Share your DVD Authoring techniques

[Namuna]

I've found lots of great info within this forum, but I still had to go through my own trial and error to get the best combination of tools to do what I need. I wanted to share my findings and hopefully other folks will share theirs and perhaps we can all benefit.

So, here are all my settings from Replay (I have the 5040) to burned DVD, from a PC running Win2000 SP4...

Tools used:
- DVArchive
- Womble
- TMPGEnc DVD
- Nero 6

Replay settings:
My shows are all captured at 'Medium' quality setting. I'm still running at the standard 40gig size, so I'm a bit tight on space. Once I upgrade the HD I'll probably switchover to 'High' quality setting. I'm quite satisfied with the Medium setting though, it's roughly 300mb per 10min of video.

DVarchive:
Invaluable tool for the ReplayTV! Quite possibly the BIGGEST reason I bought the Replay in the first place!...Anyway, I set the download speed to 0 (which means the fastest possible) and get about ~1.8mb/s, VERY nice!

* As a connection from the 5040 to my PC, I use the Buffalo WBR-G54 802.11g routers, setup as discussed in this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=310930

** For easier handling of files, I download shows to a folder I call 'Replay shows' and within that folder is anothe directory called 'Processed'. Makes it easier to distinguish between the ready-for-authoring files and the needs-to-be-worked-on files.

Womble
Open the downloaded mpeg and using the markers, crop the commercials, then choose the 'GOP Trim' tool to save the cropped mpeg.

* More on that here:
http://www.lordsmurf.com/edit/mpeg2vcr/mpeg2vcr.htm

TMPGEnc DVD
Start a new project and add the cropped mpeg (the saved mpeg files from Womble are DVD compliant, no other conversions necessary). Make edits as you like, then create the DVD vob files.

* More specific details here:
http://www.polarhome.com:793/~afonic/tmpegencdvd.htm

Nero
create the DVD layout, burn it and be happy.

* More specific details here:
http://www.polarhome.com:793/~afonic/nero.htm

Hope this is helpful.

- Namuna

[LaserDick]

DVArchive to Ulead DVD Movie Maker 2 is simple, cheap, and flawless for me.
Oh, yeah reVUE and rtvEdit,evtEdit, and rtvConvert are also installed for reVue...

[pio!pio!]

1) DVArchive - grab the shows
2) rtvtools (evtedit, rtvedit, rtvconvert) - cut commercials and prepare video for use. I open the mpeg in virtualdub to manually get the edit points to cut the commercials
3) nerovision express to author dvd (create chapters etc) and burn

[moyekj]

This process is not much of a mystery anymore, so similar to above:
1) DVA
2) mpeg cleanup - rtvedit/rtvconvert for low/medium quality, mpegtools fix-time.exe for high quality.
3) Womble Mpeg Wizard to cleanup & edit out commercials.
4) Any DVD authoring package - I use crappy winDVD Creator which came with laptop for authoring & burn.

[Chemguy]

I would not say ANY DVD authoring package. I have found that roxio will re-encode all files. I'm not sure if that is normal or not, but it is certainly not good. Especially since some packages can do it without re-encoding.

[chrisarnold]

DVArchive to get the MPEGs
Womble to edit the commercials and make smaller clips
DVLab to author and burn the DVD

Works great for me

[brian7972]

DVA to grab the files

revue to render

roxio to burn

no problems

Slightly OT: My brother gave me DVDXCopy Platinum for Christmas for DVD "back-up." It rocks....

[milky way]

Don't forget DVD Shrink 3.0 Beta 5. I found quality is quite acceptable for 5 hours of video in one DVD.

[bmattis]

1. DVarchive to extract (this step will be the same for everyone)
2. reVue with hooks into RTV Tools to edit out commercials and make DVD authoring program "ready". 2-3 minutes of processing time for this step.
3. DVD authoring and burning with Ulead DVD movie factory 2. No reencoding required.
4. 5 hours of standard quality DVD goodness on one disk for about 30 minutes of work.
5. Win "Parent of the Year" award for letting kids watch an endless supply of commercial free cartoons on portable DVD player in car on long road trips. End result: Parental sanity maintained.:p

[Rudy]

Originally posted by moyekj
This process is not much of a mystery anymore, so similar to above:
1) DVA
2) mpeg cleanup - rtvedit/rtvconvert for low/medium quality, mpegtools fix-time.exe for high quality.
3) Womble Mpeg Wizard to cleanup & edit out commercials.
4) Any DVD authoring package - I use crappy winDVD Creator which came with laptop for authoring & burn.

I've been too busy lately to pay attention to the rtvtools other than to know a little about what they do.

I use DVArchive, Womble (no wizard), then Ulead to get things to DVD.

Why should I add step #2 if steps 1, 3, and 4 work fine? Is there an added benefit to cleaning up with the tools?

[moyekj]

Occasionally RTV produces mpegs which will have specs outside the DVD spec range - such as VBR > 9.8Mbps. The rtvtools are designed to clean up such problems (among other things). The cleaner your source mpegs are, the cleaner your authored DVD wll be (making it more likely to play on more players). It's likely if you use low or medium quality recordings that you don't need to process through rtvtools, but to be complete it doesn't hurt to include them in the flow - the tools run fairly quickly anyway. For all high quality 4K recordings I have tried thus far they have all had problems that needed to be cleaned up with rtvtools & mpegtools before I could go on to authoring.

