Topic: Opinions on live DVDs from tapers

[guitard]

If 8000 bitrate is too high based on the length of your video I would go to the dual layers.

If you source a DVD from a mini-DV tape, you'd be very hard pressed to tell the difference between an 8Kb ABR and a 6Kb ABR.  I also like PCM audio, so I usually adjust the video's ABR accordingly so that I can fit the PCM audio on the disk.  So putting a 60-70 minute show with PCM on one disk will look just fine.

[jhirte]

If the artist is "under the radar" as you stated, it shouldn't be that much of a hassle to contact them about getting the set list.   I've done it before -- just sent them a CD copy of the show, tracked out, and asked for the song titles.    They were more than happy to fill in all of the blanks I needed, and thanked me for taking the time and effort to produce a DVD of their live show.   If the band you taped won't even take the time to let you know a few song titles, do you really want to go to the trouble of producing a DVD for them?

i've actually once did a track by track description and had the artist tell me the setlist from there.

track 1:
first words are "blah blah blah blah"
track 2:
chorus is "you are blah lblah blha"

i'd also go w/ the ac3.  it's a video.  the video is top priority.  audio we just don't want distorted. 

dont forget snagging a setlist after the show is always an option... assuming you can get to it before someone else!

[guitard]

dont forget snagging a setlist after the show is always an option... assuming you can get to it before someone else!

Another option - I've gone to the soundboard before the show and asked the soundman if he'd take a quick snapshot of the setlist with me digital camera.  They almost always oblige.

[janka]

I always use PCM audio on my DVD's.  Being that they are music dvd's why sacrafice on audio quality ? I encode with the highest video bit-rate too. I master everything to be 1 hour per dvd. If  the whole show is slightly over an hour,  up to 10min, I will encode the video down to 7Mbs if needed. With the time it takes to transfer, sync, make menu's and render why bother lowering quality. I'd rather trade snail-mail for quality then download less then the best.

I feel things encoded with low video bit-rates and ac3 audio will only cause people to re-master them in the future. Just like all the VCD's of a few years ago.

[tbrown4]

I guess I will chime in here....

I recently authored a full show using PCM on a DL disc. I could have used 2 single layers and kept the audio PCM, so I guess this is more of a discussion on "to DL" or "not to DL"...

My thoughts are that eventually costs of these DL blanks will come down just as single layers did.  More and more people are eventually going to author in DL format. Why not start now?

Just my $.02

[momule]

I guess I will chime in here....

I recently authored a full show using PCM on a DL disc. I could have used 2 single layers and kept the audio PCM, so I guess this is more of a discussion on "to DL" or "not to DL"...

My thoughts are that eventually costs of these DL blanks will come down just as single layers did.  More and more people are eventually going to author in DL format. Why not start now?

Just my $.02

My understanding is that Alot of DVD players can't play them.  I personally don't see dual layer being all that reliable in the long run with how the disc's are burned. Seem pretty flaky to me

I'd Vote for the AC3.  I honestly Believe if done correctly your not gonna hear much of a difference in PCM and AC3.  Let alone when talking about an AUD (ambiance) tape.

Oh and I would stay away from The BeSweet crap.