Has anyone authored a real DVD with RT2000 yet?

[cjyo~]

I work in a high-end DVD production facility and we occasionally get inquiries from very low budget customers who just want to "transfer" their tapes to DVD.

I've been talking with a few co-workers about setting up a home RT2000 system to do this kind of low-budget DVD work.

I'm wondering if anyone has actually successfully used the RT2000 to encode video and authored it to make a set-top playable DVD-R?

I have done some software encoding (LSX and MSP6), with good results, but for real jobs, I would want a hardware encoder like the RT2000.

I understand the RT2000 captures and edits I-frame only, then I would have to re-compress in IBP. Are there any major quality loss problems with this two-step process?

Finally, what software have you used to author discs with RT2000 video? I have been trying to get DVDIT! to work with Ligos encoded video, with horrible results. The final disc doesn't even play in a DVD-ROM with the supplied software player, so I doubt it would play in a set-top machine. The file structure doesn't match other DVDs I've seen before.

Has anyone actually made a consumer DVD player-compatible disc with the RT2000?

Is there a better solution available? Or should I wait for the (secret) next generation of C-Cube based editing cards? When can we expect those to be available?

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

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[Pertti]

cjyo~,

The RT2000 also captures and edits in Native DV format, no matter if the source was Digital or Analog to start with (ie. you can capture to DV format through the Firewire, S-Video and Composite connections)

I don't have a DVD writer, but the test "DVD"s that I've made to a harddisk have played like any normal DVD, and making a DVD out of the "Virtual DVD", is just a matter of copying it to the DVD with the file and directory structure it has created to the HD.

I haven't noticed any differencies in the structure when comparing the DVDit created "Virtual DVD" and a commercially produced real DVD.

... Or did I miss the point completely ?

[cjyo~]

I guess you are having better luck with DVDIT than I am. My early tests, built to cd-r and hard drive, don't allow me to navigate or play the video with the supplied Ravisent player (I also tried PowerDVD).

My DVDIT build file structure had an extra AUDIO_TS folder that I didn't see on other discs. I have since checked more consumer discs and find that some do have the extra AUDIO_TS directory, while others don't.

I think even if I do get DVDIT working, I will probably end up going with the next step up in authoring software for more advanced features.

Please let me know when and if you are able to burn your build to a DVD-R and play it in a set-top player.

I will be using a Pioneer DVR-S201 Recorder.

I am also interested to hear if anyone has successfully used RT2000 video with another authoring program.