I've been using the free trial of Ulead VideoStudio and I am pleased with it with just one exception.

My main use is to import DVD video I take with my camcorder and compress it ... when creating the output, Ulead seems to insist on displaying each frame of the video; it would go much faster if it didn't bother to preview the video - it is currently taking 2 hours to compress 30 minutes of video. I can't seem to find a way to disable the preview, does anyone here know how it could be done?

Thanks,
-JoeJoe

It could be a feature that is disabled in the free trial.

Yep...lot's of trial version software does not act like the regular version. Just another way for the manufacturer to get one to purchase the full version.

Mark.

I don't use that program but I do have experience in video editing. I use macs. But as far as what you are talking about that is called "rendering." There's usually nothing you can do to stop that. when you burn to a dvd the program has to render it in the right format i.e compress for a dvd, or for the web etc... that will always take a long time. Ive never been able to disable previewing the clips either. Seems to be a standard thing. If you have any questions PM me and ill do my best to help you out.

Bryan

If it is a disabled feature, then it didn't work well as a marketing ploy as I decided against buying the software for it's poor speed - it took roughly two hours to import 30 minuets of DVD video. I now use VirtualDubMod that can do it a lot faster:

http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/

-JoeJoe

Not that you will ever have an interest but if you ever get into some heavy video editing. I highly reccomend getting a mac. It even comes with the video editing and dvd authoring software...they have a more professional version but imovie works just fine. Macs are great for multimedia.

Bryan

I can tell you that displaying the preview does not take up any significant amount of processing power. I have a copy of Ulead Video Studio (actyually, I won it!), but I do use a mac for my editing. I concur with the above posts about using a mac.

However, if you are serious about editing video on a PC, then I would do the following:

1. Get a separate hard drive (slave drive) for your video files. Use the master drive for the system operation, and the slave for writing the file. It will speed up the process.

2. Make sure you have at least 1 GB of processing power (more will help), and at least 1 GB of RAM.

3. Throw all those away and get a mac.

(Just kidding!)

Hope that helps.

Just a few quick comments to expand upon what you are doing.

First, DVD video (recorded on a camcorder that records directly to DVD) is already compressed. DVD data rates range from 4-9 Mb/sec. What you are doing by compressing this is RE-compressing heavily compressed video.

I know this is off topic, but if you want better picture quality, for your next camcorder, I'd recommend miniDV. Its datarate is 25 Mb/sec and imports into your computer via Firewire VERY easily. But that's a whole other thread. For now, we'll deal with the camcorder you have.

Next, what are you recompressing the video as? Different formats take different amounts of processor power to compress. For example, are you saving it as WMV, Quicktime, Flash Video?

The settings can affect this as well. You can compress video with what is called CBR (constant bit rate) or VBR (variable bit rate). CBR is faster, but less efficient and results in a larger file. VBR looks at the video and changes the compression amount based on elements in frame.

Next, you can do One-Pass or Two-Pass. The one-pass compression just goes through and compresses once. The Two-Pass goes through and examines the video, makes notes, then goes back and starts from the beginning. This will result in a much smaller file since it has seen the whole video and can make the compression much more efficient as far as file size.

So, if you have Two Pass VBR, this will take the longest, but will give you the best end file size. If you select One Pass CBR, you'll get a much larger file, but it will be finished faster.

One more thing... the codec you use to compress (not the 'format' like WMV or Quicktime) but the codec (like H.264, Sorrenson 3, etc) also affect how long it takes to compress and has a big impact on file size and picture quality.

H.264 is a Quicktime codec that is VERY efficient in regards to small file size and excellent picture and is what I use for most of my projects when I compress the video. Sorrenson 3 is an older, less efficient codec.

Hope this helps a bit.

Scott


I'm not sure if you meant 1 GHz, but that is sort of slow. 2 GHz is what I'd recommend as a low end from what I've seen for doing lots of video compression. But you have the right idea.

And I agree 100% about editing on a Mac.

Quality is not the issue - I record at least one mini DVD a night which is a 1 gigabyte file ... I need to compress it into a 100 megabyte file so I can store them all on the computer for my own viewing. If I see something I like and want to use it, I can always pull the original DVD for making a high quality video with it.

But for now, all I want to do is archive them ... like, video thumbnails if you will. Speed is more important that quality. I got backed up in the beginning because ULead was so slow, so I'm trying to catch up - another dozen to go still. ULead was taking 2-3 hours, while VirtualDubMod can do it in 30-40 minutes, and I can still use my computer for other things while it is doing so.

-JoeJoe

You didn't answer any of my questions regarding format. Formats like WMV, Quicktime, etc, and codecs all play a huge factor in file size. 100 Megs is still a HUGE file for 30 minutes of footage. You can get them down much more - at least half that size - if you tweak your settings.

Also, you never mentioned this was just for reference, (ie: not for final output).

In the video world, it is called an "Offline." It is a lower resolution video that is captured (half res or even quarter res) to edit a rough cut. This way, hours of footage can be stored on a laptop. Then, once the edit is finished, the video is "Onlined" and all the low res footage is replaced with full res footage for final output.

All you need to do is capture it at 320x240.

Scott

Yes, Scott ... 'offline' is exactly what I am doing. I went with DVD over DV because it takes less space to store DVD - I already have a box full of VHS-C tapes and wanted a digital format.

I am currently using Microsoft MPEG-4 at 75 compression control, 255 data rate, and keyframe every 15 seconds. This seems faster than Xvid and Divx was, I will have to try the H.264 and see how that works.

The main concern is speed - I am working a grind show and pitching Svengalis on the weekends ... I don't have time to process the 18 DVD's I have already filmed, and I'll be adding two more to the collection tonight.

-JoeJoe

Have you tried Mpeg StreamClip? I use the Mac version, but they make a Windows version. I use that for encoding homemade DVDs from clients and it is mighty fast. Can save as any format you want - and is FREE.

In hindsight, though, with miniDV, you can set up a batch file, set it to batch capture your tapes while you do other things. Then log what you want to keep and online them. It then goes back to the originals and captures the full files once you are done with the edit. Plus it is frame accurate. You'll never get that, unfortunately, with the DVDs.

Scott

I'm digging up this old thread to report I have found a great piece of software to rip DVD's! Its faster than anything else I've seen, and somehow manages to get great speed when ripping from the DVD itself, meaning there is no need to copy it to your harddrive first.

I can rip an hour long DVD to DivX or XVid in roughly 20-30 minutes. Its easy to use, and if you have DVD camcorder like me this is the best option I've found to transfer your DVDs to your computer ... and best of all, it's freeware:

http://www.labdv.com/dvdx/



-JoeJoe