[MEncoder-users] seeking best conversion of analog camcorder to DVD

[Ian Collier]

On Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 05:30:17PM +0000, eccn at spherica.demon.co.uk wrote:

> mencoder -oac mp3lame -ovc lavc -lameopts mode=1:vbr=2:q=4 -lavcopts
> vcodec=mpeg4 -tv
> driver=v4l:norm=pal:input=1:adevice=/dev/dsp:width=768:height=576 -af
> volume=0 -o tv.avi tv://

> 1) I notice that the above video quality is quite poor, compared to
> viewing it directly using xawtv (linux) or Dscaler (XP). What can I do
> to preserve maximum detail? Does encoding always have to compromise
> viewing quality? I'm aiming for the highest quality of transfer I can
> manage.

You didn't specify a video bitrate.  Try -lavcopts vbitrate=2000 and see if
that improves the quality.  If not, try a higher number (I don't actually know
what rate is appropriate for camcorder output, but I should think it requires
fewer bits than a proper DVD).

> 2) How exactly do I go about burning the resulting file/s to a DVD that
> will play in the most common home players? i.e. How can mencoder create
> a playable DVD with minimum extra fuss?

mencoder cannot create DVDs, but it can create DVD-compliant videos.
To make the DVD you will need dvdauthor.  As dvdauthor is quite
complicated, it's probably worth looking for ManDVD which has a
graphical interface.

To make a DVD-compliant video with mencoder you will need to generate MPEG2
video and use quite a lot of options.  The best place to read up on this is:

http://www7.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/menc-feat-vcd-dvd.html

Also, use twolame rather than mp3lame for the audio.

imc