Author Topic: What is best program to create a DVD from any video file? (Read 165,649 times)

MilesAhead · « **Reply #100 on:** October 25, 2009, 08:15 PM »

sajman99 · « **Reply #101 on:** October 25, 2009, 09:26 PM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on October 25, 2009, 08:15 PM

AVStoDVD updated.

Cripes, both hank315 (HC encoder developer) and MrC (AVStoDVD developer) seem to have kicked it into high gear lately. Usually many months go by without any updates whatsoever, but now we have multiple updates in just the last couple months. Many thanks to these incredible guys! Only problem is I need more spare time to keep up.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #102 on:** October 25, 2009, 11:40 PM »

Talking about keeping up.. I have a lot of reading to do. I don't know what most of the settings on these things really are. I just read up on bias so now I get what you mentioned about the high bias setting. I'm doing a conversion with HC 2 pass with a bit rate @8500 and the bias is 80. It will be interesting to see how it looks compared to QuEnc one pass high quality CBR.

I wish Philips would get off the dime and come out with a cheap player that plays mkv and other formats with higher than PAL resolution. Kind of silly to size the things down just to upconvert when playing. With my setup it's too much hassle to wire directly from a PC to the HDTV. For the time being I'm stuck with a player connected to TV.

sajman99 · « **Reply #103 on:** October 26, 2009, 01:57 AM »

MilesAhead, you likely already know this but I'll mention it anyways-- there is a HC .pdf in the HC miscellaneous sub-folder (though apparently not with the Oct. HC?) which provides info regarding parameters like bias, lumgain, adaptive quantization, etc.

From a logical point of view, I don't get why I should use a high bias value (say greater than 50) when performing a VBR encode.

I think the free version of DVD-RB uses a value of 20--seems more logical to me. I searched a while back and saw iirc where jdobbs (DVD-RB developer) recommended a bias value of 20.

FYI when I remarked earlier about my "seriously screwy results" with the September HC 024, I was referring to something I'd never seen before--on the 2nd pass HC was dropping bitrate like crazy (15-20% less than the 1st pass) rendering significant undersizing. I'd never seen more than a 1-2% variation between passes before, so something? was very clearly wrong. My guess is that my experience was related to the new "deadzone quantization" parameter which is now adaptive with Oct. HC, but until I have time to run multiple trials that's all it is-- a guess.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #104 on:** October 26, 2009, 02:04 AM »

I see. Thanks for the clarification.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #105 on:** October 26, 2009, 11:38 PM »

btw I did a conversion yesterday that had the said bias of 80. The source was an .mkv of an HDTV program. The duration was about 50 or 55 minutes. I converted to DVD with AVStoDVD and latest HC 2 pass. The output DVD was about 3 and a half gigs. I tell you though, when I played it upconverted to 1080i I think it was the cleanest video I ever saw on my TV.

This one scene 2 people are talking on a country road with trees and grass and it was almost like a 3D effect. You could really see separation between the actors and the background almost like you could pick them off the screen. Of course I haven't seen any Blu-Ray on my TV. But for what I'm doing that is sure nice lookin' video.

sajman99 · « **Reply #106 on:** October 26, 2009, 11:59 PM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on October 26, 2009, 11:38 PM

...I think it was the cleanest video I ever saw on my TV...

Good to hear. Are you still experimenting with QuEnc or are you "sold" on HC at this point?

btw- Did you see at Doom9 where AVStoDVD developer MrC stated that HCenc is usually faster than QuEnc in multicore systems? As I noted earlier, I haven't tested QuEnc at all--but I was surprised at that comment. For some time the rap on HC has been its slow encoding speed, but I'm not at all sure if that's the case today.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #107 on:** October 27, 2009, 08:37 PM »

AVStoDVD launches only one instance. I don't think QuEnc has the multi-threading down yet. HC definitely has multi-threading with single instance.

