Converting file to play on a DVD player!

[nonsoloinglese]

So a buddy of mine is a big fan of a certain Sci-Fi movie and would like my HD versions of the film. However he only has a DVD player so I would like to use Handbrake to convert them to the correct format, preserving as much quality as possible.

From my limited understanding I would need to do 720 x 480 and use MPEG-2 however I need some help with the rest of the settings.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks

[mduell]

HB is not intended for conversion to DVD Video. You need a DVD authoring tool.

[nonsoloinglese]

Thanks for the reply.

I am aware, I have Toast but wanted to prepare the file in Handbrake first before burning.

[mduell]

Toast is going to have to do its own encode. HB has no use here.

[nonsoloinglese]

thanks

[Filmriss]

Why would you "prepare" the file with Handbrake, if Toast has to encode it a second time? In other words, why do you think you have to prepare the file with Handbrake in order to let Toast use it?

[nonsoloinglese]

I wasn't aware that toast has to encode it another time, I thought it would just burn the file to the disc and the player would read it. I am relatively new to this.

[Woodstock]

DVD video is encoded in MPEG2, which is not particular efficient. If your video is not in MPEG2, it will need to be converted, which Toast should do as part of the authoring process.

That said, handbrake CAN do MPEG2 video output AND can reduce the resolution to the required level, but those are not the only requirements for DVD authoring - You are also limited in what audio codecs can be used, and there is a good chance your HD source isn't going to be using a DVD-compatible audio codec.

If Toast says it can handle h.264 video as an input, it will likely have all the tools to convert it to the correct resolution and codec, as well as dealing with the audio. Pre-encoding it with handbrake would be a waste of time.

If Toast CANNOT handle h.264 directly, then there would be reasons to tweak things with handbrake beforehand, but that means Toast isn't a particularly good tool to be using...

[Deleted User 11865]

DVD video is encoded in MPEG2, which is not particular efficient. If your video is not in MPEG2, it will need to be converted, which Toast should do as part of the authoring process.

That said, handbrake CAN do MPEG2 video

All MPEG-2 Video isn't necessarily DVD-compliant (just like not all H.264 isn't Blu-ray compliant). The (non-public) DVD-Video specification most likely defines compliance using a subset of MPEG2 Video, just like the Blu-ray specification does with H.264.

HandBrake's MPEG2 encoder may be configurable enough to produce a compliant video bitstream, but for 99% of use cases out there, it's not worth the trouble. If you're worried about Toast's compression efficiency being lower than that of the libavcodec MPEG2 encoder, then you really shouldn't be targeting DVD output

[Filmriss]

@nonsoloinglese

If Toast hasn't been cut back its features since the last version I used (Version you can just use your h.264-HD. Select the appropriate option in Toast (in Version 8 it was: ->video->DVD (not TS_folder! This is in case you have an already authored folder from another DVD)).

If you want to maintain the best quality no matter, if it makes sense, than go to "options" and set your custom options. average bitrate 7.5Mbps, max bitrate 8mbps. It is possible to choose 9Mbps, but some standalone players don't like that. For audio choose whatever space is left. You can first "save as an image" to look at the result and see wether it has minimised the video bitrate in order to get the audio fit on the DVD. If you don't care for audio (less quality is more easily perceived in video than in audio for most people) and want all available space for video, choose Dolby Digital 192kbps.

Toast won't allow you to set options that are not allowed on a Standard-DVD. Also choose DL-DVD, so Toast will use the space (you will have to have DL-DVD media of course).

I don't know about recent versions, but I made the experience that Toast will often stay arround 6mbps, if you choose 7.5mbps average. But I only tried with HD-ready content h.264, that had a bitrate of 14mbps, I don't know, if Toast will actually use more when it gets feeded more bitrate from the source.

Another option: stand-alone players often are able to play data (video) CDs/DVDs. Mostly divx, but today there should be some that even support h.264. You should ask your friend for the brand and model of the standalone-player and search the manual. Maybe you don't even need to change your HD file and you can just burn it.
If it is bigger than 8GB and his player isn't a BluRay-player anyway, you can THEN use Handbrake to make the file smaller and then let Toast just burn it as a data disc.

I found Toasts own compression option not to be satisfying really. But things may have changed.

Be warned I am a beginner and all advice should be taken with caution.

[Woodstock]

For US$30 or so, you can buy media players that read USB or SD media and play 1080p h.264 video, and send it to your friend with a cheap flash drive.

I just got one for my sister, who bought a DVD player, then had to buy a TV that it could feed, and still ends up with hoping the used DVDs she buys play...

[Filmriss]

For US$30 or so, you can buy media players that read USB or SD media and play 1080p h.264 video, and send it to your friend with a cheap flash drive.

I just got one for my sister, who bought a DVD player, then had to buy a TV that it could feed, and still ends up with hoping the used DVDs she buys play...

+1 or if he plans to buy a DVB-Box soon, he can buy one that inherits a USB-media-player as well.

[rtpkyalfl14]

I don't know if HandBrake is causing a problem for playing a burned DVD in my DVD player, but I'm just asking. Here is my issue:

I copied a VOB file from a DVD-R disc to my MacBook pro. I want to trim and join segments but I don’t have a VOB editor. So, I put the VOB file into HANDBRAKE software where it converted it to MP4. I then inserted this vile into TunesKit Video Cutter where I trimmed parts of it and joined the 3 segments. I then burned this onto a blank DVD-R with BURN software. Burn converts the file to mpg before burning. Afterwards, the disc plays just fine on the computer, but will not play in my Panasonic 4K BR DVD player; it says it can’t read it. When I open the disc, it shows a TS_Video folder with a VOB file, so Burn seems to be working ok.

One last note: If I burn the original VOB file to a blank DVD-R disc, it WILL play in my DVD player, no problem. So, it seems something is happening when it is converted to MP4 by Handbrake and/or by the trimming and joining of segments in TunesKit Video Cutter.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks,
RP

[mduell]

Not an HB related issue, as HB had nothing to do with producing the DVD output.

[Deleted User 13735]

You can drop a Handbrake MP4 on a DVD disc as a data file, and it will play on most players.

Authoring, which is what others are describing, with titles and menus and chapters, are a different matter. That is called DVD Movie format. Two different species.