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DVD's suck - how else to promote???

matteusclement

matteusclement

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 26, 2008
1,144
0
victoria
Maybe I am doing this wrong, but I am trying to create a promo DVD package of my work. Shot using a t2i then converted from Premiere pro into MPEG. then burned to disc with NO compression and it is still boxy as heck.

any suggestions on how to promote your video service with out it looking like crap?
 
Is it being compressed twice? t2i to mpeg2 to vob? I really don't know much about mastering video for DVD.
 
Are you watching you blocky DVD on a flatscreen TV? Check an old CRT - should look better.

If you want to promote your business and use optical disks, then you should use the "top" media, BD. Who'd want to buy from a business that uses nearly 20 year old technology (rhetoric - no offense)?
 
What DVD authoring tool are you using? That info might help someone help you.

Are you converting your video to a format that the authoring tool doesn't need to further process? Sounded like you are and not getting that phase right. Are you over compressing?
 
matteusclement said:
converted from Premiere pro into MPEG.
Click to expand...

If you're using Adobe Media Encoder to do this Premiere -> MPEG2 step, I can usually get really good results out of it. The key is bitrate and GOP settings. If you're able to fit it on a disc, try compressing your video to 8Mbps CBR and setting the M and N frames to the smallest numbers (2 and 8, I believe). This will give you a high bitrate with many key frames.
 
"boxy"? You have "video service" and you say that the video looks "boxy"?

Here's an idea... put it on a website. I haven't handled DVDs in a couple of years.
 
cgbier said:
Are you watching you blocky DVD on a flatscreen TV? Check an old CRT - should look better.

If you want to promote your business and use optical disks, then you should use the "top" media, BD. Who'd want to buy from a business that uses nearly 20 year old technology (rhetoric - no offense)?
Click to expand...

Well if he used BluRay, then I doubt he'd be able to promote to the majority of his target customers. DVD is dated, but if he's intent on distributing through a physical medium then it's still the best way to reach the masses. Even thumb drives would be a better method than BluRay at this point.

However, I'd recommend delivering your promotional material through the web. You have more options resolution-wise and of course all of your contact info is easily displayed. A potential client is just a click away from making contact.
 
I would use blue ray or a service like vimeo. You should be promoting through the web, not disk.

For vimeo you should be able to export in HD .mp4 and it should look beautiful.
 
cgbier said:
Are you watching you blocky DVD on a flatscreen TV? Check an old CRT - should look better.
Click to expand...

... uhhh any potential customer won't be using a CRT anymore.


matteusclement said:
Maybe I am doing this wrong, but I am trying to create a promo DVD package of my work. Shot using a t2i then converted from Premiere pro into MPEG. then burned to disc with NO compression and it is still boxy as heck.
Click to expand...

What average bitrate are you getting?


You might want to try a higher quality encoder like FFMPEGX where you can control the options a little better. FFMPEGX may give you a two-pass encode option which should yield better results.


For MPEG4, Handbrake also works well.
 
Paratel said:
Put your video on a flash drive with your logo and contact info and hand those out.
Click to expand...

This idea isn't very good. People, on the whole are pretty stupid. I can't tell you how many times I have given a quicktime to clients on PCs and they can't figure out how to view it. Or WMVs or flash vice-versa. If they don't have the right codecs and aren't smart enough to figure it out they won't watch your video. Seriously I thought this was a no brainer but you'd be surprised how often I run into "I can see video but I don't have audio" and "the file doesn't work on my computer". It's a shame people are such idiots about video but it is the case. Therefor, I see no reason to give them the option of ****ing it up. Just make a DVD or use web delivery. There really is no other GOOD way of doing it nowadays.
 
WRP said:
This idea isn't very good. People, on the whole are pretty stupid. I can't tell you how many times I have given a quicktime to clients on PCs and they can't figure out how to view it. Or WMVs or flash vice-versa. If they don't have the right codecs and aren't smart enough to figure it out they won't watch your video. Seriously I thought this was a no brainer but you'd be surprised how often I run into "I can see video but I don't have audio" and "the file doesn't work on my computer". It's a shame people are such idiots about video but it is the case. Therefor, I see no reason to give them the option of ****ing it up. Just make a DVD or use web delivery. There really is no other GOOD way of doing it nowadays.
Click to expand...

This is one of the main reasons that I still use the DVD.

Further more, the DVD case acts as a pamphlet with your info PLUS the inside allows for a "menu" that I place inside with my pricing.

