DVD quality videos - how to question

Hello guys,

I have been trying for the past 3 years to find a standard for my dvd exports.

As you figured out by now, i failed miserably.

I run into different types of projects, different lengths, mostly PAL and SD.


I am curios about what you use for your dvd final product.

I usually end up with nosy video on my dvds.

They are usually 1h, 2h, 2,5h.

The bigger they are, the worse they look.

Usually, the bitrate never dorps below 2,5 mbits. Still, i have a lot of noise on my video.

How can i make my videos look great on dvd, both on TV and PC???

I tried to read off the internet some aspects, but they are hard to find, and very elaborate.

I use Premiere PRO cs4, sony dvd architect, dvdit, encore. My sources are pal videos from snoy dsr 170 and panasonic hvx200 cams. In premiere pro, they look ok, but exported into mpeg2dvd, and ajusted bitrate, so they can fit in a dvd, they look noisy and home-video-like.

And if we are on the subject, for them to look ok and not flicker on tv, i should make the video progressive? (the source beeing interlanced, like the camera shoots). If i leave it the default export settings, pictures start flickering, titles too.

My last project was 2h 15min and i exported it with 3mbits with mpeg audio, dvd multiplexed (only one .mpg file) and it was around 3,6 GB file size.
Added into my architect project, along with 2 picture compilations i ended up with almost 1GB over DVD size of 4,5GB. How do they do it that they can fit a full feature film of 1,8 hors add a bunch of extras, pictures, chapter menus, etc, on one simple DVD (no HD DVD, no DL, no BlueRay, a few years ago, these didn't exist), with high quality product. What compression do they use?

I understand that maybe their source might be film and we are talking about different processes there, but what about concerts and other event products?

I know these are secrets of the trade, yet i have no other place to learn them here, in school or on the field.

I want to make my work one of quality.

Thank you,
Sebastian Plamadeala