Real Life DVD Creation Times

[hogmog]

With my education hat on I video lectures and seminars etc for subsequent editing and composition as DVDs and downloads. This is currently done on a PowerBook G4 1.67 machine with 1.5 gig of ram and iMovie / iDVD 6. Am looking to replace a Windows desktop (which has a <10% success rate at producing DVDs) with a Mac desktop of some sort. However the benchmark figures given on review sites and in mags don't mean too much to me other than to show that one configuration is faster than another. What I would be really interested in is some real life numbers. So for example on the PB it takes around 5.5 hours, from the time you click on iDVD Burn button to the disc being complete, to create a 2 hr DVD (typically comprising 4 x 30 min presentations/lectures) with a simple standard iDVD menu structure. How long does it take to do the same on Apple's current desktop offerings? Any info on the Mini, iMac and Mac Pro (I can dream) or pointers to sites which do provide such figures would be really helpful.

Thanks.

 

[-DH]

There is no set formula for the process as there are too many variables involved. If the video contains little motion (not much change from frame to frame), the encoding time doesn't take nearly as long as it does for a video of the same length that contains a lot of motion. For example, a video of a lecture; one person in frame the entire time (a "talking head" type shot) would encode rather quickly when compared to a video of the same length of a soccer game. The encoding process analyzes each frame and determines what information to leave in and what to take out of each frame (other then the I frames). The burn time will be faster as well, as the total size of the final VOB files will be smaller.

Also you must take into consideration the bit rate used, the write speed capabilities of the drive and of the media.

If you want the fastest option, purchase a stand-alone DVD recorder. It will record in RT, plus a few minutes at the end for the finalization process.

-DH

 

[hogmog]

DH - thanks for the clear explanation. This seems to bring you back to the typically published benchmarks as they at least provide consistency in the tests used across machines. I have tried the DVD recorder approach but unfortunately whilst providing pretty quick results it leaves you with files which are difficult to edit. Having seen the wonders of FC Express as well means all recent recordings have been on tape for subsequent editing etc with whatever the new machine will be. Would still be interested in any timings though - may at least give some kind of flavour for time the machine will be tied up and busy.

 

[-DH]

I have tried the DVD recorder approach but unfortunately whilst providing pretty quick results it leaves you with files which are difficult to edit.

OK ... now I'm confused. Do you want to burn a DVD-Video after editing, or do you want to burn a DVD and then edit the footage?

DVD-Video is a delivery format - not intended for further editing. A DVD's VOB files themselves a fairly simple to edit (once converted), but since the footage has already been heavily compressed, that's hardly the way to get decent quality.

-DH

 

[hogmog]

OK ... now I'm confused. Do you want to burn a DVD-Video after editing, or do you want to burn a DVD and then edit the footage?

-DH

Maybe I am confusing you. I thought when you mentioned DVD recorder you were talking about the sort that connects to your TV. Have tried one of those with camera attached but as you say it creates DVD video with VOB files which are then difficult to edit (if at all?). So the focus of the thread is on video that is recorded on miniDV, imported into iMovie, edited in iMovie, and then 'menued' and burnt to DVD-video via iDVD. Hope this clarifies OK.