[Wrecks]

Another advantage of copying "raw" ReplayTV mpegs to CD or DVD without authoring is that you can copy them back to your computer and stream them to your TV again. Just be sure to save the very small .EVT and .NDX files along with them.

[WannabeSQ]

I just use

1. DVA
2. Womble (and I just snip the commercials and the in/out fluff, nothing fancy)
3. NeroVision 2

Thats it, simple and sweet, the process (once edited, im still gettin faster at that) of burning takes about 25 mins, I think Nero does some transcoding, but nothing major, or at least, on my Athlon XP 2800+ it doesn't seem to take too much time.

[newRTVuser]

Well, I've spent the last week or so trying all kinds of things. Some of which would take me about 8-hours or so before finding out my DVD was screwed up.

[color=orangered]How I started off doing them:[/color]
[color=skyblue]RTVEdit -> RTVConvert -> Womble -> SpruceUp -> DVD2One -> Nero6 [/color]

[color=orangered]How I do them now:[/color]
[color=skyblue]Womble -> TMPEnc -> DVD2One -> Nero6[/color]


I always start with [color=silver]DVArchive[/color] (only mentioned because others mention it) to get my files to my PC

In my first set of tries, I was using [color=silver]RTVedit[/color] and [color=silver]RTVConvert[/color] and then going into [color=silver]Womble[/color] to edit out the commercials (as was suggested in another thread). After lots of trial and error, it doesn't seem like those first steps are required, so I'm no longer using [color=silver]RTVedit [/color]or [color=silver]RTVconvert[/color]

I've got my shows saved at Medium quality. I load them up into [color=silver]Womble[/color] and edit out the commercials (using the reverse-paste method suggested on Jim's website)

I started off using [color=silver]SpruceUP[/color] to create my DVDs because it seemed like an easy way to create menus, set chapter points etc. Well, for whatever reason (maybe because my system isn't beefy enough) it's really difficult to jump to a specific point in the program to set a chapter point. So after my first try, I gave up at that. ALSO for some reason the last 2 dvds I made with [color=silver]SpruceUp[/color] ended up not having any sound.... so I've given up on [color=silver]SpruceUp[/color].

I've moved to [color=silver]TMPEnc DVD Author [/color]and it seems to be working just fine. It's not as easy (yet) for me to make the menus just the way I want them. But I think I'll get the hang of it after a while. It is MUCH MUCH faster than [color=silver]SpruceUp[/color] in authoring the DVD. Unbelieveably so. Something that would take me 4 hours with [color=silver]SpruceUp[/color] is only taking about 40 minutes with [color=silver]TMPEnc[/color].

I then use [color=silver]Nero6[/color] to burn the dvds. It seems to work well.

The only other thing I've started using is [color=silver]DVD2one[/color]. I'm putting together 4 show compilation dvds and the 4 shows are a little long for a single dvd. So after using [color=silver]TMPGEnc (or SpruceUp) [/color]to create the Video_ts files, I run them through [color=silver]DVD2one[/color]

The other problem that I've found is that my home DVD player (Apex) doesn't seem to like my homemade DVDs if they are 100% full. It won't play them all the way to the end. It'll end up locking up before it gets to the very end of the final show. My solution? When I use [color=silver]DVD2One[/color], I shrink the files down to 4272MB instead of 4472MB (full DVD) I tried 4372 and it still locked up before the show ended. In the future I'll fine tune this number to figure out the max size where my player will play them flawlessly.

[color=orangered][SIZE=4]TO RECAP[/size][/color]
[color=skyblue]RTVedit and RTVconvert[/color] - Good programs, but determined that I don't need them at all if I'm using Womble.

[color=skyblue]Womble[/color] - Great program for trimming commercials out. Also great for noting the exact TC where I might add chapters later. Why? Because Womble will play without any delay or jerkiness at all on my system.

[color=skyblue]SpruceUp[/color] - Easy DVD authoring program to use to make menus and buttons, but flakey. Sometimes doesn't work 100% as it should, sometimes gave me video input errors after 3 hours of compiling the .vob files and in the end started giving me DVDs with no sound

[color=skyblue]DVD2one[/color] - Good program. Small, straightforward, fast. Pick the size you want your DVD files to be and it'll do it.

[color=skyblue]TMPGEnc[/color] - Good DVD authoring program. I haven't quite gotten the hang of getting out of the templates it wants me to use, but I think I will eventually

[color=skyblue]Nero6[/color] - Seems to work well to burn my DVDs, but I am not a fan of the "StartSmart" aspect of the program. It's the first-time-user's helper wizard and I think it's bloatware-ish.

[jvidalny]

DVArchive (copy)
Womble Wizard (edit)
DVDLab (author)
Nero (Burn)

[RFontenot]

I'm converting 2-hour 8mm video tapes to DVD.

1. Manual Record via Line-In at Medium Quality.
2. DVA to transfer.
3. RTVTools to convert.
4. IfoEdit to author.
5. Gear to burn to a single DVD-R.


RF

[Robert Simandl]

I used to use DVArchive and/or WinReplayPC to transfer shows from my 4160 to my PC, but didn't take long to realize the picture quality from my Showstopper 2000 and even my ancient Replay 2004 was MUCH better than the 4160.

So now I have the 2004 and Showstopper's hard drives in external removable bays, and removable bays in the PC.

