My client has media center computer connected to LCD screen and plays all rented Blurays on it; there is a problem with my Bluray disc produced for him (pixels, skipping) and he wants to play content of my BD directly from portable USB hard drive. How can I produce such compilation with chapters and menus to be played by Cyberlink PowerDVD player??? Please advise. Thanks in advance,

Cyberlink PowerDVD has issues with correctly authoured BluRays playing from HDD...
They seem to believe that there's copyright infringement happening..

Although you can playback the .mt2s streams, you can't emulate proper menu buttons and actions.
I can't help you beyond that..

Good luck with finding this piece of software..
Otherwise, try burning slower, or use a good quality blank...

The issue of freezing and skipping should be dealt with at your end...

Thanks; I use TDK media and Verbatim at x2 and 15Mbs mp4 using Sony Vegas DVD Architect; I guess these are one of the best media I can get.

I stick with Mpeg2....Even at bitrates of 18mbps, i've got no issues with quality, and the encode times are something i can live with.
15mbps of h.264 seems steep for my tastes...
Perhaps his playback device chokes on those bitrates..I'm sure that even the Hollywood movies aren't that high...

Good luck!!!

Peter,
What settings do you use for mpeg2?

I use a bitrate calculator (http://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php) to push the settings to the max.

Usually, a 2-3 hour wedding gives me about 18mbps..
I'm currently shooting HDV at 1080 30F.
I'm not bothering with interlaced anymore...

I also let Adobe Encore do my encoding..It seems to be fussy and not allowing outside encoded .m2v files..

But it's all subjective.
Let your eyes be the judge.

well...so why do you think that my 15Mbs is too much info for player if you use 18Mbs; would mp4 @ 15Mbs be so different than Mpeg2 @18Mbs? I started compressing with mpeg2 but after a year I switched to mp4 which in my opinion is much better and universal

No....
It's not more universal..Not for your BluRay question.
MPEG2 for BluRay is still King IMHO.


The H.264 codec that creates your .MP4 file allows for better compression efficiency then a video made with MPEG2...

So, if you've got 10 minutes of video on a Bluray, there shouldn't be any difference between viewings..
There's plenty of bitrate and space to go around.
But if you bump up the hours, to say 5 hours of footage, then H.264 wins hands down...

But don't forget, the encoding times take twice as long with H.264, and people like me with older computers would rather use MPEG2....

As far as your question on quality is concerned, it depends on the source footage..
You'd be surprised at some of the bitrates of Blockbuster DVD videos..The pictures are beautiful, and the bitrates are surprisingly low...
It's because they're using progressive footage shot with expensive cameras, and don't need to waste unneeded bitrates to scenes that have no action.

Do a test sample of 2 minutes of video, and come back with your results...

I learned it hard way not to put more than 2.5/3 hours on BD; ALL cases with pixelation or skipping disc were after approx. 1hr 30 minute mark when laser were moving out towards the edge of disc and it follows the track with different speed, at that time reading was sometimes unstable; I rather divide the footage and spend $3 extra on another BD than redo it...

I started with mpeg2 when I begun my adventure with HD but very quickly I noticed that problems were solved when I switched to mp4 and lower compression. I do a lot of Indian weddings were there is such incredible amount of details to compress (on their saris for example) that mpeg2 compression would have to be at 25mbs (and even my BD player couldn't handle that); I can achieve same amount of detail when using mp4 (two pass @13MBS). I do weddings and it is impossible to fit entire wedding on one BD because there is dancing footage on it and mpeg2 @ even 18mbs couldn't handle it.

Going back to my original question I guess I will consider using mxf files on the usb hard drive so customer can play it using vlc player. Any suggestion which format would be best?