a transcode routine to
create the mpa file for you.
NOTE: Premiere cannot import or
export mp2 or mp3.
MP2 - use IMtoo or TMPGenc. Both utilities can open mp2 files
and they can export to mp2.
NOTE1: neither utility can can open or export to mpa,
although TMPGenc Plus has a built-in utility called "MPEG Tools"
that can
import and multiplex mpa audio streams with a video stream to get an
mpg system stream.
Conversions
MPG to MPA - use DVD Lab to
import mpg and it will demux the file into mpv and mpa elemental
streams
MPA to MP2 - open the mpa in Premiere, export to wav, open wav in
IMtoo, and export to mp2
MP2 to MPA - open MP2 in IMtoo, export to wav OR in
DVD Lab, goto Tools/Transcode Audio . . . . click Input and select the MP2, and
then click "Transcode" and the MPA will be created in the same folder
LPCM - unlike many other DVD authoring
utilities, DVD Lab will not accept LPCM (*.pcm or
*.raw). Go to the LPCM conversion tool (Tools / LPCM>wav),
open the pcm/raw file and transcode it to wav OR
just use the main DVD Lab Tools/Transcode to convert LPCM--->WAV or
WAV --> LPCM
