M@t's dvd-creation-guide-thingy...:

To be precise, there are roughly four areas of processing in terms of
producing quality DVDs- editing, encoding and muxing and burning.

editing:
--------
video:
all that you need to worry about is that the resultant output file (usually avi) is 720x576 @ 25fps or 704x576 or 352x288 or 352x576- (these are 'pal' resolutions - for NTSC look it up-
for a budget-kinda dvd it just needs to be at the one closest to the resolution you captured it at - make sure you captured at your device's highest possible resolution.

audio:
if possible you should capture your audio at 48khz, 16-bit.
Regardless, your outputted audio should be output as 48khz, 16-bit.


encoding:
---------
video:
I use tmpgenc (slightly expensive but incredibly good-quality encoder) for this, but chances are your software there can do this, albeit probably at a lesser quality- your output should be a MPEG2 video file (m2v) and either an .ac3, .wav or .mp2 audio file.
Chances are if you're using budget software it'll output the video stream as CBR (constant bitrate) anyway, but if you have more advanced software which allows you to specify bitrates, do not use VBR (causes problems on set-top players) and limit the maximum bitrate to 6800KBPS (any more will, again, cause playback problems on some but not all dvd players - this is the advanced stuff they don't tell you in dvd-specification .pdfs).. In addition, the following settings (if you can access them) are recommended for compatibility:
Closed gop.
Gop length of 12.

audio:
if you can, get your software to output audio as AC3 (.ac3) - if not, I would advice you to get your program to output as .wav and use ffmpegguiXP (freeware windows app) to convert audio to an 224bps .ac3.
.wav chews up too much bitrate on the resultant DVD and can stuff up playback on set-top DVD-players, and mp2 can't be read by some players in america and canada. At any rate, ac3 is somewhat better quality than mp2.


muxing:
-------

This is the process whereby the separate audio, visual and dvd (menus, subtitles etc) files get packaged into one or several 'container' files i.e .vob ()video object() files- there are also .ifo files which describe the content of vob's and their nature but we don't need to worry about those.
If you're not worried about menus and your software package doesn't make .vob files (chances are, it doesn't) use a free muxing package (I use and recommend muxman but have not tested it's compatibility with set-top devices extensibly, yet) to mux the audio and video together into a directory of your choice. Quite straight-forward.
Otherwise you'll need something like Pegasus's TMPG DVD author (pay product) to produce a menu - DVDstyler is a freeware package for creating DVD menus, but as I haven't used it yet I don't know whether I can recommend it or not.
You should end up with a directory with (possibly) a video_ts and audio_ts folder (audio_ts folder will be empty because this isn't an audio-disc)) and some .vob files and .ifos-


burning & treatment:
--------------------
s Any package that says it can burn video DVD's will do - I use nero 5.5 or 6 for the job, but prefer nero 5.5.
You should be using dvd-r discs not dvd+r discs, as the way they're burnt is slightly different and some dvd players are less compatible with dvd+r's than dvd-r's. Both are cheap at the moment.
Use nero (or whatever package) and create a 'dvd video'-
drag & drog the .vob/.ifo/etc files into the video_ts directory in the package-
burn at THE LOWEST SPEED POSSIBLE. Higher speed burns=less compatible DVDs.

Use a non-abrasive marker or a disc-capable printer to label the dvds - NEVER use paper or any other physical labels - the data on DVD's is tightly packed to the extent that any minute changes in rotational weight can completely disrupt reading on the outer sections of the discs (where the wobbling increases more). Labels=incomptibility.

DO NOT place your fingers on or accidentally mark the underside of DVDs, as they are far more sensitive to this kind of treatment than commercial DVDs (which have a protective layer, of sorts) or any CD's.

Store either in a dvd/cd case or a soft container like a cd wallet- take care when mailing overseas or within new zealand that the packaging does not allow the dvd to get bent or crushed.

Do not expose the underside of burnt DVDs (or burnt cds for that matter) to direct sunlight as it can affect the dye layer and disrupt the reading process.


All advice is given without guarantee- if anything explodes, don't talk to me---
m@

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