Overall, most business owners in my area are over 40 and their tech knowledge is limited, thus the DVD being the safest option.

For the clients that I really want to wrangle in, I carry USB flash drives with my logo and two folders on the drive: windows & mac. Each has the most universal file it will read. Windows = wmv version 7. Mac = quicktime.
These folders are also on partition which leaves the rest of the 4gig drive to be used for them.

lastly, every DVD I have dropped of has landed me work so far :D
 
You should use other software for compressing. That should help (for example, compressor).

On my old DVD player, it just looks terrible (no matter which DVD). I always use my PS3 to play DVD's and they look great.

What I did though is add extra files to the DVD. In the DVD menu it says there are additional files on the disc. When you open the disc on your pc, there's a third folder called additional content which contains a downloaded mp4 version of my video and a file. When you click on the file it takes you to youtube. Which of course shows it in HD, and no problem of settings up players/having codecs.
 
arjen92 said:
You should use other software for compressing. That should help (for example, compressor).

On my old DVD player, it just looks terrible (no matter which DVD). I always use my PS3 to play DVD's and they look great.

What I did though is add extra files to the DVD. In the DVD menu it says there are additional files on the disc. When you open the disc on your pc, there's a third folder called additional content which contains a downloaded mp4 version of my video and a file. When you click on the file it takes you to youtube. Which of course shows it in HD, and no problem of settings up players/having codecs.
Click to expand...

that's a good idea. I will see what I can do about that.
 
Paratel said:
Put your video on a flash drive with your logo and contact info and hand those out.
Click to expand...

Been watching this thread with interest, as I'm about to try this approach. I volunteer with a kids' camp and every year at the end of the summer we used to sell a "memories DVD" with pictures and videos from our weeks of camp. Authoring a new DVD every year was getting tiresome, not to mention the wait times for burning the discs one by one. This year we're going to try selling camp-branded USB sticks with the photos/videos copied onto them.

I'm sincerely hoping this ends up being less work than authoring and packaging DVDs.
 
notjustjay said:
Been watching this thread with interest, as I'm about to try this approach. I volunteer with a kids' camp and every year at the end of the summer we used to sell a "memories DVD" with pictures and videos from our weeks of camp. Authoring a new DVD every year was getting tiresome, not to mention the wait times for burning the discs one by one. This year we're going to try selling camp-branded USB sticks with the photos/videos copied onto them.

I'm sincerely hoping this ends up being less work than authoring and packaging DVDs.
Click to expand...

it would be an idea to "lock" the drives how ever you can (read only?) seeing as it would suck for some kid or parent accidently erasing the USB drive.

I would almost lean towards a cloud based solution...

The USB drive solution seems so tempting but with the ease that one can:
1. erase a flash drive
2. lose a flash drive
3. break it (yes... even break them)
It just seems too risky.

To get over the burn time, I have bought several used external DVD drives. Cheap and expandable with the USB ports in play.
 
matteusclement said:
it would be an idea to "lock" the drives how ever you can (read only?) seeing as it would suck for some kid or parent accidently erasing the USB drive.
Click to expand...

True. I've been researching places that will custom imprint USB drives and it looks like you can get them manufactured with a read-only partition, so that is an option.

matteusclement said:
To get over the burn time, I have bought several used external DVD drives. Cheap and expandable with the USB ports in play.
Click to expand...

Well, it's not just the burn times in my case. I can't just hand people a crudely authored slide show, so I have to set it up with menus. I used to even find music to back the slides, but I've given up on that and nobody seems to complain. iDVD takes hours to author the image though. Then of course I can't just send the disc in a blank case, so I have to design and print an insert for the Amaray case, and...

Also, DVD resolution is no longer the best way to share the photos and videos, some of which is now being taken with HD cameras.

A cloud based storage option (e.g. put it on our website) is an idea. Certainly less work for me :)
 
matteusclement said:
Maybe I am doing this wrong, but I am trying to create a promo DVD package of my work. Shot using a t2i then converted from Premiere pro into MPEG. then burned to disc with NO compression and it is still boxy as heck.

any suggestions on how to promote your video service with out it looking like crap?
Click to expand...

What are you using to author the DVD's?

I take my D7000-files to Premier Pro, edit then than media encoder outputs the file (AVI for low-def work). Then I use Encore to create the DVD master.

It looks great on my PS3 and Plasma TV, even at 740x480 resolution. Are you sure you're not using MPEG2 that is compressed for another format other than TV? There are a ton of options when you select pre-sets on the output screne.
 
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