I use the Extract GUI to pull shows off the Showstopper and 2004's hard drives and Womble for the GOP Fixer and to edit commercials.

At this point I *could* start authoring, but I use a few more steps to make the mpegs compatible with a really OLD player I have. I use the Womble demultiplexer to split the m2v and mpa files. Then I fire up the BeSweet GUI to convert the 32000kHz mpa to a 48000Hz wav or ac3 file.

Then when I fire up TMPGEnc DVD Author, I bring in the elementary streams (m2v and either wav or ac3) instead of the mpg file.

I use either TMPGEnc's writing tool or Nero to burn.

[Bargonaut]

It was mentioned above in passing, but the best way to use RTVEdit is with VirtualDub-MPEG2.
http://fcchandler.home.comcast.net/stable/
A freeware, Windows app with frame-accurate timings and fast scrubbing (fast-fwd/rev with the slider).

ReVue is great if you don't need precise edits, but use VDub if you want to find the exact I-frame to cut commercials.
Hold down the shift key while scrubbing, or use the keyframe-left/right buttons to step.

Use these frame times to make your text file for rtvedit, and remember to use the "-t1" switch
so rtvedit knows that you specified frame-times not evt-times.

-BS

[no_nothing]

I'm using the following:
DVArchive to the PC
ReVue to scrub, demux
TMPGEnc for authoring/burning

Quick question: when I record at medium quality, I get no errors and the DVDs play fine. When I record at high quality, the TMPGEnc says the bitrate is too high for a standard DVD and the disks won't play in my standalone DVD player. I notice the maximum bitrate on the video jumps from 7413 to 9800 kbps when I go from medium to high quality. Does anyone have a workaround for this where you can get the improved quality from Replay but still create a standard disk?

[krkaufman]

Question...

Are Womble-trimmed ReplayTV files streamable back to ReplayTV? Or would they need to be re-processed by rtvtools, first, before importing into DVArchive?

[icecow]

Originally posted by krkaufman
Question...

Are Womble-trimmed ReplayTV files streamable back to ReplayTV? Or would they need to be re-processed by rtvtools, first, before importing into DVArchive?

Maybe someone knows first hand that can tell you....

If not, I'm guessing if you edit a raw replay file with womble and save it as the same filename the info in the evt would not match up and create problems therefore you would have to use rtvtools:convert to get it back and make new evt file(s).

I've never used rtvtools to manually remove commercials. If I did manually remove them, would rtvtools create new evt files at that point or do I have to use rtvtools:convert to finish it up?

cow

[krkaufman]

Originally posted by icecow
... I'm guessing if you edit a raw replay file with womble and save it as the same filename the info in the evt would not match up and create problems therefore you would have to use rtvtools:convert to get it back and make new evt file(s). Good point. I'd probably need to, at least, run the file through rtvconvert. (Will keep my eyes peeled for authoritative confirmation from the experts, though.)

Originally posted by icecow
I've never used rtvtools to manually remove commercials. If I did manually remove them, would rtvtools create new evt files at that point or do I have to use rtvtools:convert to finish it up? More accurately, I use rtvtools' rtvedit program to do the commercial stripping, and, yes, it produces new evt/ndx files; however, the evt files "contain no useful information."

(It *would* be nice if the rtvtools toolset were updated to accept special markers for setting scene transitions, allowing for rapid Show|Nav navigation of rtvtools-processed files.)

Also, if you choose to run rtvconvert against the rtvedit-processed file, it will then create a whole new set of RTV 5xxx files (mpg/evt/ndx); as it would when converting a compliant non-RTV MPEG2 file.

[knightfall]

Originally posted by chrisarnold
DVArchive to get the MPEGs
Womble to edit the commercials and make smaller clips
DVLab to author and burn the DVD

Works great for me


I do it the exact same way, my dvds come out flawless. I love the menu tools and chapter tools in dvdlab.

[rtvaddict]

I am obviously not that bright ... but please help me getting a DVD authoring to work.

I downloaded a show from my RTV using DVArchive ... works fine.

Installed Womble, followed the instructions listed in the first posting of this thread to cut out the commercials and saved it in the MPEG2 Program Stream format (default).

I have two dvd burning software on my computer
- Click to DVD that came with my Sony Vaio - It is not able open the saved MPEG file ... saying that it is not in an understandable format.

- Arcsoft Showbiz - It is able to open the file and play it but there is black border on all 4 sides ... well the top part I can understand .. I think the movie was in wide screen format but the two sides ... don't know why they have a significantly large black space.

Please let me know if I am missing something here or if I need to use any of the other tools listed above to fix this.

Thanks in advance.

rtvaddict

[kkoontz]

Last week I was a newbie. Now that I've burned a few "perfect" DVD's and a few coasters, I guess I'm a newbie first class.

The threads in this forum are great. I started knowing very little about DVD and the best article I found was Jim's and they won't let me post his URL here because this is only my second post.

Thanks Jim Barr for his well written article.

A few things have changed since Jim wrote that piece namely - Ulead MF2 and Womble 2.
All I can get is Ulead Movie Factory 3 and Womble 3. I don't know if the earlier versions were better because I never used them.

For my two cents: Womble 3 Rocks and Ulead Movie Factory 3's motion menus are really cool! (but they do seem to take extra time to render). These programs are completely user friendly and customizeable enough for me.

