miniDV Cam to SVCD

Junkguy · Sep 1, 2004, 10:35 PM

Hi,

I have two hours of videos on my miniDV digital camcorder, and I want to burn it to SVCDs at a high quality that is optimized and efficient. I have Pinnacle Studio 9 SE (it came with the camcorder) but I could only burn it at medium quality since I don't have a DVD burner, and it looks bad on the TV. It also uses one CD for only a half hour of poor quality video. Pinnacle's capturing and editing is great, but it refuses to let me burn at DVD quality onto an SVCD.

Can someone give me a good guide or tutorial or suggestions of how I can put the videos onto a few SVCDs? I'm completely new at video capturing/SVCD encoding, and I just want to get the videos onto the CD at the highest quality possible, while keeping discs to a minimum (2-4 is fine). I've watched SVCD movies that are really high quality and long, and I hope to achieve that on my videos. Please also give me some suggestions on which programs I should use, what resolution/bitrate, etc. Thanks.

pr0digal jenius · Sep 2, 2004, 01:32 AM

ok....use pinnacle to encode the video to a .avi file(using divx or xvid codec preferably, as they save a good bit of space)

then use something like nero to encode the video to svcd and burn it

2 hours should run from 2-3 discs, btw

hope that helps!

Junkguy · Sep 2, 2004, 03:04 AM

Thanks for your suggestions. Are you sure Nero is great for encoding the SVCDs? I've tried using Nero to burn the Pinnacle avi's before, but Nero's "compliant SVCD settings" are quite low quality, and if I try to ignore the compliances then it does not run properly on a standalone player. Are there any other programs like Nero that can encode and burn the videos properly but with high quality? Thanks.

Vampyromaniac · Sep 2, 2004, 05:00 AM

I'm not sure if what you're trying to do can be done, if I understand you correctly.
If you want to have DVD-quality video, then the disc won't be an SVCD, it will be a "mini-DVD" (might not play on standalone player). official SVCD (what can be played on a standalone) is limited to 480x480 resolution, and lower bitrate (can't remember exactly).
If you want full DVD quality, it will take at least 6 or so CD's for 2 hours of video. If you want less discs, you can make compliant SVCD's, but the video quality won't be as good (should be good enough though).

If you haven't already, check out Doom9. A great site with lots of guides on video.
Here's their documents listing: http://www.doom9.org/doc-overview.htm

Junkguy · Sep 2, 2004, 05:58 PM

I understand that I can't get 2 hours of DVD quality video onto a few CDs, but I would like decent SVCD quality. The "SVCD compatible" quality that I tried with pinnacle is awful, and is nothing like the quality of retail SVCDs. I don't need it to be DVD quality, as long as it is decent enough. My point is, Pinnacle is bad and I don't know which program to use/get to create a decent SVCD. I've been to Doom9, but they have long and confusing guides that require many programs and steps... Which program do most people use to make their SVCDs?

pr0digal jenius · Sep 2, 2004, 07:06 PM

don't use pinnacle's SVCD COmpkiant settings...use a nice avi compression, then use something (nero does right well if you have the plugins) to burn your avi files to SVCD

Junkguy · Sep 3, 2004, 12:46 AM

Ahh thanks, that's exactly what I needed

I'll be looking for the plugins, but if you have any specific plugins in mind, please let me know.

Sep 1, 2004, 10:35 PM	#1
Junkguy PC Game Modder Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 731 Rep Power: 0	miniDV Cam to SVCD Hi, I have two hours of videos on my miniDV digital camcorder, and I want to burn it to SVCDs at a high quality that is optimized and efficient. I have Pinnacle Studio 9 SE (it came with the camcorder) but I could only burn it at medium quality since I don't have a DVD burner, and it looks bad on the TV. It also uses one CD for only a half hour of poor quality video. Pinnacle's capturing and editing is great, but it refuses to let me burn at DVD quality onto an SVCD. Can someone give me a good guide or tutorial or suggestions of how I can put the videos onto a few SVCDs? I'm completely new at video capturing/SVCD encoding, and I just want to get the videos onto the CD at the highest quality possible, while keeping discs to a minimum (2-4 is fine). I've watched SVCD movies that are really high quality and long, and I hope to achieve that on my videos. Please also give me some suggestions on which programs I should use, what resolution/bitrate, etc. Thanks. __________________ P4 2.66GHz, ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB, WinXP, 1024MB DDR, 120GB WD, 2.5Mbps/400kbps DSL, 17" LCD E171FPb, SBLive! 5.1 Digital, Logitech Z2300 2.1 400Watts

