HDTV to H.264 and author on DVD

[jturner421]

I have a homegrown PVR system (Mythtv) that has the ability to capture HDTV streams. I am interested in archiving some of this material to DVD. I have been reading the forums and researching my options and am slightly confused as to the best approach. My goals are to take a 1080i capture, compress it so it will fit on a DVD-5 and author the compressed file. Files I'm interested in are movies which tend to run between 7 -12 GB. I am fully aware that I can take the recording and encode to MPEG-2 (at substantial quality loss) but I would prefer to encode it as MPEG-4 AVC. I'm prepared to encode the files down to 720P. My questions are

1) My system is a Pentium 2.66MHZ and my limited testing with the x264 cli encoder/W MeGUI (HQ slow profile) and Nero Recode (Cinema AVC) shows an FPS encoding speed under 2FPS. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
2) If normal, will either one of these encoders make proper use of Dual Core processor?
3) How does one author a HD-DVD compliant disk with H.264 content on a standard DVD? Will Nero Do this?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

--Joel

[Sharktooth]

1) yes
2) MeGUI and x264 support both multicores/multiprocessors
3) HD-DVD specs are not public and even if there is a HD-DVD profile in MeGUI it is experimental and it may not produce HD-DVD compliant streams. Nero doesnt do it as well.

[jturner421]

I assume you mean yes it's normal to be that slow.

I'm not sure I was clear on my last question. I want to take a 1:30 movie encoded to H.264 and burn it to a DVD-5 without having the authoring software try to transcode it to MPEG-2. The end result is if I have the proper decoder, I can play the disk in a software based player like VNC.

[Sharktooth]

yeah i meant it's normal to be that slow coz of the resolution. try using a profile with lighter settings.

You can put whatever you want on a DVD... if you can play it from the HDD you can play it from anywhere (LAN, DVD, CD, USB KEY, etc...)

[foxyshadis]

So far there aren't really any HD-DVD authoring suites available to the public, which is why it's impossible to definitively answer your last question now. What we know for sure is that its format won't be exactly the same as a DVD, but it'll be quite similar. And that it'll be possible to do what you describe and have it play on a normal HD-DVD player (like playing a movie off a mini-DVD now).

Except ulead movie factory 5, actually. I really need to check that out, too bad I don't have an HD burner or player yet.

[jshumate]

This thread
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=112391
might be of interest to you. It says that Ulead is enforcing some resolution/fps combinations when authoring and my guess is that these restrictions might be more strict than what the format actually allows, just like some DVD authoring programs won't allow MPEG-1 in DVD, even though it is valid with certain bit rate restrictions.

[jturner421]

Thanks for the thread information.

I have probably asked the wrong question due to my ignorance so let me attempt to restate it. I've been burning SD material for several years and for whatever reason I'm having a problem with understanding on how to deal with HDTV material for archival purposes.

I have a 1080i source that is 8.8 GB. I would like to burn this to a DVD-5 that can be played in my any computer with the proper hardware and software decoders . For instance, in my Linux box which outputs 720P to my plasma. From reading here further today I have two options:

1) encode a 720p MPEG2 file
2) encode a 720p H.264 file

I'd like to take file 1 or 2, add menu support and author a DVD that plays back the file at 720P. So what I end up with is a physical DVD-5 with menus and a 720p data file. I do not believe there is any software available that will author a DVD with 16:9 menus and H.264. Apple claims to be able to author an HD disk complete with 16:9 menus and H.264 material with DVDSP4 on SD media although the forums here report that is not the case. I am assume if this actually worked, I could take this disk to any Mac and use DVD player to play it at 720p. This is what I am trying to accomplish. Conversely I'd be happy with 4:3 menus and launch the 720p file. I'm under the impression I can not use standard tools since DVD-Video burning software wants a 720x480 MPEG2 file.

I have all three platforms available at my disposal (Linux, OSX, XP) so I am open to all suggestions.

Thanks again.

[Blue_MiSfit]

I wouldn't trust DVDSP4 to encode anything... It's just not that great.

You may be able to author 720p H264 with it, but I'm not sure. Most Apples dont have the processing power to decode this anyway. Silly little computers... :)