After all, here I am a newbie to DVD burning and my family and I were really impressed with the motion titles and menus.

I hope Jim gets time to review and post for the newest versions of those programs.

Here's my procedure mostly gleaned from these threads:

1) CLEAN YOUR PC. You bet. Either scrub it and load an new Windows 2000 or XP OS or at the very least:

-Uninstall your crap "came with" the DVD programs - except your DVD player.
-Clear your Temp files. Delete everything in them.
-Run scandisk & defrag.
-Stop any unnecessary processes (program applications or processes)

2) Install only the software you need, mixing video codecs from multiple programs is probably unhealthy so start fresh and keep it fresh:

DVArchive - to download (@ medium from RTV)
RTVtools - for optional clean and prep (restreaming to standard DVD format)
Womble 3 - for outstanding editing, remove commercials etc., and fixes when it saves.
(There is a thread somewhere here pointing to a coupon for $50 off Womble 3 good till)
(Jan 31st 2004. Don't walk, run. You have better things to do with your time than )
(editing script files to cut commercials and previews.)
Your Favorite quality DVD authoring software.
Optional DVD Burning software.

3) Follow the posts in this forum.

Here's my procedure for what it's worth:

RTV@Medium > DVArchive > RTVedit & RTVconvert no demux > Womble 3 (MPG Edit) using Jim's reverse cut & paste techniques> Ulead Movie Factory 3 to Title, add Menus & Export to DVD format >

Burn directly to 2X DVD-R Media from Ulead MF3 or
Export DVD compliant files then,
> Use Stomp (Veritas) Record now Max V 4.5 to burn standard DVD files onto Verbatim DVD-R 2x.

It sounds worse than it really is. Start to finish about 1 to 1.5 hours for a 1:45 MPG. That's about double the times I hear reported here (:30 to :45 minutes), probably because I like the motion menus that seem to take extra time to render. Also, I'm burning at 2X not because I want to, but because I havent found any 4X DVD-R media yet.

Extra time is not too important to me, but do overs are the bitch.

I get Great video quality DVD with no sound issues.
I also preview with Womble first and if no problems skip the RTV tools.

One more note, my Sony External DVD came with Veritas Record now Max V 4.6
I believe it would have burned Standard DVD format as Ver 4.6
Hoping to make the most of it I "updated" and it automatically un-installed Ver 4.6 and loaded a Sony version of Sonic MYDVD "lite" that had no capacity to burn DVDs! To add insult to injury, they want you to pay for the update to MYDVD!

Currently there are no updates for Stomp (Veritas original) 4.5.
Stomp 4.5 burns DVD standard files just fine.

If you have the Sony "came with DVD" version of Veritas Record Now Max V 4.6, don't update it and don't toss it. The Stomp (Veritas Original) version has worked great for me so far as an all around DVD and CD burning tool that supports multiple burners with simultaneous burning.

[newRTVuser]

Originally posted by kkoontz
Here's my procedure for what it's worth:

RTV@Medium > DVArchive > RTVedit & RTVconvert no demux > Womble 3 (MPG Edit) using Jim's reverse cut & paste techniques> Ulead Movie Factory 3 to Title, add Menus & Export to DVD format >

I used to go through a similar process but quickly learned that RTVEdit and RTVConvert are not necessary if you're going to use Jim's reverse cut/paste commercial removal technique.

I guess YMMV, but if you haven't tried it, give it a shot.

[Loren Kruse.]

1. Export with DVARCHIE
2. Revue with RTVtools 4.0 - Edit commercials out and save video as DVD compliant.
3. Ulead DVD Movie Factor 3.0 to build and burn DVD.
4. Pop in DVD player

[kkoontz]

I have had audio synch and pixelation and some popping, stuttering on a long mpg. The original image from RTV was fairly "clean".

I ran rtvedit and rtvconvert in an effort to restream to a more "standard" mpg format.

The result was clean with no anomalies.

That experience showed me that sometimes those RTVtools really work for you.

Jim B never said he was against using RTVtools to fix certain issues. In fact he praised them.

As for RTVtools being un-necessary when using with Womble, I don't know. The differences may be in Womble 3 or 2, and I'll wait for more experienced folk to give us the word on that. I noticed Womble 3's GOP utility has several choices, and I don't know whether it still "fixes" when saving like Womble 2 did.

The bottom line seems to be for many that it takes extra time, but it doesn't hurt anything to use the RTVtools, and the result is sometimes definitely better.

[lucindrea]

ok well everyone else is posting their method so here is mine

DVArchive (copy)
Womble no Wizard (edit)
TMPGenc ( demux )
Maestro or Scenartist ( author )
Nero (Burn)

sometimes i may have to resort to dvdshrink if i've gone a little crazy on extras , menus , etc .. but most times the image created by the authoring program is good enuf for 1 dvd ....
of note .. i use the authoring software to creat an IMAGE ... then nero to burn the image , i will not let nero touch the mpegs or menus.

[lucindrea]

Originally posted by rtvaddict

- Arcsoft Showbiz - It is able to open the file and play it but there is black border on all 4 sides ... well the top part I can understand .. I think the movie was in wide screen format but the two sides ... don't know why they have a significantly large black space.

Please let me know if I am missing something here or if I need to use any of the other tools listed above to fix this.

