Long Video on Single DVD

[Microdowns]

I have a video (HD source) that runs approximately one hour and twenty minutes. When I create either a DVD or AVCHD disk, the video size is estimated to be greater than will fit on a single layer disk (dual layer for AVCHD). VideoStudio will not permit the disk to be burned. However. I know that the video will easily fit on one disk because the footage is extremely compressible due to portions consisting of still photographs. It appears that VideoStudio estimates the allowable time using the highest bit rate of the variable bit rate range. Is there any way to override the size estimate to allow burning of the disk?

I realize that I can lower the maximum bit rate, but I would prefer to use the defaults in order to optimize quality.

[Black Lab]

AFAIK, the only way to do it is to reduce the bitrate. You can either render again using a lower bitrate or run your current file thru a program such as DVDShrink.

[DVDDoug]

You can estimate file size with the following formula:
File Size in MB = (Bitrate in kbps x Playing Time in minutes) / 140

(Bitrate is usually indicated as kilobits-per-second, and this can be scaled-up to megabytes-per-hour.)

In the formula, use the combined audio & video bitrate. And, if your file uses variable bitrate, it is the average bitrate (of course). It's only an estimate because there has been some rounding, and there will be some file-overhead.

For standard-definition DVD, here is a handy online bitrate calculator. (With a standard DVD, you can fit 90 minutes of high-quality video and Dolby audio on a single-layer disc with a bitrate of 6000kbps.)

[Microdowns]

OK, it seems I didn't make myself clear. Is there any way to get VideoStudio to accurately estimate the file size when creating a DVD? It appears that it only uses the maximum bit rate for the calculation even if variable bit rate is being used. This is too conservative since with virtually any video, there will be portions that can be rendered at a lower bit rate.

If VideoStudio cannot make an estimate for variable bit rate, wouldn't it make sense to use a fixed bit rate?? This would reduce the rendering time for high quality output by providing the same final video quality as double pass encoding for variable bit rate.

[Black Lab]

OK, it seems I didn't make myself clear. Is there any way to get VideoStudio to accurately estimate the file size when creating a DVD? It appears that it only uses the maximum bit rate for the calculation even if variable bit rate is being used. This is too conservative since with virtually any video, there will be portions that can be rendered at a lower bit rate.

If VideoStudio cannot make an estimate for variable bit rate, wouldn't it make sense to use a fixed bit rate?? This would reduce the rendering time for high quality output by providing the same final video quality as double pass encoding for variable bit rate.

Why don't you give it a try and let us know what happens.

[mxyzptlk]

IMO the easiest approach is to just burn the DVD on your drive (choose the "Create DVD folders" option). Then use DVDShrink (it's free) to make it fittable on a standard DVD. The resulting DVD quality has always been good for me.

[Ken Berry]

That will work for standard definition (SD) DVDs, but will not work with the sort of AVCHD I think the OP was talking about as well. They are hybrid disks which burn high def AVCHD to a standard DVD but in a Blu-Ray structure that a Blu-Ray rated played (and not a standard DVD player) can read and play back in high definition.

I have not tried a similar experiment with those disks as the OP i.e. including a lot of still photos. However, I have found the VS estimate of size in the burning module generally to be pretty accurate. Moreover, the only way of actually reducing the size of such disks is in the burning module. The default in the Editing module for Share > Create Video File > AVCHD, seems to be fixed and is not editable. And there seems to be no way to get Make Movie Manager to make an AVCHD template which uses a lower or higher bitrate than the default or to change it from VBR to CBR or vice versa.

You can only do so by actually taking your project file into the burning module and, since you are not using compliant AVCHD files since you are using a project file, the 'do not convert compliant mpeg files' in the middle icon does not come into play. Instead, you can set the properties you want in the little window above that box. And this will then vary the size of the file(s) to be burned to the hybrid disk.

I should note, however, that I was not particularly impressed even with the default VS11.5+ AVCHD file property settings which used VBR max. 15,000 kbps, which in practice means an average of around 12,000 kbps. The end quality is better than SD video, yes, but is definitely and perceptibly not true high definition. Using it, I managed to fit 56 minutes of AVCHD video on a single layer DVD in hybrid format and with room for a few minutes more. It all played back in my PlayStation 3, and for most people it might have been OK. But for me, it now resides in my rubbish bin... Just not good enough. Instead, I used a CBR of 16,800 kbps. This allowed only around 35 minutes of AVCHD on the same size DVD, but IMHO it played back as true HD.

And standard DVDs are cheap these days -- I pay about $0.26 per disc -- so I am not worried about cramming more on if it means getting perceptibly lower quality high definition. Sort of defeats the purpose of having high definition in the first place.

[Farzide]

AFAIK, the only way to do it is to reduce the bitrate. You can either render again using a lower bitrate or run your current file thru a program such as DVDShrink.

Does anybody know if DVDShrink works on Vista?

[Ken Berry]

Definitely does.

[Farzide]

Definitely does.

Excellent, thanks!