Sep 2, 2004, 03:04 AM	Thread Starter #3
Junkguy PC Game Modder Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 731 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for your suggestions. Are you sure Nero is great for encoding the SVCDs? I've tried using Nero to burn the Pinnacle avi's before, but Nero's "compliant SVCD settings" are quite low quality, and if I try to ignore the compliances then it does not run properly on a standalone player. Are there any other programs like Nero that can encode and burn the videos properly but with high quality? Thanks. __________________ P4 2.66GHz, ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB, WinXP, 1024MB DDR, 120GB WD, 2.5Mbps/400kbps DSL, 17" LCD E171FPb, SBLive! 5.1 Digital, Logitech Z2300 2.1 400Watts

Sep 2, 2004, 05:00 AM	#4
Vampyromaniac confutatis maledictis Join Date: May 2002 Location: somewhere dark Posts: 5,974 Rep Power: 77 System Specs	I'm not sure if what you're trying to do can be done, if I understand you correctly. If you want to have DVD-quality video, then the disc won't be an SVCD, it will be a "mini-DVD" (might not play on standalone player). official SVCD (what can be played on a standalone) is limited to 480x480 resolution, and lower bitrate (can't remember exactly). If you want full DVD quality, it will take at least 6 or so CD's for 2 hours of video. If you want less discs, you can make compliant SVCD's, but the video quality won't be as good (should be good enough though). If you haven't already, check out Doom9. A great site with lots of guides on video. Here's their documents listing: http://www.doom9.org/doc-overview.htm __________________ *Digitalis 3.3* Athlon 64 3000 // ASUS K8V SE Deluxe // 1024MB PC3200 (2-2-2-10 1T) ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro // 20" Dell 2005FPW (DVI) M-Audio Revo 7.1 + Philips Acoustic Edge // Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 320/16 Western Digital WD3200KS + 120/8 Seagate 7200.7 NEC ND-3550A 16x DVD±RW + Lite-On 52x24x CD-RW Antec Sonata case // 480W Antec TruePower personal bests \|\| Aq'3: 46796 \| 3D'01: 20461 \| 3D'03: 6336 \| 3D'05: 2677 \| PC'04: 4605 \| PC'02: 7691,9092,1250

Sep 2, 2004, 05:58 PM	Thread Starter #5
Junkguy PC Game Modder Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 731 Rep Power: 0	I understand that I can't get 2 hours of DVD quality video onto a few CDs, but I would like decent SVCD quality. The "SVCD compatible" quality that I tried with pinnacle is awful, and is nothing like the quality of retail SVCDs. I don't need it to be DVD quality, as long as it is decent enough. My point is, Pinnacle is bad and I don't know which program to use/get to create a decent SVCD. I've been to Doom9, but they have long and confusing guides that require many programs and steps... Which program do most people use to make their SVCDs? __________________ P4 2.66GHz, ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB, WinXP, 1024MB DDR, 120GB WD, 2.5Mbps/400kbps DSL, 17" LCD E171FPb, SBLive! 5.1 Digital, Logitech Z2300 2.1 400Watts

Sep 3, 2004, 12:46 AM	Thread Starter #7
Junkguy PC Game Modder Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 731 Rep Power: 0	Ahh thanks, that's exactly what I needed I'll be looking for the plugins, but if you have any specific plugins in mind, please let me know. __________________ P4 2.66GHz, ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB, WinXP, 1024MB DDR, 120GB WD, 2.5Mbps/400kbps DSL, 17" LCD E171FPb, SBLive! 5.1 Digital, Logitech Z2300 2.1 400Watts

Sep 2, 2004, 01:32 AM	#2
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	ok....use pinnacle to encode the video to a .avi file(using divx or xvid codec preferably, as they save a good bit of space) then use something like nero to encode the video to svcd and burn it 2 hours should run from 2-3 discs, btw hope that helps!

Sep 2, 2004, 07:06 PM	#6
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	don't use pinnacle's SVCD COmpkiant settings...use a nice avi compression, then use something (nero does right well if you have the plugins) to burn your avi files to SVCD