Thanks in advance.

rtvaddict


this sounds alot like a wide screen recording that is in 4:3 format that the authoring program tries to make wide screen ... in other words it's adding bars to bars.

try telling the program that the source is 4:3 and you want it to make 4:3 ( i think it may be trying to make a 16:9 into a 4:3 ) ..... you really need to double check that the authoring program knows what your source is and what it's creating ..

[abreuma]

Great thread. I'm a newbie with a 4504. I'd like to use Nero to burn my DVD but it wants VOB files (and other types) rather than the MPG files I seem to get out of Revue or Womble (which I'm evaluating for 30 days). Seems I'm missing the step that converts from MPG to the files that actually need to be burned and I assume that's the authoring software I still need to acquire, correct?

Another question. I know people like Womble and it looks like good software, but Revue seems to work pretty well at getting the commercials out for me. Does the Revue/RTVtools combo produce the same clean MPG as Womble? I'm looking for other reasons to use Womble besides the fact that it has nice editing features.

[Slack]

Originally posted by jvidalny
DVArchive (copy)
Womble Wizard (edit)
DVDLab (author)
Nero (Burn)

+1

[Slack]

Originally posted by abreuma
it wants VOB files (and other types) rather than the MPG files I seem to get out of Revue or Womble (which I'm evaluating for 30 days). Seems I'm missing the step that converts from MPG to the files that actually need to be burned and I assume that's the authoring software I still need to acquire, correct?



correct

[jbarr]

For me, the goal was to be able to create a decent quality DVD as quickly as possible I found numerous methods, both free and commercial, to do this, and while some took HOURS to process, the following tools significantly shortened the process. Start to finish, once the file is downloaded to the PC, from start of edit to watching the finished DVD on Standalone DVD player is typically under 45 minutes.

My system runs Windows XP Pro on a 3GHz Pentium 4 with 512MB RAM, 2 80GB HDD, and a Sony External DVD burner.

PROCESS:
-Record EVERYTHING at Medium Quality. This ensures decent video quality, excellent audio quality, small file size, and maximum speed and compatibility with the other apps I use. While you CAN record at Standard or High qualities, in almost all cases, some sort of re-rendering will take place significantly increasing the overall processing time.

-Download the show using DVArchive. As mentioned above, this is the "holy grail" for ReplayTV. Without this app (or a couple other similar apps) we would never be able to easily "offload" shows. I'm also working over a wireless network, but mine consists of four bridged Belkin F5D7230-4 802.11G Wireless routers. Speed could be a bit better, but so far it's good enough for me.

-Edit the video using Womble MPEG2VCR: Mark in, Mark out, and "Copy" the portions of the video I want to save to the clipboard. "Paste" the clips (IN REVERSE ORDER) into a new file. "Save" the resulting file to a "processed" directory.

-Open the edited video file in Ulead DVD Movie Factory 3, author a DVD, and burn the DVD to a DVD+R directly from within Ulead DVD Movie Factory 3. I could add chapters, fancy menus, etc. but I typically don't.

NOTES:
-Writing to Hard Disk first
Sometimes, I'll write the file set to hard disk and burn using Nero.

-Oversized videos
If the edited files are too large for a DVD, I'll just write the "oversized" file set to hard disk (Ulead DVD Movie Factory 3 lets you create "oversized" file sets.) I then use Elby's excellent "CloneDVD 2" app to "shrink" the file set to fit on a DVD. I believe you could also use "DVD Shrink" which is freeware.

-Other Tools
The RTVTools, including reVue, etc. are EXCELLENT and free tools--do check them out! Once you get the hang of them, they can be VERY simple to use.

BOTTOM LINE:
Ths important thing is to find a system that works for you. Just about all of the commercial tools are available as fully-working demos, so do try them out to see what works best for you and for your system. And remember that typically, "all-in-one" tools almost always require some sort of compromise, so my "UNIX-like" philosophy is to find and use the best tools for each step of the job.

[jbarr]

I forgot to mention a couple things:

First, thanks for the compliments on my article at my Jim's Tips (http://jimstips.com) site. Unfortunatly, as some pointed out, it isn't up-to-date. With a job change and an out-of-state move, things have been hectic to say the least. I do plan to revise it at some point.

That said, I have not yet used Womble's MPEG Video Wizard tool, though it does seem to be very feature-rich. My understanding is that it does an excellent job on ReplayTV files. I have just stuck with what works for me.

Second, if you are using Womble, there is no need to use the rtvtools to "convert" the file. Simply saving the file in Womble "fixes" the file nicely. Note that I am specifically refering to Medium Quality recordings. Your milage may vary with other recording qualities.

Also, Ulead's DVD Movie Factory 2 and 3 BOTH work well very with ReplayTV files that have been converted with Womble. I'm currently using version 3 and have had no issues at all. The added "motion menus" and other features are nice, wnd they do increase the processing time but not significantly.

Finally, as also mentioned above, by all means, keep your PC clean. My "video PC" is also my "hobby PC", so I inevitably occasionally install something that causes video processing to go flaky. It's my own fault for not keeping things clean, and I sometimes just end up re-formatting and re-installing Windows.

Stick with it, try out the different tools, and most of all, remember that this is a hobby! So don't take it too seriously, and by all means, have fun with it!

[Wrecks]

Does Ulead's DVD Movie Factory version 3 have an option to verify the DVD after it's been written? I've never found an option to do that in version 2, so I write the files to a hard drive and then burn them with a program that WILL verify.

