Fundamental flaw when creating disc

Ajay

Newbie Joined: Feb 09, 2009 07:16 Messages: 7 Offline

Solved by

Feb 28, 2009 08:40

I've picked up a flaw with the create disc function. I think it's something that should be fixed urgently.

My example is as follows: I recorded a 40min video on dv camera, then transferred to computer via firewire cable. The video in dv format is too big to fit on a standard 4.7gb disc.

When creating a disc, the highest quality setting in powerdirector is 8000k bitrate. This compresses the video to only 2.3gb - an unneccessary loss in quality.

The smartfit option supposedly fixes this - however, my investigations have revealed that smartfit technology does not select the best compression setting to make sure the entire disc content is used up - it merely select the best option (from dvd hq, dvd sp, dvd lp). i.e. if you wabted to record a dvd in a higher setting than 8000k bitrate, it is impossible.

This is unacceptable from a software that is so new and that costs as much as it does - Adobe Premier Elements 3 handled a function like this perfectly and that software is probaly 3 years old and much cheaper.

I bought Powerdirector because it had a fancy video editting functions compared to its rivals. However, it becomes a useless piece of software if it cannot handle the simple tasks - i.e. what's the use of producing a masterpeice if you cannot write it to disc in the highest quality possible.

The "automated" responses I've been receiving from the support desk is pathetic - clearly there are people manning the support desk that don't understand the product or a thing about video editting.

I urge to Cyberlink to take heed and fix the flaw -

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Feb 28. 2009 08:42

JL_JL

Senior Contributor Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Oct 01, 2006 20:01 Messages: 6091 Offline

Feb 28, 2009 10:19

Ajay

I think you have a flaw in your logic if you are expecting smartfit to fit your 40min video to the full DVD. The total bitrate including video, audio and subs can be a max of 10.08 Mbps (10080 kbps) for the DVD specification. Nothing to do with PD7 or Cyberlink, just the DVD specifications. Because of this, a 4.7GB DVD can hold ~60min of DVD HQ quality footage. If you only have 40min, you cannot increase the bitrate to "smartfit" the video so it fills a 4.7GB DVD. It won't work as the DVD specification does not allow it. If you did do it, DVD players wouldn't play it. PD7 uses an average bitrate of 8000 and a max bit rate of 8300 for the video for DVD HQ. These are pretty much the highest bitrates you can successfully use when outputting to DVD in HQ to allow for audio (32 - 1536 kbps) and subs. So, if your 40 min is solid video at DVD HQ quality you CAN only use ~3GB of space or less depending on the amount of change frame to frame for the MPEG compression. If it is a 40 min total project but includes titles, colorboards,.... the actual space will be less than the max of ~3GB.

Hope that maybe helps some.

Jeff

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Feb 28. 2009 11:05

Vicont

Newbie Joined: Mar 14, 2009 01:12 Messages: 2 Offline

Mar 14, 2009 01:27

Jeff,

Th PD7 DVD HQ is cant compare to the MiniDV tape records. The rendering is weak and remove sharpness from video.

Crappy software comapring to my oldy Pinnacle v9. Why the rates are hidden for the config. I dont believe that DVD-HQ has 8Mbps or higher. It is around 5mbps no more.

Cyberlink not responsive.

Cheers

JL_JL

Senior Contributor Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Oct 01, 2006 20:01 Messages: 6091 Offline

Mar 14, 2009 11:34

Vitaly,

If you produce a PD7 file rendered to DVD HQ and view with any of various media info utilities you will get information similar to below

Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 295 MiB
Duration : 4mn 54s
Overall bit rate : 8 389 Kbps

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Duration : 4mn 54s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 7 551 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 8 300 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16/9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.729

So for my test clip of miniDV video, the bitrate for the PD7 produced video is around 7500Kbps. Keep in mind, bitrate is only part of the "quality" picture, actual codec is another. A high end professional quality codec will produce a much better DVD HQ quality picture than PD7 with the same bitrate. You just need some extra $'s. I'm not saying PD7's quality is excellent, but I think one is getting the bitrate they claim.

The rates aren't really hidden, if you go to the produce area and select create a file > MPEG2 and then make sure profile name is DVD HQ the icon just above the next buttom that looks like a movie strip with a "+" in the corner will let you see and/or adjust the bitrates. Make sure to capture from the miniDV at the DVD HQ setting. A similar dialog exists in the capture area under profile > details.

Hope this helps

Jeff

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 14. 2009 15:07

Ajay

Newbie Joined: Feb 09, 2009 07:16 Messages: 7 Offline

Mar 17, 2009 14:05

Thanks for picking up the flaw in my logic. I now fully understand the limitations on bit rate for dvd.

I still do think that the quality of the final product is sub standard compared to other products that I've used. Reading other threads tells that the encoder in pd doesnt seem to be the best in the market.

I don't buy the notion that I've read in other threads that quality is in the eye of the beholder.

Seems to me that this is a dud software unless cyberlink can vastly improve their dvd hq encoder.

James W

Senior Contributor Location: Lakeland, FL USA Joined: Aug 18, 2008 10:36 Messages: 911 Offline

Mar 17, 2009 14:25

Hi Ajay,

What other editing software have you tried which gives better rendering quality?

Thanks Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT

Ajay

Newbie Joined: Feb 09, 2009 07:16 Messages: 7 Offline

Mar 18, 2009 06:32

Adobe Premier Elements 3 and Pinnacle (can't remember which version, though the software is at least 2 years old)) -

Both the above gave very similar rendering qualities - I have noticed that the time it takes to encode for the above two pieces of software is a lot longer compared to pd.