Burning video DVDs

[Komataguri]

To much hastle for my taste.

I just burn my anime as Data DVDs.

I fit.. about 24-5 or so episodes per disk, and no worrying about encoding and what not




This is especially not a problem if you, say, set up a small PC in your living room to act as your media center, that way you can use your Wifi keyboard and TV out to play the regular data type video files

[Spar-Q]

Originally Posted by Komataguri

To much hastle for my taste.

I just burn my anime as Data DVDs.

I fit.. about 24-5 or so episodes per disk, and no worrying about encoding and what not

This is especially not a problem if you, say, set up a small PC in your living room to act as your media center, that way you can use your Wifi keyboard and TV out to play the regular data type video files

I used to burn stuff as data DVDs too.. works fine, but only in a computer that has a dvd-rom. Plus, some episodes are 233mb, so I can only fit 18 on a disc, and the spill has to go onto another disc.. I hate having uneven stuff like that. This way, I can do a 24 episode series on 3 discs with 8 a piece, or a 26 series with 9-9-8... Plus, they have the added bonus of working in any standard DVD player... no need to lug around my computer (even though it IS a laptop)

[Hyori]

ok ill try this

[cabbit]

"I used to burn stuff as data DVDs too.. works fine, but only in a computer that has a dvd-rom."


Ok... So you're burning this as a video DVD? It still requires a dvd drive! :P

Anyways, you might want to look into a divx player. It plays most standard videos you can throw at it. I haven't tried ogg or mkv files yet so I dont' know if they'll work.

Plus, they are dirt cheap these days. I bought a Lite-on one earlier this year and it was about $120 shipped to me. Should be even cheaper now, plus they got networkable models now.

[Spar-Q]

Originally Posted by cabbit

"I used to burn stuff as data DVDs too.. works fine, but only in a computer that has a dvd-rom."

Ok... So you're burning this as a video DVD? It still requires a dvd drive! :P

Yeah, but the idea is, it will also work on a standalone DVD player on any home entertainment system.. this way one does not require a computer capable of reading DVDs to play the files.

[Hyori]

Originally Posted by KeinikuSuki

Such kind words.

Anyway, I could tell you how to work around the VirtualDub Error, but that'd just lead back to that guide, which (at least to me) is super confusing.

ABSTRACT:
In this episode, we will explore how VBR (variable bit rate) MP3 encoding is the bane of our existance. Second we will be converting an MPEG-4 .avi file to DVD compliant MPEG-2 using TMPGEnc. I'll be using Soldat's Monster Episode 15.

PREOP:
1. Download and Unzip VirtualDubMod.
2. Download and Install TMPGEnc Trial (it lasts for 30 days).
3. Download and Install GSpot Codec Information Appliance.

OPERATION:

VBR Audio:
Many fan sub groups use VBR audio. It saves (a little) filespace, and it keeps people like us from screwing with their distributions. Some files are encoded using CBR (constant bit rate) audio. In this case, you can skip the exportation of the wav file in VirtualDubMod, or you can just do it every time.

1. Open the video file in VirtualDubMod.
2. If you see a warning message like this:

you have variable bit rate audio. Click YES. (Ironically, while writting this guide, I clicked no. This left me fumbling around for an hour wondering what the hell was wrong!)
3. Export the wav file.
a) Choose "Stream List" from the Streams menu.
b) Right click the audio stream and select "Full Processing Mode"
c) Click "Save Wave".
d) Select a desirable location for the wave file.

4. This will take a few seconds, once it is complete, exit VirtualDubMod.

TMPGEnc:
Let's take a few seconds to learn about Aspect Ratios:

In fan subs, you generally get two types. 640 x 480 or 640 x 360. There are others I'm sure, but that is beyond the scope of this guide. When we get down to encoding the MPEG-2, this ratio will be very important since DVD compiant MPEGs only come in 720x480 (and 352x480). No matter what your source comes in, it will be encoded to fit 720x480. Then an aspect ratio is applied. This aspect ratio tells your DVD player how to stretch the video to make it look right. In the case of Samurai 7, the file would be stretched 1.78 times left to right.

If you aren't up on your math skills, the GSpot Codec Information Appliance will tell you everything you've ever wanted to know about an .avi file. Let's take a look:

This handy program tells us the Resolution (640x480), the Aspect Ratio (4:3), the FPS (23.976), and the Audio Bitrate (124kb/s). These are all things you'll need for later.

Start up TMPGEnc!
1. Start the Project Wizard if it hasnt already started by pressing Ctrl+W.
2. Here's what it should look like. (I'll assume you live in Japan or the United States of America) If you live in Europe or ... other places that use PAL, you'll need to substitute PAL for all NTSC settings Im using here!

3. Under the DVD templates, choose the appropriate one for the aspect ratio of your video.
4. Next, choose "VBR MPEG-1 Layer II Audio (MP2)". This will choose lower quality audio (but you already have pretty poor quality audio on the fan sub so dont worry) and multi-pass encoding for better quality.
5. Click Next.
6. Here on the next page of the Wizard, We'll be configuring the source:

7. The original .avi file goes in the top blank.
8. The .wav file we just saved earlier goes in the second blank.
9. Finally, for almost all fansubs, choose "Video Movie". This locks the source to 29.97 fps which most DVD burning programs (Adobe EncoreDVD, Sonic MyDVD) like. If yours like 23.976 fps, choose Film Movie.
10. Hit Next.
11. The next page has more setting which are beyond the scope of this guide, let's move right alone, clicking Next.
12. Here in the next page, we will be configuring the quality of the MPEG-2 file.