[Petey]

Bump

[nyCecilia]

Hi,

I've tried searching for answers, but no luck. Can someone point to help with Nero VisionExpress 2? (I haven't found anything useful on Nero's site.)

So far, I have transfered video from ReplayTV to my pc using DVArchive (what a great proggie!).

From there, I edited and converted using EvtEdit (so cool!)

Used Vidomi to convert to DivX.

Now I have 4-500mb files that I'd like to put on a DVD. I open Nero VisionExpress 2, load up my files, and I get a message that the video is too large, would I like to convert? If I say No, Nero tells me that I have 14GB of data and that is too much. If I say Yes, Nero says it was unsuccessful in converting. Again, it shows 14GB of data. I swear I only have a little over 2GB of data! My DVD-R should hold 4.7GB?

I tried writing the files as data on the dvd, but can't see the data on the cd when it's done. My pc is a P4 3ghz with Win2000Pro, can't imagine what I'm doing wrong.

This link from Namuna (above) http://www.polarhome.com:793/~afonic/nero.htm doesn't seem to work, but it probably *had* some great info *sigh*

Any ideas? Am I missing something?

TIA!

[esoh]

Authoring Programs

Right now I am using Jim's excellent method to "clean up" the Replay files, but am considering which authoring program to use. I have Nero, so have tried NeroVision Express, but I noticed that it does some transcoding. Not know what a "non-transcoded" file would look like (since I believe Ulead does *not* transcode), am I better off getting Ulead (or something else) or just sticking with NeroVision.

Thanks.

Ed

[ClearToLand]

Originally posted by nyCecilia: ...This link from Namuna (above) http://www.polarhome.com:793/~afonic/nero.htm doesn't seem to work, but it probably *had* some great info *sigh*

The above LINK re-directed me to:

How to burn a DVD-Video Disc with Nero Burning ROM (http://www.dvd-guides.com/guides.php?category=dvdburn&name=nero)

There are also lots of guides and good help forums here:

VCDHelp - The Guide, How To, Tutorial and Article List (http://www.videohelp.com/guides)

[nyCecilia]

Thanks, CleartoLand. I think it's a problem with my installation. Nero completely crashes now every time I try to add a file. I've submitted a trouble report to Nero and hopefully they will get back to me before the end of the year ;-)

Not sure why the link didn't work for me, but in any event, I haven't found a guide that goes from DivX to Nero DVD-Video. They all seem to go to VCD.

[bpratt]

Quick question: when I record at medium quality, I get no errors and the DVDs play fine. When I record at high quality, the TMPGEnc says the bitrate is too high for a standard DVD and the disks won't play in my standalone DVD player. I notice the maximum bitrate on the video jumps from 7413 to 9800 kbps when I go from medium to high quality. Does anyone have a workaround for this where you can get the improved quality from Replay but still create a standard disk?
I record everything at high quality and I also use TMPGEnc DVD Author to burn the DVDs. I just ignore the message from TMPGEnc that indicates the bitrate is too high. I also ignore the message that the output will not fit on a single DVD. If I get this message, I send the output of TMPGEnc to a folder and then use dvdshrink to shrink the file so it will fit on a DVD. I then use TMPGEnc to burn the DVD using the output from dvdshrink. I have not yet found a DVD player that will not play the DVDs created this way.

[Chris White]

You may detect a common theme in my approach:

1. DVArchive (Free) - Transfer program to PC.
2. RTV Tools (Free) - Delete commercials, convert mpg file.
3. Sonic DVD Burner (Free - came with DVD Drive)

If shrinking files to fit is necessary:
4: DVD Shrink (Free)

[Scallica]

Allow me to share my DVD authoring steps.

First and foremost, you need a PC with horsepower. Trying to edit large video files on a slow PC will guarantee frustration. My system consists of an AMD Athlon XP 2500+, 512MB DDR Ram, Dual 10,000rpm WD Raptor drives in SATA RAID 0. Sorry, I went a little crazy...but I like horsepower :cool:

[COLOR=skyblue]Step 1 - DVArchive (Free)[/COLOR] Download the show to your PC using DVArchive. Be sure to power off your RTV before starting the transfer. Also, set the transfer speed to 0 for maximum throughput. http://www.dvarchive.org

[COLOR=skyblue]Step 2 - VideoReDo ($49.99)[/COLOR] An extremely easy to use MPEG-2 editor. Simply mark out all of the commercial segments and generate a new MPEG file. http://www.videoredo.com

[COLOR=skyblue]Alternate Step 2 - ReVue + RTVTools (Free)[/COLOR] Remove the commericals and clean the mpg file using reVue with RTVtools. http://inside.drexel.edu/ksb/revue/

***For some reason, I began having problems with reVue. After marking the commericals, and cutting them out, the timing was off by 26 seconds. According to the developer of reVue, this is an issue with Windows Media Player codecs.

[COLOR=skyblue]Alternate Step 2 - Womble MPEG Video Wizard 2003 ($99, harsh)[/COLOR] This program is very easy to use and works very well.

[COLOR=skyblue]Step 3 - Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2 ($10 on ebay)[/COLOR] After creating commercial free mpg files, you are now ready to create your DVD. This program is also very easy to use and works well. Be sure to download all of the latest patches and updates from Ulead's website.

