quickest and most efficient way to export for dvd authoring

[jeffhtg]

okay i think ive had my fair share of svcds.. and im ready to move onto the quality and space of dvd..

however;

correct me if im wrong.. but pcs seem to be lacking when it comes to dvd authoring.. without the aid of a hardware based mpg2 encoder - it seems rather time consuming to export my finished piece out of premier or after effects into an avi or dv file type and then have to convert again with tmpeg or another mpeg2 encoder.. is there a way to export directly out of premier to mpeg2 to expidite the dvd authoring process?

is hardware really my only acceptable solution? if so what is the cheapest card out there that will give me real time encoding of mpg2 exporting out of premier and or after effects?

jeff

[holly]

vjPixylight mentions the Radion All-in-Wonder card for mpeg2 encoding in this thread (http://www.vjforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=1063&highlight=DVD). I don't know whether it will allow fast export from the video programs you mention.....

There seem to be many valid ratios for an mpeg2 file. The "standard" is 720x480, but many real-time recorders actually create smaller ratios like 704x480 or smaller. These ratios will probably play in a DVD player, but be sure to check if your DVD authoring program will accept the ratio your hardware encoder creates.

Good Luck!
holly

[elbows]

Im not aware of any reasonably priced Mpeg2 encoding cards. Devices such as the all-in-wonder etc are good for quick capturing, though the quality isnt always pro, and you then have the problem that if you capture in mpeg2 then editing is not so easy.

Even software encoders can be quite expensive but there are quite a few that work as export plugins for Premiere which will save you one step. Even with a really fast PC they usually encode at well below realtime however, but much faster than TMPGEnc.

Heres a few of the better encoders out there, which offer both stand alone (avi import) modes and work as premiere export plugins:

Cincemacraft Encoder:

http://www.cinemacraft.com/eng/ccesp.html (dunno the price but its a lot!)

Canopus Procoder:

http://www.canopus.com/us/products/procoder/pt_procoder.asp ($699)

Theres others by the likes of Ligos, Cleaner 5 etc, but the above 2 give better quality IMHO. Trial versions of most of these are available.

If you are doing a lot of this work then it might be worth looking at a capture/editing hardware solution that can capture in mpeg2 and supports editing, there are a few around but I dont know much about them really, I think maybe the Canopus DVStorm supports this. (look for MPEG2 I-Frame editing or similar)

[jeffhtg]

i cam across the matrox rt.x10 at 499$ which offers real time 'rendering' for previews.. and the pinnacle dv 500 for $449.. im assuming that these use a seperate dsp type system to render low res previews on the fly.. but im wondering if they will do anything for realtime mpg2 output for the final mix..

im also not seeing anything that lists aftereffects.. whats up with that? :(

[LEVLHED]

the new "almost released" ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro ($450) has mpeg2 capture (among other very juicy features) which is hardware assisted....It comes w/ a full version of Pinnacle Studio 8 which I assume lets you edit mpeg2....don't know about realtime VJ use for incoming stream and stuff like that yet cuz mine is still on its way :)


before this I was looking at a (currently discontinued/defunct company) Visiontek Xtacy Everything which was reasonably priced and had rave reviews at vcdhelp.com for its mpeg2 capture...maybe you can still find one of these card...

[jeffhtg]

im not looking for mpeg2 capture.. i import everything thru firewire.. if i had it i'd probably never use it.. im just looking to speed up the editing and output times :)

[elbows]

Originally posted by jeffhtg
i cam across the matrox rt.x10 at 499$ which offers real time 'rendering' for previews.. and the pinnacle dv 500 for $449.. im assuming that these use a seperate dsp type system to render low res previews on the fly.. but im wondering if they will do anything for realtime mpg2 output for the final mix..

im also not seeing anything that lists aftereffects.. whats up with that? :(

I need to go talk to some video editing people cos Im a bit out of date, but I have the Matrox RT2000 which is a predecessor of the RT X100 or whatever its called. That range of cards captures either firewire or analogue signal to either DV or MPEG2 format. The realtime rendering is in fact at full res full quality, and basically allows a variety of editing effects etc to happen in realtime, itss the only good reason for buying that card, especially if you dont need analogue capture.

Anyway, the main complication is that there is more than 1 type of MPEG 2. The sort you need for DVD authoring is MPEG2 I-Frame, which things like Premiere cannot edit easily (long story). So even if you got one of those cards and captured in MPEG2, you would still need to export from Premiere which would take time. You could capture in MPEG2 I-Frame, but then you cannot edit it properly.

But I read that some products supported MPEG-2 Iframe editing, so if you got one of them you would capture through firewire straight into MPEG2-I Frame, and exporting from that would be quick. Not sure if the product uses Premiere or some otehr editor though, I'll check. Ive also found that the quality of some software encoders is better than anything you could get with reasonably priced capture hardware anyway.

If I were you and I only wanted to capture from firewire, Id get the procoder software and use it to export from the Premiere timeline.

The only other way I can think of would be expensive and would involve getting a stand alone dvd recorder which has both analogue and firewire inputs and can record to DVD at the same time as encoding to MPEG 2. Premiere 6.5 supports realtime firewire output, so you could jut play the timeline through firewire into the recorder.Bit of a silly way of doing things and rather expensive, but fast.

As to your question about after effects, im not sure exactly what you mean.what you want it to do. I recall that the Matrox RT2000 eventually ended up with the facility to output the preview window in after effects out of the hardware for realtime preview on a video monitor, but I dont see hw such functionality would help. If you are meaning that you hoped the hardware wouls somehow speed up after effects rendering times then no, and I dont know what hardware could help that other than upgrading the CPU etc in your PC.

[sleepytom]

canopus amber is the semi pro card for this - allowing realtime capture to dv and mpeg and mpeg output from timeline in > realtime - its very good quality mpeging too but then it should be give how much it costs

dunno what your on about ***** - 800x600 ?? when was that ever a standard video size? DVD is 720x576 D1 - same as dv it just uses a diffrent compression (mpeg2 rather than dv) if your making video on a computer you should go directly to mpeg2 as the dv to mpeg conversion tends to mash the files and can look pretty rubbish

after effects dosen't seem to have an mpeg export plugin - but you can allways render uncompressed and then convert to mpeg2 - slow but then after effects rendering allways seems to be slow

[elbows]

That Amber does look very interesting, shame it costs around $2000. Still it cost $3299 when it first came out so theres been some progress!

Id certainly love to see what the quality from it is like.

By the way, I have a feeling I was mixing up my terminology earlier, I get quite confused by I-Frame type descriptions sometimes. I think I meant IBP frames which is the proper DVD Mpeg2 spec, I-Frames on their own are the non-DVD compliant stuff that needs further encoding (I think)

Im off to see if theres any cheaper alternatives to Amber.

[LEVLHED]

Vegas Video has their Main Concept MPEG1 and MPEG 2 plugins that will let you render out to the respective formats complete with templates for DVD/VCD/etc..of course you can edit the files too, but it requires one to re-encode...

[skitz]

***** if you need to try anything, give me a shout in a few weeks time.

i'm working as a video editor/graphic designer on my placement year (for my degree in visual communication at UUB). i work in premiere and have a pinnacle dv500 (which has a hardware mpeg2 encoder).

i've just ordered a dvd burner and plan on making a stack of my own dvds, but i'd be happy to do some stuff for you (or just let you at the gear to try stuff out) in exchange for some of your hard earned wisdom :) even if it meant following you about on 1 or 2 local gigs. i'm sure i could be useful for something.

i'm in glengormley, by the way.