A lot of people get into computer-based
video editing because they like the idea of converting all their
big bulky video tapes into DVDs. Maybe you have boxes of old VHS
tapes that you want to preserve or 8mm family videos. I'll be
writing mainly about video conversion here. If you have old film
you want to convert to DVD then take a look at our
blog for some ideas.
The basic process
A DVD Video is basically a digital
storage format that holds compressed video, audio and menu information.
Specifically, the video is digitally compressed in a MPEG-2 format,
with specific size and datarate parameters that determine how
much video can fit on the disk and the quality of the video. The
menu structure determines how you can navigate around different
video files on the DVD disk itself. Our old videos are stored
on tapes in a linear fashion, which means the only way to view
different parts of a video is by fast-forwarding or rewinding.
The length of the video is determined by the length of recorded
tape. The information is written to tape in an analog format with
the quality of the video being determined by the format specifications
and tape speed (remember SP/LP/SLP: More video on the tape meant
less quality). So, in order to make a DVD from our video the typical
process consist of:
1. Convert our analog tapes
to a digital format.
2. Edit video, add effects, titles, audio, etc.
3. Convert the digital video to MPEG-2 format.
4. Author, or create, the DVD structure including menus.
5. Burn the DVD In many cases some of these steps are combined
depending on the hardware you have available and your need to
be creative.
Do you really need a computer
to do this?
When dealing with computers
people sometimes make things harder than they should be. Sometimes,
you don't even need a computer. For example, let's say you have
a few DVDs and all you want to do is convert them to DVD in their
entirety. You don't want to edit and you don't care about menus.
The easiest solution here is to use a stand-alone set-top DVD
recorder. These are appliance type devices that allow you to just
hit the record button and have a DVD. The main disadvantage of
these type devices is that your recorded DVD might not be playable
on other DVD players. A good resource for finding compatibility
information on specific DVD recorders is www.videohelp.com.
Of course you need a computer!
Most people will not be satisfied
with just converting cherished memories to a DVD without any extra
input. Maybe you need to edit out some embarassing moments, or
add an audio commentary to your last trip to DisneyLand. Maybe
you're a quality freak and will stand for nothing less than hollywood
quality video on the DVD. Maybe you want to incorporate a picture
slideshow or some "easter eggs" on the DVD If any of
these reasons are applicable to you then you will want to use
a computer system to help you with your video-to-dvd conversions.
Using a computer with the right software and hardware will allow
you to have creative control of your DVD making. Whether you are
using a Windows-based PC or an Apple Macintosh system, most modern
computers may already come with some or all of the equipment you
need to make DVDs.
Step One - Convert you analog
tapes to digital video
The very first thing that you
will need to make sure you have is a player for your old video
tapes. Since your old videos are an analog format we need to find
a way to convert that into a digital signal that the computer
can understand. Most computers can accept digital signals through
a 1394/FireWire port or a USB port. 1394/FireWire is the standard
for the native DV video format and is preferred by most video
software applications. On the computer you will need some kind
of capturing software. You will also need some kind of hardware
that will perform the actual analog-to-digital conversion. There
are various types of hardware solutions each with their own benefits.
A. Camcorder/VCR - Depending on the type of video that
you have there may be a player that can convert your video directly
to DV format during playback. The most popular would be the Sony
Digital-8 camcorders. These camcorders can playback any 8mm or
HI-8 video tapes and output the video as DV over their iLink/1394
port. There are also some VCR/DVD player combos that have a 1394/FireWire
port on them that will convert VHS tapes to DV. If you are only
dealing with one type of video tape then these devices may provide
the easiest method of conversion.
B. Analog-to-Digital Converter - Using a dedicated converter box gives
you a lot of flexibility and allows you to use your hardware with
different computers too. The most popular converters are made
by Canopus
(ADVC
units) and DataVideo
(DAC units).
The various different models offered by these two manufacturers
work the same way, with a 1394/FireWire connection to the computer
and analog ports that connect to your player. Most of these units
also have outputs that can be used to preview the digital video
in your computer back to a TV/monitor. These converters turn the
analog input into a DV25 standard signal and are treated by the
computer as if they were a DV camcorder. Depending on the particular
model you choose there may be specific features like component
inputs, digital filtering, Time-base correction, and more. Other
popular converters are those made by ADS
and Pinnacle.