[COLOR=skyblue]Step 4 - DVD Player [/COLOR] - If the burn process was successful, insert your newly created DVD in the nearest DVD player and enjoy. If the burn process was unsuccessful, insert your newly created DVD under the nearest cold beer (it's a coaster now).

Excluding the time it takes to download shows to the PC, you can create a DVD in less than 1 hour.

Hope this helps!

~Scallica~

[clambert11]

Originally posted by knightfall
I do it the exact same way, my dvds come out flawless. I love the menu tools and chapter tools in dvdlab.

Knightfall,

I tried DVD-lab and seemed to have syncing issues with the MPEG files. It seemed like the audio was behind the video by a fraction of a second. Some people might not be able to tell, but I can. You haven't had this problem? I ended up temporarily going back to TMPGEnc's DVD Author 1.6 until I could work it out.

Overall, I like DVD-lab better when it comes to menu creation. But with the sync issues, I can't use it.

Is there something I might be missing? Does it have to seperate the audio and video streams when you open a file? Perhaps this is where my problem is.

[spydermonkey311]

Originally posted by Namuna

DVarchive:
Invaluable tool for the ReplayTV! Quite possibly the BIGGEST reason I bought the Replay in the first place!...Anyway, I set the download speed to 0 (which means the fastest possible) and get about ~1.8mb/s, VERY nice!

- Namuna [/B]


What setting is this? The only setting I see for downloads is under the Downloads tab. Default when I installed it was "Max. Transfer Speed 375k." It say recommended 300k.

Then underneath, it states "NOTE: Changing these settings can result in erratic operation of your RTV including possible crashing. If you change these values, do so at your own risk."

So do you have it set at 0, which tells it to max out whatever your network can handle? Have you had any ill effects from this? Has anyone?

[chain777]

You can use '0' for max speed *if* the Replay is off, not recording and has no other activity going. It still may crash, but as far as having any long term problems, no. At least I haven't seen any.

If you set the D/L too fast, and have anything else going on with the machine, it will have problems; slow to respond to remote commands, playback problems and probably reboots. It's best to schedule downloads for a time when the Replay will be idle. Otherwise just use the recommended 300k and you shouldn't have problems.

[STL]

Originally posted by no_nothing
I'm using the following:
DVArchive to the PC
ReVue to scrub, demux
TMPGEnc for authoring/burningIs there a trick to get the output from ReVue to work with TMPGEnc? I tried outputing both Cleaned and Demux, but neither will load into TMPGEnc. I always get an error message that says some like, "cannot open or unsupported video type".

[STL]

Originally posted by Scallica
Allow me to share my DVD authoring steps.

***For some reason, I began having problems with reVue. After marking the commericals, and cutting them out, the timing was off by 26 seconds. According to the developer of reVue, this is an issue with Windows Media Player codecs.
Is there any fix for this yet? I am having the same problem.

[dstoffa]

Originally posted by STL
Is there a trick to get the output from ReVue to work with TMPGEnc? I tried outputing both Cleaned and Demux, but neither will load into TMPGEnc. I always get an error message that says some like, "cannot open or unsupported video type".

I use RTVedit to take out commercials from my Replay files. I have to then run the edited file through DVD2AVI v1.76 in order for TMPGEnc to handle them. (But I am making VCDs, so YMMV).

-Doug

[Will Collier]

A cross-platform method:

1. DVA on a PC (WinXP SP2, generic 1.4GHz 'white box').
2. Edit with Womble.
3. Transfer edited file to PowerMac Quicksilver 867 tower, OS X 10.3.x (an external Firewire drive is very handy here).
4. Demux with "demux" a freeware Terminal app (Google for it).
5. Import, author and burn with DVD Studio Pro 3.

Works perfectly every time, including with High quality source MPEGs. Resulting video is indistinguishable from original Replay file.

[STL]

Originally posted by dstoffa
I use RTVedit to take out commercials from my Replay files. I have to then run the edited file through DVD2AVI v1.76 in order for TMPGEnc to handle them.Thanks for the info! I guess all the people that mentioned TMPGEnc forgot to mention that step.

[dstoffa]

Originally posted by STL
Thanks for the info! I guess all the people that mentioned TMPGEnc forgot to mention that step.

Steps for using DVD2AVI:

1. Open edited RTV .mpg file
2. Do nothing.
3. Save Project.

DVD2AVI will create two additional files, a .d2v file, which is the video file for TMPGEnc, and a .mpa file, which is the audio. The .mpa file will have a number in the title, something like:

DELAY -377ms

This is the offset for the audio. There is an advanced tab in TMPGEnc which will allow you to fix the offset. Use the absolute value of the number in the filename (It should be positive).

-Doug

[RFontenot]

If you making VCDs from RTV files, why not use VirtualDub-MPEG2 to remove the commercials and then frameserve directly from VirtualDub to TMPGEnc?

RF

[dstoffa]

Originally posted by RFontenot
If you making VCDs from RTV files, why not use VirtualDub-MPEG2 to remove the commercials and then frameserve directly from VirtualDub to TMPGEnc?

RF

Didn't know about the product.

I thought you still had to run your native RTV mpeg through RTVtools to remove some junk in the file. Since I am usting RTVedit anyway, might as well use it to get rid of the commercials....

-Doug

[RFontenot]

You still need to run the RTV file through rtvedit to remove non-standard stuff from the file. You can also use VDub to help identify at what frames to make your cuts for your .evt file. I think you use the -t1 switch in rtvedit to use the times from VDub.

