Solved DVD Architect rendering vs other software

Hello Derek and MSZ forum,

I just discovered your Youtube channel this week and its been very helpful with getting set up with DVD Architect. Thank you!

I produce my videos on Final Cut Pro 10 on Mac, FCP does not have the Mpeg2 output settings that I see you demonstrate on your software used in your channel, so I have just been rendering out a Mpeg4 HD files and throwing that into Architect with the Audio file and all seems to be ok.

what I do want to know is... will I be getting the best (as good) results this way or do I really need to convert the file to Mpeg2 in other software before I put it in DVD Architect ?
Are the DVD Architect compressors good and are there any special buttons I should check if I do it this way?

Thanks again for your amazing work

Namaste,

Lj Esquire

Hi Lj

When you import MPEG-4 video into DVD Architect, the program will automatically re-render everything into MPEG-2 format if you are making a DVD.
Remember that DVD only supports Standard Definition 720x480 video, so you will loose a lot of definition compared to the original HD files.
If you want to maintain HD quality levels, you need to make Blu-ray discs instead.

It's OK to let DVD Architect render the files for you, however DVDA can be very slow at doing this.
Most people would not be able to tell the difference between a DVDA rendered video and a video rendered with Vegas Pro or Vegas Movie Studio.
However, if you prepare/render your videos in Vegas before they get into DVDA, they should not have to be re-rendered by DVDA during the disc burning process.

If you want to make DVDs that contain extra long videos (more than 90 minutes), then it is definitely easier and superior to use Vegas to render the video and audio files separately. Using Vegas, you can set Custom Bit Rates in the MPEG-2 encoder, to make the videos "fit to disc". DVDA also has a fit to disc function, however the quality out of Vegas is much better.

Regards
Derek

Hello Derek,

Thanks for your reply man,

My production is 55 minutes so I have room to turn the bit rate up to 9.800 Mbps, would you recommend doing this?

I might look into getting a copy of Vegas down the track.


- Lj Esquire

Ps. checking out your about me section, interesting journey man. Im also born in Australia. Beautiful country and yes the plants are amazing. Acacia and Wattles... thats some powerful stuff! Epic paintings too brother, peace

My production is 55 minutes so I have room to turn the bit rate up to 9.800 Mbps, would you recommend doing this?

If you are talking about the setting inside of the Options/Preferences/Burning, it's best to leave that alone.
If your project is only 55 minutes long, that setting would not effect anything you are doing and is effectively bypassed completely.
Minimum Video Bit Rate is only for when your project exceeds the amount disc space available, and needs to be re-compressed to fit the disc.
If you use my method of re-rendering large projects in Vegas and using Custom Bit Rates, that setting has no impact on your videos.
www.moviestudiozen.com/free-tutorials/dvd-architect-studio-50/493-how-to-compress-a-long-video-onto-a-dvd

My About Me page feels like an old chapter of my life now. I'm ready to start writing a new chapter.
When you go deep into Australia and off the track, there is an incredible variety of flora and fauna you don't ever see in any documentary.
I was lucky enough to visit Uluru and Katajuta 8 years ago, after the first big rain following the drought between 2002 and 2010.
The vibrant carpets of wildflowers against the red sand, were like something out of a fairy tale. A very unique place on this planet.

Cheers