These converters are typically lower-priced and bundled with software.
They are great for the entry level person who doesn't need a lot
of extra features and wants an easy-to-use bundled package. Many
of these converters will connect to the computer via the USB port
and will convert the analog video signal directly into the MPEG-2
format.
C. Video Display Card - Some computer video cards have an
extra feature known as VIVO (Video In/Video Out) that can be used
to capture video into your computer digitally. These video cards
are very popular in systems with Windows Media Center. Many of
these cards will come with a breakout box or cables for I/O. Audio
is usually ran through the sound card separately and quality is
not typically very high and is determined in large part by the
software. Most video editing application will not recognize the
inputs from these videocards.
D. Video Capture Card - A dedicated video
capture card is the most popular method of converting analog
video into digital. A capture card is usually bundled with a specific
video editing application and offers both video capturing capabilities
as well as video output capabilities during editing. Most video
capture cards install inside of your computer
and in many cases a dedicated
video editing workstation is recommended for best performance.
A video capture card can be very simple with only video inputs
and outputs, or may offer other benefits such as realtime video
processing and effects capabilities. The most popular video capture
cards that we carry are from Matrox
and Canopus
at the mid-range, but we also carry less-expensive capture cards
from Osprey,
ADS,
Pinnacle
and others. At the high-end professional level we offer cards
by Blackmagic
and BlueFish.
In-between the analog-to-digital
converters and the video capture cards are the dedicated external
converters that only work with specific editing applications.
I'm thinking mainly of the Avid
Mojo and the Avid
Liquid Pro hardware. Both of these solutions are hardware
converter boxes that connect up to the computer externally. The
MOJO connects via 1394/FireWire and the Liquid Pro box connects
via USB2. While they are externally connected hardware peripherals
like most of the Analog-to-digital converters they only work with
their own editing software and, in that respect, function more
like a capture card.
Step Two - Capture and Edit
video Step
Now that you have the hardware
to connect between your computer and and your video tapes, you'll
actually need to use the computer to record the video to the hard
drive. This process is called capturing or digitizing. Most applications
have a capture window that you will use that lets you choose the
video input, the drive that you want the video recorded to, and
maybe even the format. Some applications have more options like
color correction and scene detection.
Once your video is recorded
to your computers hard drive you can now use your editing application
to manipulate the video. During the editing step you will cut
out bad footage, add effects and titles, add music and audio,
and more. Most editing applications use either a timeline or storyboard
to perform edits. The most popular editing applications (in no
particular order) are Adobe
Premiere, Canopus
Edius, Avid
Liquid, Avid
Xpress, Pinnacle
Studio, and Ulead.
There are many other applications available and many come bundled
with hardware.
Step Three - Preparing your
Assets
After you have edited your movie
from your old analog video tapes, it's time to prepare the finished
video for DVD production. Preparing your assets means to get all
of the media ready for your DVD. The biggest part of this is usually
converting your video from your video editing application into
a single MPEG-2 file. Assuming that you've been working in a high-quality
DV editing format during editing, the final quality of your DVD
will be determined by the converting process. Things you should
know:
A. Why does my video need
converted to MPEG-2?
- A DVD disk only holds a certain amount of information. A typical
DVD-R will hold 4.7GB and a dual-layer disk will hold about twice
that amount. Standard DV video used by most editing applications
takes up 13GB/hr which means you could only hold about 20 minutes
of DV video on a standard DVD-R. The other consideration is that
the standard DVD video player can only read data at a max of 9.4MB/sec
including video and audio. So in order to fit more video on a
DVD it needs to be compressed. MPEG-2 compression is the standard
format used to fit video on a DVD.
B. Encoding determines the
video quality - Your
encoded MPEG-2 video will never look better than your source video.