Obviously, the smaller the file, the more episodes you can fit on one disk; but at the same time, you are sacrificing quality.
13. First off, change the Audio Bitrate. (Rember from before) The audio bitrate was 126 kb/s; so having the default 384 kb/s is just a waste. Match the audio rate of the original to the closest choice from the drop down menu.
14. Secondly, you can drag the blue bar from left to right. As you can see from the picture, dragging to the left makes a smaller file, and dragging to the right makes a higher quality file. You may choose any average bitrate between 4000 and 8000 kb/s.
15. Click Next.
16. The final page in the wizard will ask you for a location to save the encoded file.
17. When you're ready to begin, click the next button.

This process (depending on your system) will take anywhere from 1 hour and 15 minutes to 3 hours. To ensure you're getting the fastest encode time, be sure the Preview option is disabled.

And there you have it, once it's done encoding, you'll have a DVD compliant MPEG-2 file. I'm sure even Nero can't turn down that.

I'm sure you're thinking: "THIS TAKES WAY TOO LONG!" Well, it does take a long time, but you can set up batch encoding. Or if you dont mind a loss of quality, you can do a single pass encode. If you really want them, Ill be happy to post a guide.

This guide only required 144kb for picture, beat that! Sorry 56ker's!

Enjoy!
It's sad, I think I accidently listened to the 1 minute 23 second clip of 流星 by TiA at the end of Naruto 197 times while writting this guide. It was a mistake I swear!

ok i did that after about 3 hours its done now and when i try to watch it , it says error request codec or somethin and it just plays without the video but i can hear the sound, should it be doing that??

[KeinikuSuki]

Originally Posted by Hyori

ok i did that after about 3 hours its done now and when i try to watch it , it says error request codec or somethin and it just plays without the video but i can hear the sound, should it be doing that??

Maybe next time you should not quote an entire guide.

Anyway, you may be missing an MPEG-2 Codec somehow.

Uninstall any codec packs you may have.
Download and install ffdshow.

[Hyori]

^ hmm ok after i do that, do i have to redo the whole video again?? Cuz that took sooo long

[_Sin_]

No, it's for the playback only although I don't get how you can encode with a given codec but are not able to decode it with the same codec...

[Hyori]

no idea but i installed that ffdshow codec and it still doesnt work

[_Sin_]

Originally Posted by Hyori

no idea but i installed that ffdshow codec and it still doesnt work

Then Gspot the file (link's above in KS's guide) and tell us which codec it's encoded with.

[Hyori]

i found a codec pack called moonlight enlarge or somethin and installed it and now i can watch it ^__^

[_Sin_]

Originally Posted by Hyori

i found a codec pack called moonlight enlarge or somethin and installed it and now i can watch it ^__^

I hope you don't get into trouble later on since Codec Packs are not that good of a choice. But as long as you can playback all of your media files, it's OK I guess

[Hyori]

ok so now i can make the videos, but how do i make the menus for the DVD?

[satsuke]

I wouldn't recommend it, but I've been able to get 26 episodes of a show on 1 single layer dvd with tmpgenc registered.

Obviously quality is compromised, but it works for english shows where the source is off air / low quality.

Settings are / were

1000 kbps, 128 bk audio 352/240 video resolutions.

It depends on a compatible dvd player, for whatever reason my first gen sony dvp-530D plays weird bitrate / resolution things beautifully.

Not for the faint of heart, or eyes

better luck is 13 eps with double video rate.

[Hyori]

the way im doin it, i can only get about 4 episodes on a DVD to watch on my DVD because the video converts to about 1 gig

[KeinikuSuki]

Originally Posted by Hyori

the way im doin it, i can only get about 4 episodes on a DVD to watch on my DVD because the video converts to about 1 gig

You can get them much smaller than that without quality loss. Remember to turn down the audio bitrate and slide the blue bar over to the left.

[Hyori]

Originally Posted by KeinikuSuki

You can get them much smaller than that without quality loss. Remember to turn down the audio bitrate and slide the blue bar over to the left.

i turned it down to 128 bitrate audio, and i slided the blue til it was 700 MB, and the average video bitratte was 4096 and when i played the video it worked fine til this one part of naruto episode 3 where the colour kinda messed up for like 1 second, and it messes up the sound to make it a bit faster then the video, it did the colour mess up when i watched it divx but the video/audio still kept perfectly fine =\

[Spar-Q]

I found that if I encode the episode at a VBR of 2300kbps, I can get 9 episodes on a disc.. The quality is not as good as the divx, but it's quite acceptable.. Only downside is it takes well over 6 hours per episode to encode using my computer...

[chris]

Do what i do just use nerovision express, its such a more simpler prosess and it turns out fine for me, (im not shure about the cropping of subs tho i only burnt 1 dvd and the avi's where already in wideschreen) but im able to teanscode everything easy, Just make shure if you use nerovision express that you create chapters else your other avi's wont show up. ill post a guide when/if i have time you may want to invest in nero 6 tho and nerovision