Encoding TV caps to DVD format

[SneakyNeil]

What's the technically correct way of doing this - say you've got something mpeg4 23.97fps 624x352 and want to make a UK PAL DVD out of it.

Do you leave everything as-is and just re-encode to mpeg2?

Do you re-encode to 25fps/720x406 and burn that?

Do you re-encode to 25fps/720x406 and add black bars to pad it up to 720x480? or 720x576.. ?

Thanks in advance!

PS: 'drag it into nero' is not the answer I'm looking for here ta!

[ThePassenger]

Depends on the program you're using... but most of the ones I've used have auto set the framerate when selecting PAL output. As to the framesize, I'd do a low quality run through either way and see which gives the best results. I suspect it'll be a case of slapping black borders to stop the picture being distorted.

[sneakyneil]

The 'auto' settings in what I'm using (avidemux2) do get it close, but quite often not perfect (still better than nero lol). They also don't seem to address the frame rate - sometimes 23fps seems to play nicely, sometimes I get jerkiness. I also note other weirdness like if you use different audio codecs on different titles on the DVD you quite often get sound weirdness too... I'm just trying to pin down an exact set of specs that's right for a UK DVD but there's so many variables and I hate wasting DVD's

[mcflurry]

sneakyneil said:

.. and I hate wasting DVD's

Why not buy a single DVDRW and reuse it until you find the right combo?

(or get a cheapy divx dvd player for £30 that will play everything without encoding lol)