To quote from the help file :- " The Smart Fit option automatically adjusts the bit rate to the best quality video file that fits exactly to the capacity of the disc you are using."

In other words PowerDirector is decoding the files and then re-encoding using a different bit rate to optimise the fit. This is the likely reason for the degradation in quality. Regards,
Mike

Home-build system:
Intel Core i5 Quad Core 3.3GHz, 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz,
Asus Nvidia GT440 1GB, 2 x Western Digital WD10EARS 1TB, 1 x Seagate ST1000DM010 1TB,
Windows 7 Prof 64-bit, PD 9 Ultra 64, PD 13 Ultimate 64

Thanks for responding Mike!

The reason I’m using ‘Smart Fit’ to begin with is that the MPEG-2 file I am trying to burn is larger than the capacity of a typical DVD. I’m not aware of a conversion method that would not degrade the original file similar as to what the Smart Fit process is doing. Once again, I’m open for suggestions / ideas.

Looking at your original post again I would say that you are also losing quality in the S-Video connection since the DVR has to decode to analog and then your adaptor cable has to re-encode it. That's probably losing more quality than the Smart Fit.

I have a combination HDD/DVD Recorder and when I want to transfer recorded material I burn it onto a Rewriteable DVD and then rip the video and audio onto the PC using PgcDemux. This way the original data gets onto the PC unadulterated. Your post implies you can burn from the DVR to an external DVD burner. If that's the case I suggest you try my technique.

Edited to add:-
When I burn the DVD on my HDD/DVD recorder it automatically uses a built-in Smart-Fit utility. If yours can do the same you won't necessarily need to use PowerDirector at all if you don't want to edit. I use Avidemux to trim unwanted material off the beginning and end of the files and then a stand-alone authoring program to produce the final DVD. I then use one of the freeware DVD burning apps to burn the DVD. This way the final DVD retains the original data with no re-encoding. Regards,
Mike

Home-build system:
Intel Core i5 Quad Core 3.3GHz, 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz,
Asus Nvidia GT440 1GB, 2 x Western Digital WD10EARS 1TB, 1 x Seagate ST1000DM010 1TB,
Windows 7 Prof 64-bit, PD 9 Ultra 64, PD 13 Ultimate 64

Thanks once again Mike,

I failed to mention in my original post that the DVD burner is also connected via S-Video. As I stated, by burning a movie to the DVD burner, the results are very acceptable. One of the main reasons for purchasing Power Director in the first place was to be able to edit videos, egg. commercials, etc. prior to burning the file.
I appreciate your input as to using alternative software(s) but I have to believe that there is a method / process in Power Director that I can follow to accomplish this relatively simple goal. I’m sure that there are other Power Director users who have experienced results similar to mine and found a solution within Power director.
So, just to restate my dilemma;
I am using Power Director 9 (updated to ver. 9.0.0.3305) to capture stored video on a DVR. The connection between the DVR & my laptop is a”SVID2USB23 USB 2.0 S-Video/Composite video capture cable” connected via the S-Video cable option. The record options I have available through the use of this cable in Power Director are MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and AVI. I am using the MPEG-2 option to capture the video. Once the file is captured, I would typically edit the file at this point. However, even if I go directly to the ‘Burn’ options to create a DVD of the file. The output is lousy!
Has anyone had a similar experience w/ Power director and found process that produced acceptable results??

What format are you choosing for your capture file?

You should be using MPEG-2 or AVI.

A DVD native format is MPEG-2 which is converted to VOB files.

You want to capture in as near the same format as possible to minimize the quality loss.

I must ask what is the quality level of your DVR, is it High Definition or Standard Definition.
Are you converting Video Tape?

I assume that since you use the term DVR you have a satellite receiver that you want to burn a DVD of the Videos.
DVR = Digital Video Recorder
PVR = Personal Video Recorder
VCR = Video Cassette Recorder

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Hello Carl, and thank you for responding to my concern!

I will do my best to answer your questions;

What format are you choosing for your capture file? MPEG-2

I must ask what is the quality level of your DVR, is it High Definition or Standard Definition. Standard Definition, best I can tell

Are you converting Video Tape? No, To DVD Media

I assume that since you use the term DVR you have a satellite receiver that you want to burn a DVD of the Videos. Yes, I have a Cable DVR

You want to capture in as near the same format as possible to minimize the quality loss; Since PowerDirector allows me a choice of three import formats (eg. MPEG-1, MPEG=2, and AVI), I was informed earlier that MPEG-2 was basically DVD quality, where as MPEG-1 was of lesser quality, and that AVI was the best quality, and also the largest format.

Since this post, I burned a DVD from just the imported MPEG-2 file I captured from the DVR. The program was an hour long. I used the DVD / SP burn option (since the HQ option would not fit on the disc). All seemed to go well, the DVD played back fine on my laptop but when I tried playing it on the DVD player, there was no sound.

I then took the imported file and opened the Produce 'room'. There I selected the MPEG-2 option and let it run. Once complete, I burned that file using the same burn settings as before and wala, ther was sound on both the laptop & DVD player.

Carl, do you have any idea as to why that happened? Will I have to go through the 'Produce / MPEG-2' process for each downloaded file?

Also, I've been made aware that the 'Smart Fit' burn optionn will shrink a file to fit a given media, therefore degrading the quality. However, I noticed that this option will also extend a file to better fit a given media selection. Does this mean Smart Fit is enhancing the quality of the file?

Thanks Again for your help!

Carl, do you have any idea as to why that happened? Will I have to go through the 'Produce / MPEG-2' process for each downloaded file?

Also, I've been made aware that the 'Smart Fit' burn optionn will shrink a file to fit a given media, therefore degrading the quality. However, I noticed that this option will also extend a file to better fit a given media selection. Does this mean Smart Fit is enhancing the quality of the file?

Thanks Again for your help!

I have no Idea what happened.

You should not have to go through a double produce. Normally the Burn DVD does a render to create the DVD.

There are times when it is beneficial to produce a MPEG-2 Video before burning a DVD. But in order to use that produced Video, you must put it on the timeline then create the disk.

The Smart Fit option is not a good thing to do as a normal procedure. If possible use the HQ option for best quality DVD.

You should be able to fit about one hour on a Single layer DVD (4.7 GB) or about 2 hours on a Double Layer DVD (8.5 GB).

That is not a hard rule, sometime you can only get maybe 50 Minutes on a Single layer disk with a Menu.
If you can not fit your video into one hour (not over one hour), you either need to burn a double layer disk or edit your video to fit.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

...Thanks again Carl and Fenman for your time & help!

I'll keep plugging away for now, if I run into any further dilemmas, I'll be sure to post them here, again Thanks!