How do i know whether my video will fit on a single DVD 5

perfection · Post by **perfection** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:22 pm

I need to convert a (comprssed) avi video into a DVD format. Editing and effects are all done and the video is ready on the timeline.

I now would like to know how many GB will my final DVD movie be, how many 4.5 GB DVDs will be needed.

Another important issue how can i ensure that this video be squeezed onto a sigle 4.5 GB DVD?

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:08 pm

Hi

You could use a Bit Rate calculator
http://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php

This one makes good reading as well.

As a guide 60 minutes per dvd---using 8000 kbps (top quality DVD)
90 minutes using 6000kbps (very good quality DVD)
120 minutes using 4000 kbps (Good quality -- equivalent VHS)

Use Digital Dolby for your audio.

You may be best to make your own templates using Make Movie Manager

See my guides below

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 9:34 pm

Or you could, instead of burning an actual disc, choose, on the final page of the burning module, to burn a DVD Folder instead. That creates the exact structure that appears on a video DVD. It has the advantage that you can play it back on a software DVD player and check for errors without wasting an actual disc. But from your own personal point of view, it also means that you can use a program like DVD Shrink or Nero Recode to squeeze it to fit onto a single layer DVD. I find the quality of discs 'shrunk' this way to be excellent.

perfection · Post by **perfection** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:39 am

Thank you people. I was also investigating the program and would like to verify whether it can be done in this manner

When the the editing is done on the timeline click Share > create disc > DVD. On the screen that appears choose 4.5 GB capacity of DVD (already pre-selected). A bar graph is shown as to how much pace of the DVD will be used by means of a green fill. The fill gradients to yellow if the DVD is dangerously full and gradients to red if it goes above the capacity. Now choose program settings (from icon below right) then change mpeg settings and keep choosing a lower bitrate until the novie fits a single DVD (entirely a green fill only). Can i do it this way too ?

I have uploaded an image here.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn16 ... 1image.png
Please take a look

My image shows 7.31(7.85) Can you explain this set of figures please? The other side has 4.35 (4.70) I guess i can understand that as usable capacity out of total capacity of disc.

Does the file size include space taken up by menus etc ?

[/img][/list]

perfection · Post by **perfection** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:51 pm

Hi

can i do it the way i suggested above??

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:24 pm

Hi

Sorry for the delay in replying to you, unfortunately I did not see your reply until now.

Yes you can do it that way, the video file will be rendered in the burner module and a temporary Mpeg file saved to the burner working folder(I think) This file being used to burn the disc.

As we know little about the source video we cannot comment on the properties used for rendering. One thing¡Xkeep the frame order the same as your source Avi files. Upper or Lower?????

Video Studio needs a mpeg 2 file below 4.3 Gb to burn a disc.
You can create this video file from the edit timeline. Then use the file to burn a disc. ( this approach I recommend as I feel in control)

The image you provided shows the project to be in excess of 2 hours.
Your video file needs to use a bit rate of approx 4000, in order to reduce the file size to below 4.3 Gb.

Which way you choose uses the same amount of memory, takes the same time to render.
Creating the video file prior to burning allows you to play the completed file before burning to disc. Yes the operation is done in several steps, but I like it that way.
http://uk.geocities.com/trevor.andrew@b ... de_avi.htm

The two different figures 7.31(7.85) Gb are in fact representing the same memory size.

1K = 1000byte or does it.
In fact 1K = 1024byte
Increase the size to Gb¡¦s and those 24¡¦s make the difference.
That¡¦s computers for you.
I am sure others here will explain that better.

Ps can you post the properties of your source video (avi)

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:53 pm

Your question(s) and suggested alternate workflow underline another important threshold question I think we all need to ask ourselves as we embark on an editing/authoring project. And that is the question of the quality we are expecting of the final DVD...

If a high quality DVD is our target, then we need to accept that the offset for this is that we can fit less video on a DVD. To get high quality, we need to use a bitrate of around 8000 kbps, and this means we can only burn around 1 hour of video to a single layer DVD (perhaps 10 minutes more if we use a more compressed audio format like Dolby AC-3).

But if we are absolutely convinced that we must squeeze more video onto a single DVD and to hell with the quality, then the bitrate simply has to be reduced. And the hit there is that a lower bitrate inevitably means a lower quality DVD. A bitrate of 6000 kbps will give you 90 minutes per single layer DVD with good quality, and as Trevor has already indicated, 4000 kbps will allow around 2 hours per DVD. But the quality by then is average, and anything below that, the quality drops off even more quickly.

So that is what you must be asking yourself from the start. It is also why I suggested the DVD Shrink/Nero Recode option above since those programs take all the mathematical calculations out of the equation (so to speak!

) And they also seem to produce excellent results without headaches. (The guy who first developed Shrink, by the way, went to work for Nero, so Recode essentially uses the same technology.)

Other than that, though, if we still want a high quality disc but have 2 hours of video, then I am afraid the only viable option is to split the project in two at some logical point in it and burn two high quality DVDs. You could also think about a dual layer disc, but quite a few users have difficulty with those, and some (many?) stand-alone DVD players seem to have difficulty with home-made dual layer discs...