workflow? SD project to DVD best quaility

[burnandreturn]

I would like to get the best quaility finished DVD possible. I have read and read here and most I read was regarding HD to SD workflows. I have googled and searched here but found nothing definitive. A direction where to look or a workflow list would be great, Thank you

I have a SD pal highend consumer camcorder DV tapes to capture.
I have Edius 5.01 with dongle, meaning not trial.
I have on another system Edius 4.61 and DvStorm 2
I have Tmpgne(sp) 4 encoding software

I have made a short timeline of a little over one minute and have gone through every possibility/combination of steps I can think of, using what I have, to burn finished DVD's. The quality ranges from not so good to OK.
I have used a stand alone DVD authoring program and the one included with E5.

After I made my short test timeline I went straight to "print to file" and also"pint to DVD". I tried several of the formats to save the timeline first to AVi's and then convert to Mpeg 2 and ac3. As an aside, I am very disapointed that there is no elementary mpeg 2 streams possible with the exporter.

My question is what would be my best selections for the best quailty DVD with what I have or what I should buy for software/hardware that I don't have.

[skier-hughes]

I have 4.61 and use procoder express to export ot my mpeg files direct from timeline.
I then use Ulead dvd workshop to make my dvd and convert the lpcm audio to ac3 and burn.
I, and my customers, find them to be excellent quality.

[pjsssss]

Straight to Procoder 3 (or Procoder Express) straight from timeline. Use highest appropriate bit rates for length of DVD. We use DVD Lab Pro to author and then Nero to burn. Great SD results

[Khoi Pham]

What is not go good about picture quality? bad color, pixelated?

[burnandreturn]

I think you call it the "jaggies" a sort of stair stepping across horizontal areas.
Also if I have a filter added on the timeline the quality goes down considerably.
The video has my daughter riding her horse so there is moderate motion.

But what is strange is if I save the timeline as a Canopus HQ fine. Then take this avi directly into the included DVD authoring package and let it do the mpeg encoding and muxing, the quality is the best of anything I have tried. When I take the same AVI file into TMPGEnc 4 and tweak all the settings for best quality, use the resultant mpeg and AC3 files in any Authoring software including the Ulead with E5 the DvD is not nearly so good as to clearity and jaggies. That is with the bitrates set as high as possible. This doesn't help me much because I would like to have a more indepth authoring enviroment.

[skier-hughes]

Jaggies sounds like field order problem.

[burnandreturn]

The field order matches the original. Bottom field first.

[skier-hughes]

But PAL Mpeg2 is upper field first.

[burnandreturn]

OK, now I am confused. I thought to be DVD compliant it had to be bottom field first.

[skier-hughes]

standard definition dv is lower field first, but mpeg2 is upper field first.

Graham

[Khoi Pham]

Yeah he is right, you have field order wrong.

[antonsvideo]

the field order for Pal DVD is upper field first
the field order for NTSC DVD is also upper field first

do not change the field order of the source, leave it at bottom field, but set the destination field order to upper field first in Tmpeg or Procoder

[burnandreturn]

Could you tell me if I am better off to save my timeline to avi file first before converting to mpeg2 and if so what would be my best choice for optimum quality. Or am I better off to export direct from timeline. The problem I have is not having any option to export as elemenatary streams direct from timeline in E5. I could use E 4.61 and use Procoder Express. I don't have Procoder 3 but would be willing purchase it if that would improve my mpeg2 files. I have downloaded Tmpge 4 trial and would purchase that if necessary. After you all said to use top field first I made another test encoding in Tmpge 4 and the DVD is still not as good as the DVD that I make from Movie Factory utilizing the exported AVI file from E5. It just seems strange and unusual that this rudimentary DVD authoring program is producing better results than Tmpge 4 or Procoder Express with what I think the settings optimized for quality. If anyone would be willing to list the settings in either/both Procoder Express or Tmpge 4 I would be grateful. I have read all that I could find about optimal settings in Tmpge 4 for best quaility.

I think I have made at least fifty different versions of this test one minute timeling. My family is ready to throw me out for asking them to look at the different DVD's and tell me which one has the best quality!

I am starting off with Pal DV shot in 4:3 with a NV-GS400EG Panasonic consumer camcorder. Most all of what I do involves personal video's of my horses, working Border Collies and family. I would buy a really good camcorder but the wife doesn't want me at school and church functions showing up with "big" camcorder. Me I would show up with a film crew when it comes to my daughter.

[burnandreturn]

These are my settings in TMPge 4

[beachside]

These are my settings in TMPge 4

In the 'Source tab' of TMPG4 under 'Clip Properties' what is the field order on the clip shown as?