I have asked this before, but it still puzzles me. I tape a lot of cable programs for personal archive. I use DVD+RW to capture the shows and transfer them to my HD for editing. In my first attempts, I added the chapters before I produced, only to discover I lost all the chapters afterwards. I then went to editing out all the commericals and producing an edited mpeg. As several of these programs are less than 30 minutes, I would like to put up to four on a disc. To complicate matters, I wish to put chapters in several of these programs for reference points, which means each program needs its own menu. I already know I need dvd authoring software for this step, but the question is how to best produce each program.

Is it better to edit out the commercials, add transitions if necessary, produce a "general" mpeg, then add chapters and title pages to the produced mpeg; or is it better to edit out the commercials; add transitions, chapters and titles; export the project as packed materials, then use a dvd authoring program to stack PDS files, and bypass the produce stage altogether? I ask as I read it is not a good idea to edit/work on mpegs due to their structure. The one real issue I have with this packing everything as a project is the saved file is just as large as the captured data. While the PDS file is edited, the captured data is not. Consequently, when I have multiple shows recorded on one disc without a break, when I save them individually, I get the full raw clip saved every time. Editing and producing them as individual clips it much smaller and easier to store.

Thanks.

Jim

Daveed, how is your HD recovery going? I just finished mine after four days of joyous fun and laughter. Yeah, I know, I think the copious volume of vodka helped a lot too.