hello again ps thanks for the guide havent seen it yet but looking forward to.
been trying out ulead movie factory, you are given options for length etc.
HIGH QUALIY=60 MINS
GOOD QUALITY=90MINS
STANDARD PLAY=120MINS
LONG PLAY=180MINS
LCPM OR MPEG AUDIO
DATA RATE WAS SET AT 7000KBPS
FRAME SIZE 720*576

i set it to good quality left audio on lcpm and rate at 7000 i got 2 60min dv videos and a slideshow with audio onto one dvd,the program uploads dv from camcorder as mpeg so less time wasted converting. however during playback from camcorder it seemed to go in slow motion,finished dvd was playing normal but quality was very questionable ie blocky. is this because i tried to fit too much onto disc,slide show was crystal. i sorted problems with interior lighting and that is okay now but i still cant understand why people tell me you can put upto 2 hrs onto a disc and get dvd quality as a result.if by good they accept blocky footage then i,ll stick at 60mins,i hope to convert old 3hr vhs to dvd and this is why i need to know what the maximum size is permissable without loosing qualiy. i,ve seen some very poor vcd,s and same for dvd copy,s but also seen some that are pin sharp and contain full length feature films so where am i going wrong or do they do something completly different.in respect of blocky picture, this isnt the case if i stick to one 60min dv tape per disc.you are being extremely helpfull and your input is very much appreciated,someday maybe i will be able to help others, best regards mark.

I too use Ulead Movie Factory (v2.0) and have had very acceptable results from this software.

On an initial look then frankly you should get very good results from a 7000 Kbit stream. I use 6000 kbits (Variable) and get excellent results.

There can be many reasons for the blocky video result. One thing worth noting is Movie Factory (v2.0 and earlier) does not import native MPEG. It actually converts DV Encoder Type 1 (AVI) on the fly. What this means is that if your system specification is fairly low, or you are using just a single disk for capture, or your disk is seriously defragmented etc etc and your capture is fairly large (in other words if your system is not in tip top shape) the blocky results are a disctinct possibility.

Personally I always capture in native format and use a seperate tool (Either my editing software or a seperate encoder) to create the DVD Mpeg compatible fiel. I simply find I get better results this way (incidentally I do this on a fairly low spec PC).

Might be worth trying capturing the native format and post convert. Try this with a short peice of film in the first instance and then check the results.

Also is the blockyness occurring before you burn or after. I have noticed blockieness on some DVD Players that don't fully support DVD-R or DVDR.

Good luck.

spec/ xp pro/ amd 2800/512 ddr 133mhz/nvidia geforce 2/creative cinema syatem for analogue/usb2/firewire/ twin 80gb hdrives/52xcdrw/optorite +- dvd burner/sata enabled/asus a7n8x deluxe mb/5.1 sound system.
software=sonic dvd/nero 6/win cinema/win dvd/win rip/ win coder/ulead dvd factory
no blockiness on original image
how would i create native file? should i use sonic which captures as avi then another to convert, 120 mins was 2* 60 min dv tapes,saved onto hd then burnt using same program ulead as it captires in mpeg.each dv tape was captured seperate then re-added to create dvd with menus.

Quite a beefy system, and to be honest there should be no problems in creating good quality DVDs with this. Please do note though that Movie Factory (v2.0 and earlier) does not capture native MPEG. It translates (using memory and temporary disk space) the AVI file to MPEG. Yes user only sees mpeg but it is still a dual process.

I think you are right, providing your disks don;t need defragged, it would be worth capturing in native AVi and using a seperate proces to convert to DVD Compliant MPEG.

Alo worth cheking that the temprary file creation is also set to your secondary drive.

using ulead 3, secondary drive used for video storage and music storage only,i allways use secondary drive as location.basically what your saying is capture using sonic which captures in avi then convert to dvd compliant,this is where i,m struggling cannot get to grips with tmpeg and currently waiting for second guide from marc,first guide explaining encoding etc very usefull and has explained what i need.hopefully guide for tmpeg will sort my problems,what i would like to see is a program which does all aspects but is user friendly or aimed at people who just want to make decent home movies.my last creation using ulead had bitrate set at 7000 so i suppose i could have cranked it up a bit to see if that improves it. also wish someone would make a clear statement regarding footage time that can be fit onto disc eg maximum for top quality =60mins or so on. buying software is like going into a field of cabbages and asking someone to pick a green one.i have all those programs and still dont find any one of them totally user friendly.

using ulead 3, secondary drive used for video storage and music storage only,i allways use secondary drive as location.basically what your saying is capture using sonic which captures in avi then convert to dvd compliant,this is where i,m struggling cannot get to grips with tmpeg and currently waiting for second guide from marc,first guide explaining encoding etc very usefull and has explained what i need.hopefully guide for tmpeg will sort my problems,what i would like to see is a program which does all aspects but is user friendly or aimed at people who just want to make decent home movies.my last creation using ulead had bitrate set at 7000 so i suppose i could have cranked it up a bit to see if that improves it. also wish someone would make a clear statement regarding footage time that can be fit onto disc eg maximum for top quality =60mins or so on. buying software is like going into a field of cabbages and asking someone to pick a green one.i have all those programs and still dont find any one of them totally user friendly.