In FAVC running multiple instances at similar quality and passes they are likely not that far apart. More and more it looks like HC is the converter of choice for Windows free video converters..

QuEnc was good to blow something out in pretty good quality in a hurry esp. using FAVC with multiple instances. But esp. where FAVC is no longer being developed I think HC will eclipse it unless something new happens with a QuEnc release. Even the 0.75 alpha came out in 2007 IIRC. I don't know if anything is happening with it these days.

edit: hmm, sounds like a horse race or a run for political office. I have no insider info so SEC don't call me.

sajman99 · « **Reply #108 on:** November 06, 2009, 01:34 AM »

HCbatchGUI has been updated with October HCenc 0.24. On its home page the developer provides a link to a portable install which reads settings from HCbatchGUI.ini. In the advanced UI mode you can change pretty much any setting-- a tweaker's paradise.

The big question is how it compares to more well-known HC tools like FAVC and AVStoDVD. Anybody use HCbatchGUI before and care to comment on the quality of its output?

mkug12 · « **Reply #109 on:** January 14, 2010, 03:54 AM »

I like DVD Architect by Sony.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #110 on:** January 14, 2010, 10:06 PM »

Quote from: sajman99 on November 06, 2009, 01:34 AM

Anybody use HCbatchGUI before and care to comment on the quality of its output?

I tried a couple of runs with it but it just felt like it was too easy to miss a setting and start the thing going. I seem to have an easier time remembering how to set the options with AVStoDVD. Plus the help gives some hints on which sizer to use. One thing I recently realized with AVStoDVD when converting HD source down to DVD, the fps processing isn't that much slower on my dual core than my quad core. I can do the job on the dual core which runs much quieter when the cores are maxed out, and it only costs me about another hour for the conversion. Going from avi to dvd the quad core is much faster esp. when using multiple instances of the video converter. But downsizing is so slow that the percentage difference only gets you a few frames per second. It's more convenient just to put the job on the quiet machine and forget about it for a few hours.

sajman99 · « **Reply #111 on:** January 14, 2010, 10:41 PM »

I would agree AVStoDVD provides a smoother overall experience than HCbatchGUI. While its nice to have the opportunity to change any setting (in the advanced GUI of HCbatchGUI), its also nice to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. HCbatchGUI reminds me of years ago when I used Gordian Knot (long before AutoGK emerged) to convert to DivX--settings galore!

Also, both AVStoDVD and the HC encoder have been updated more frequently in recent months.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #112 on:** January 15, 2010, 05:28 AM »

What I'd like to find now is a gui that will run tsMuxer jobs in batch. tsMuxerGui is fine but it gets tedious doing the same drag & drop operation 10 or 15 times when all the params are the same. Outfile is sourcefile with different extension etc..

Or a folder mode like Popcorn MKV audio converter has would be nice.

mouser · « **Reply #113 on:** March 07, 2010, 07:12 PM »

Thanks CWuestefeld and Shades for the recommendation of DeVeDe, it was simple to use and got the job done for me.

Curt · « **Reply #114 on:** March 09, 2010, 06:48 AM »

Quote from: mouser on March 07, 2010, 07:12 PM

...DeVeDe, it was simple to use and got the job done for me.

Does it (still) need Imgburn ?

Quote from: DeVeDe

Install imgburn and it will use this instead for creating the iso which should fix some problems people are having (including me).

Innuendo · « **Reply #115 on:** March 09, 2010, 02:20 PM »

Quote from: Curt on March 09, 2010, 06:48 AM

Does it (still) need Imgburn ?

ImgBurn should be included on every Windows installation disc & installed by default with the OS.

mouser · « **Reply #116 on:** March 09, 2010, 09:53 PM »

I agree with Innuendo's sentiments -- ImgBurn is a great burning tool, so i see it as only a good thing if DeVeDe uses that instead of re-implementing the wheel.