Using too much compression can make your final video look much
worse than the original. A good rule of thumb is to use the least
amount of compression possible while staying under the maximum
9.4MB datarate. The amount of compression to use will be determined
by the length of your video and the size of your DVD. Some DVD
authoring and video editing applications have tools to help you
know the right compression settings. You can also find MPEG bitrate
calculators like the one on our site to help you.
C. Different encoders can
produce different results
- Most video editing applications have their own video encoders
built into them and you will use an "Export Timeline"
type command to create your MPEG-2 file. Others applications partner
with a dedicated compression application to handle the encoding.
A dedicated encoding application can give you more options and
will typically produce a better quality MPEG-2 file. The most
popular encoding applications are Sorenson
Compression Suite, Canopus
Procoder, and Cleaner
XL. Encoding can take a long time so some hardware-based solutions
feature realtime encoding. the most popular realtime hardware
MPEG encoding solutions are from Matrox
and Canopus.
The final assets that you will
need to prepare prior to DVD authoring will be any graphic files
that you want to use for your menus. The stadard tool to prepare
these files is Adobe Photoshop, but there are many other applications
that can do this for you. Typically you would create layered picture
files with a background image and buttons. An alternative to creating
your own menus is to use pre-defined menus that come with most
DVD applications, or modify the images from a DVD menu library.
Step Four - DVD Authoring
Once you have your video made
and encoded to MPEG-2 format you will bring it into a DVD authoring
application and link it to a menu. Inside of the DVD application
you will determine what happens when you put the DVD disk in a
player and what the buttons on the remote will do. Here you can
make chapters, link special features and hide easter eggs. All
DVD authoring applications that I know of offer previewing capability,
so you will be able to see what your video actually looks like
and how it will behave before you finalize and burn it to disk.
The most popular DVD Authoring applications that we carry are
Adobe
Encore DVD and Ulead
DVD Workshop.
Step Five - Burning the DVD
After you have previewed your
DVD project it will be time to burn it DVD. Your DVD authoring
application will compile the DVD and then create the appropriate
file structure and burn it to disk. The most compatible format
for burning DVDs in my experience is the DVD-R 4.7GB format. Most
burners that are available now will burn DVD-R, DVD+R, Rewriteable
disks, and Dual-Layer disks. I suggest trying different formats
yourself to find the right disk format that is the most compatible
with your DVD players. If you will be burning several copies of
a DVD you may want to create an ISO file from your DVD application.
The ISO file will be a disk image of the DVD and can be used by
different disk burning software applications to burn copies of
the DVD. This works well if you will be using a disk printer/duplicator
like those from Primera
to make several to 100+ copies.
Some bundles do it all
I believe that, in most cases,
you will get the best quality results, and have the most creative
control of your DVD projects if you follow the steps that I've
outlined. While I listed the basic step-by-step procedures for
turning videos into DVDs, you'll find that many steps are combined
by the different hardware and software bundles available now.
And, some of the steps are combined in different orders than what
I've listed. For example:
Some hardware analog-to-digital
converter boxes will convert the incoming video directly to MPEG-2
encoded video. This can save time during the encoding step, and
as long as you don't do too much image manipulation during the
editing step the quality will be fine. MPEG-2 does not recompress
very well, so it should usually be reserved for the final compression
instead of during acquisition or capture.
Some software applications can
combine the video editing and the DVD authoring. While Pinnacle
Studio always had DVD authoring built into its export tab,
Avid
Liquid was one of the first applications to actually facilitate
DVD authoring and menu creation directly on the timeline. Furthermore,
the MPEG-2 encoding is actually combined with the burning/compiling
process. Adobe
Premiere Pro now has integrated DVD authoring support on its
timeline as well.
Some DVD authoring applications,
like Ulead
DVD Workshop, can combine all the steps into one when combined
with an analog-to-digital converter. Using Workshop you can capture
video directly into the application, perform basic cut's only
editing, add your menus and burn the disk all within the same
application.
Most capture card bundles come
with all the software and hardware needes to capture video, edit
it, encode it, and burn it to DVD.
As different products become
available and new techniques are discovered I will try to keep
this brief guid up to date. Also, I will be working on more detailed
articles for each section and will eventually link them up. If
you find any errors, or think something is missing please let
us know.
Ashley Guy
