Authoring

Authoring can include all the steps of converting your video into a DVD ready for duplication or mass replication. It can include consultation with the client, gathering together and evaluating all the source video and audio, graphic design, offering advice, calculating the space requirements and limitations so everything fits on your DVD master, encoding, menu design, etc... Amtech can assist you by managing your project and subcontracting or referral to the appropriate specialists. In simple cases like converting a 20 minute mini-DV tape into a DVD master with a simple menu we can do it in-house in 24 hours.

Video capture

One of the steps in DVD preparation is converting your video tape into AVI or MOV files for further editing and in preparation for encoding.

Encoding

Encoding is to convert digital video files into MPEG format, usually MPEG2 for DVD. A raw video file may be 200 GB and this has to be compressed to fit onto a 4.7 GB DVD-5 or a 9 GB DVD-9 disc. A generally decent result can be obtained with default encoder settings, but very often there will be specific scenes that need to be re-encoded for optimum quality.

The standard service includes high quality 2-pass VBR* encoding and audio conversion to Dolby AC-3 stereo audio. As an option you may wish to have Dolby 5.1 surround sound encoding from multiple audio tracks.

*VBR: Variable bit rate

Re-authoring

Clients often have a DVD captured on a DVD recorder and would like to change the menu or make some simple edits to the video.

$200 Base rate includes:

• Extracting your movie from a DVD-R or MPEG-2 file
• Trimming the movie
• Making a simple menu from supplied picture
• Conversion to Dolby AC-3 stereo audio format
• Setting up several chapter points
• 1 test DVD-R
• 1 master DVD-R

For any extensive editing we would be pleased to refer you to a specialist.

Other Options

• Additional graphic design / menus / interactivity
• CSS or Macrovision flags
• Region coding
• Multiple audio tracks
• Commentary tracks
• Subtitles
• Quizzes
• Other video sources (DVCAM, Digital Beta, SVHS, VHS, AVI, MOV, film, TIF slideshow...)

DVD Specs