[dstoffa]

Originally posted by RFontenot
You still need to run the RTV file through rtvedit to remove non-standard stuff from the file. You can also use VDub to help identify at what frames to make your cuts for your .evt file. I think you use the -t1 switch in rtvedit to use the times from VDub.

Well, evtdump generates an rtvedit script, which I can use to edit out commercials. Most of the time, the timestamps in the edit script are good for removing commercials.

-Doug

[Tilandra]

Mine:

1. Replay to DVArchive
2. Edit and burn in Sonic MyDVD

That's it.

Sometimes, if there's a glitch in the recording, I run the show through Ulead Video Studio first. I'll also run it through UVS if I want to make it a widescreen presentation, like with "Enterprise".

I try to run it through as few programs as possible to try and preserve what little quality I can get with my ditzy cable provider.

[BaysideBas]

Originally posted by Tilandra
Mine:

1. Replay to DVArchive
2. Edit and burn in Sonic MyDVD

That's it.

Sometimes, if there's a glitch in the recording, I run the show through Ulead Video Studio first. I'll also run it through UVS if I want to make it a widescreen presentation, like with "Enterprise".

I try to run it through as few programs as possible to try and preserve what little quality I can get with my ditzy cable provider. A little improvement which doesn't affect quality (my previous attempts with the above "short" procedure always resulted in re-encoding by Sonic MyDVD) and is a lot faster than editing in MyDVD:

1. Replay to DVArchive
[COLOR=red]2. Edit in VideoReDo[/COLOR]
3. Create menus and burn in Sonic MyDVD

[spydermonkey311]

I like using DVD-Lab, but it always demuxes the mpg file. Is this true for all DVD author software? Is there any negative effects from doing this?

I also have Ulead DVD Workshop 2. Somewhat slow, but looks nice. Is it just a more feature rich version of Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2 ? If anyone used both, let me know please.

Last, I tried using Nero Vision Express 2. When I import one of my mpeg2 files, its over 2GB. Windows sees it as only about 1.2GB. DVD-LAb also sees it about this size. Anyone know why this is?

[KingFeta]

I wanted to bump this thread since most of the threads related to DVD authoring seem to be old.

Has anyone come up with any better ways using newer software versions? Thanks.

[bromfrog]

I've had great success with this process:

rtvconvert with -d option to clean up and demux
cuttermaran (free!) to edit mpeg file
DVD-Lab to make menus and burn to disk
DVDShrink if needed to fit on disk


One note about Cuttermaran. I have found it to be the best mpeg editor available. Very nice "thumbnail" feature which gives you a screen full of small samples at varying intervals to help jump to a section of your mpeg file.


-rob

[Scallica]

[QUOTE=KingFeta]Has anyone come up with any better ways using newer software versions? Thanks.[/QUOTE]

In my opinion, the easiest method is:

1. DVArchive to download (Free)
2. VideoRedo to edit commercials ($50)
3. ULead DVD Movie Factory 2 to create menus and chapters ($10)

[Bigger D]

I'm new here. I've just read through this whole thread, hoping to see if anyone has begun using Double Layer DVD yet. Does the process change? I just downloaded an update to DVD Movie Factory 3 that claims to support double layer. I am hoping to transfer High Quality recordings of sporting events from my ReplayTV 45xx to double layer DVD and preserve as much detail as possible. Thanks.

[rm -rf *.*]

Don't need to do anything differently in the edit/conversion process to use a DVD9. Your CD/DVD burning s/w will most likely automagically take care of the second layer for you. If it doesn't, try manually flipping the disc over. ;)

[Abini]

I do it the standard method. I've never had a problem with Movie Factory, is there any reason so many folks edit with one program and burn with Nero? I have it, just don't have a use for it. Inputs?

I post my method on my website www.replaytv411.com (http://www.replaytv411.com)

[replayrob]

[QUOTE=Abini]I've never had a problem with Movie Factory, is there any reason so many folks edit with one program and burn with Nero?[/QUOTE]
One reason to use DVD movie factory to author DVD and Nero to burn is that you can burn a finished project with Nero while at the same time authoring your next project with Ulead DVD Movie Factory. If you let DVD Movie Factory do the burning chores, you have to wait till the disk is finalized before you can move on to the next project.
If I only have a single disc to author/burn.... I do let DVD Movie Factory do the burning chores.

What works for me:
DL with DVArchive
Edit with Womble MPegVCR (the original Womble program)
Author/create disc layout with Ulead DVD movie factory
Burn with Nero 6xx

[Abini]

Thank'n You.

[Wrecks]

I have Movie Factory and use it to author, but most of the time I burn with Easy Creator. The reason? Creator will go back and verify the write if you tell it to. Movie Factory doesn't have this concept.

[polson]

[QUOTE=Scallica]In my opinion, the easiest method is:

1. DVArchive to download (Free)
2. VideoRedo to edit commercials ($50)
3. ULead DVD Movie Factory 2 to create menus and chapters ($10)[/QUOTE]

Ditto the above.

After experiencing too many audio sync issues with the DVArchive>ReplayTools>MovieFactory2 combo, I gave the VideoRedo app a run and my problems seemed to be solved. No audio sync issues, it is easy to edit the videos, the commercial detection is as good as the Replay itself and it is fast.