Innuendo · « **Reply #117 on:** March 10, 2010, 03:12 PM »

Quote from: mouser on March 09, 2010, 09:53 PM

I agree with Innuendo's sentiments -- ImgBurn is a great burning tool, so i see it as only a good thing if DeVeDe uses that instead of re-implementing the wheel.

I just can't resist singing the man's praises some more. The guy originally came out with DVD Decrypter which was pure, unadulterated genius. When "The Man" got him down & made him cease & desist all development on that program he didn't let that discourage him from coming back from that & writing one of the most capable burning programs in existence today.

I've got nothing but respect for Mr. Lightning UK!.

MerleOne · « **Reply #118 on:** March 10, 2010, 04:38 PM »

Imgburn is indeed a great tool, but I'd like to know why, in some cases, when burning an iso file, it takes up to 10 minutes in the "creating threads" phase before starting to burn anything (XP Home SP2).

cmpm · « **Reply #119 on:** March 10, 2010, 04:49 PM »

You might want to check out BurnAware.
It works well with as the free one, or spring for the pro for $40.

http://www.burnaware.com/burnaware_free.html

MilesAhead · « **Reply #120 on:** March 10, 2010, 09:09 PM »

Quote from: MerleOne on March 10, 2010, 04:38 PM

Imgburn is indeed a great tool, but I'd like to know why, in some cases, when burning an iso file, it takes up to 10 minutes in the "creating threads" phase before starting to burn anything (XP Home SP2).

I've never seen that. Do you have "Lock Volume Exclusive Access" checked in
Tools=>Settings=>Write (It's in the cluster of settings on the left hand side.)

Sometimes if you have other burning software it will try to mess with the optical drive even when you aren't running it. If that option is checked, Imgburn should pop up an error dialog if another app is trying to access the drive also.

Other than that, problems I've had with Imgburn I could usually get around by trying a different version. I had some issues with 2.4 and stayed with 2.3.2.0 until 2.5 came out. Then it seemed to work fine with my drives.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/ImgBurn/old-versions#download

Innuendo · « **Reply #121 on:** March 11, 2010, 12:04 AM »

Quote from: MerleOne on March 10, 2010, 04:38 PM

Imgburn is indeed a great tool, but I'd like to know why, in some cases, when burning an iso file, it takes up to 10 minutes in the "creating threads" phase before starting to burn anything (XP Home SP2).

I've never seen that & I've used every version of ImgBurn with XP, then Vista, and now Win7.

sajman99 · « **Reply #122 on:** March 11, 2010, 01:43 AM »

In addition to Lightning UK's technical genius, he apparently has a sense of humor which is reflected by the funny/weird sayings displayed in ImgBurn.

ATM I'm seeing the words "You fool, you gave cheese to a lactose intolerant volcano god!"

Gotta love it!

Innuendo · « **Reply #123 on:** March 11, 2010, 03:09 AM »

Quote from: sajman99 on March 11, 2010, 01:43 AM

ATM I'm seeing the words "You fool, you gave cheese to a lactose intolerant volcano god!" Gotta love it!

Which, of course, is a quote from one of the most-loved video games of all time.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #124 on:** March 11, 2010, 03:39 AM »

Quote from: sajman99 on January 14, 2010, 10:41 PM

I would agree AVStoDVD provides a smoother overall experience than HCbatchGUI.

You know the more I use AVStoDVD, the more I find I'm going with the defaults. When the space is totally filled in a DVD9 then 8500 kbit high quality one pass with QuEnc looks pretty good. I mean, you can't go over 9000 anyway, so how much room is there to maneuver? Maybe people demanding the max quality would make changes but it seems like the result is consistently good when going from a high bitrate/resolution source to standard DVD9.

The only change I made other than selecting spline16 resizer when downsizing resolution was to the SubtitleCreator settings. I think the default fonts are just way too large. I chopped 'em down a tad. Other than that I'm just going with it out of the box.. other than substituting the latest HC beta executable that is.