Record 120 Minute DVD

[Admiral_Ron]

I have DVDMF 5 installed with updates and I am having an issue when selecting the format to use for burning a DVD. I start a new project and select CAPTURE and there is an option for selecting the format of the DVD. I can choose DVD LP 180 Minute and it allows me to use it and I can capture and then burn to a DVD. I can also select DVD 60 Minute and it allows me to capture and burn to a DVD. But when I select DVD SP 120 Minute it tells me "The format template is not supported it will use the default format" and then goes to MPEG under the format. Does anyone know why this is?

Thank you for any assistance.

[DVDDoug]

I don't know why that template isn't working for you....

Are you having a capture problem or a rendering/burning problem????

If it's a capture problem, what are you capturing from? (Normally, the capture-format is determined by the source-format.)

There are is a button to customize your DVD (rendering) template. (Sorry, I've forgotten exactly where that button is... maybe somebody else can jump-in and help if you can't find it...)

For your custom template, you need to select the "correct" bitrate. The file size is determined by the bitrate (and playing-time). You can squeeze 2 hours onto a single-layer DVD with a video bitrate of 4500kbps if you use Dolby audio.

Here is a handy online bitrate calculator.

[Ron P.]

I think the button Doug is referring to is the Project Settings (gear-looking icon in lower left). In the Project Settings dialog window, press the Change MPEG settings button to access a menu. From there select Custom. You can adjust the MPEG settings including the bitrates in the Custom MPEG settings.

[Admiral_Ron]

I am not sure where the issue exists, I am capturing from a Hauppauge PVR 150 card using S-Video cable. I can capture fine using the 90 minute template or the 180 minute template and it will burn to the DVD appropriately. But it will not let me choose 120 minutes.

I used the Project Settings and changed it to the 120 minute format and then ran the capture for 120 minutes but it defaults back to the 90 minute format because the record size is too big for the 4.7 GB disc.

[DVDDoug]

I am capturing from a Hauppauge PVR 150

You should be able to use the Hauppauge capture software (WinTV 2000?) for the capture step. And, you can select a bitrate of about 4500kbps for 120 minutes. (You are almost always better-off using the capture software that's specially made for your analog capture hardware.)

With MPEG-2 files, it's generally best to avoid re-coding because it takes time, and you can loose some video quality... But, another option is to use the highest bitrate allowed by the Hauppauge card/software, and then let Movie Factory recode the MPEG to a lower bitrate per your Project Settings. If you do it this way, make sure to uncheck the box that says Do Not Convert Compliant MPEGs. If that box is checked, Movie Factory will ignore your project settings and your high-hitrate file won't fit.

[Admiral_Ron]

Thank you for the assistance. Apparently the "Do Not Convert Compliant MPEG's" is the item that was preventing the 120 minute format from being able to be chosen. Once I de-selected that I could choose the format, but I believe that it is still capturing at the 180 format because before I burn it shows it is going to use only about half the disc's space for a 2 hour video.

I have tried with the WinTV to capture the video and then use ULEAD to burn it but even capturing with WinTV at high quality and converting and burning with ULEAD at 120 or 180 minutes it does not seem to make any difference in quality compared to capturing and burning with ULEAD at 120 or 180 minutes. Should using WinTV be any better?

[DVDDoug]

Should using WinTV be any better?

The video quality should be the same in both cases. The Hauppauge device has an internal hardware MPEG encoder. Both applications are using the same encoder, so there shouldn't be any difference, if you could use the same settings... But, for some unknown reason, you can't select the "120 minute" setting with Movie Factory... I have a Hauppauge card, and I can choose a wide range of bitrates with the WinTV 2000 software. (I could never actually get my Hauppauge card to work with Movie Factory, but then I realized that it's best to use the software that's specially made to work with the hardware, anyway.)

For best quality, use the highest possible bitrate, and don't recode.


Quoting myself

Higher bitrate = higher quality = bigger file size = lower compression = less playing time.

Lower bitrate = lower quality = smaller file size = higher compression = more playing time.

A good "rule-of-thumb" is 90 minutes per DVD. You can get that with a 6000k bitrate and Dolby AC3 audio. This bitrate is typical of commercal DVDs. (The DVD spec allows video bitrates up to about 9,800k, and up to about 10,000k combined audio & video.)