I need someone to school me on authoring DVD's in High Def.
I have a project that I would like to export to 1080 resolution, but have a few questions, any help is appreciated:
1)What Authoring programs support HD resolutions? (I have been using DVDlabpro for 720x480 up to this point.)
2)What is the difference between HD-DVD and DVD-9? Can I burn HD-DVD with regular DVD-RW drive?
3)You can burn HD content on regular DVD as long as file size is below 4.7GB - Y or N?
1) I don't author HD-DVD, but I assume DVD Architect now has support in Version4, Adobe premier pro or whatever it's called, and probably a lot of others. Maybe someone else can answer this one better for you...
2) HD-DVD is a different type of disc. It stores 15GB per layer where as a DVD9 is 4.25GB per layer (If not 4.25GB, then it's really close). In order to play/use a DVD9, you need a DVD compatible drive. For HD-DVD, you will need an HD-DVD drive. They are different formats, like CD is different from DVD.
3) You can burn HD content on a DVD, but only as DATA!! This means it will NOT work on your DVD player, but it will work on your PC. It is the same as burning an mp4 or avi on to a DVD disc.
4) I use MeGUI with x264. Also mainconcept makes an H.264 encoder. There are probably lots of others out there. However, to make the HD content work on an HD-DVD player you will need to use the correct profiles and also use an HD-DVD disc with HD-DVD Authoring software. This is completely different than DVD.
Now, if you have HD content that you want to encode to DVD, you can get excellent results by using high bitrate and a smaller GOP. You will get results that are better than a commercial DVD. Keep in mind that for NTSC, DVD is at a resolution of 720x480. You CANNOT encode at a higher resolution than that cause it will NOT work on a DVD player.
You can use Mainconcept mpeg2 encoder, TMPGEnc, or look up a freeware encoder. Also there is software like ConvertXtoDVD, DivXtoDVD, avi2DVD, etc... They will do a good job.
Thnx 4 the info JaguarGod lots of help. Well, I don't have a HD-DVD burner and will probably upgrade to Blueray when that time comes, so it looks like for this project I'll stick with standard NTSC DVD and a make a 1080res avi version for viewing on PC. It will be waiting when HD production becomes more accessible to the home user.
Personally, I don't even know how Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will make it for the normal consumer, cause HVD is already cheaper than both, but over 20x more storage per disc... Just the movie studios don't want to use it cause they won't have DRM on their tech...
Quote:Personally, I don't even know how Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will make it for the normal consumer
2 words...video games
Games are memory hogs (obviously) and HD-DVD is most likely nothing but a pit-stop to the Blu-Ray era since it's higher capacity. Sony has dedicated itself to Blu-Ray and the prices are already going down, I saw a Blu-ray/DVD-RW drive for $400 the other day. BR Disks are still high compared to CD or DVD but have also dropped considerably it was only about a year ago they were $20+ each, now you can find them for $8 and for a gamer who would normally spend $50-$60 for a game, that's a deal It just means people will take greater care B4 burning.
It's still more expensive than HVD and far less space per disc...
They really don't need BD or HD DVD for games. It is an excuse for graphics developers to get lazy. It also puts more stress on the PC. You'll need lots more CPU power and RAM to run games that are not made efficient. Maybe in 5 years, there will be need for larger media for gaming, but I still see HVD as a better means for this.
