MPEG2 file too big for DVD

[maxfrost01]

Hi,

I've been working on a video of my son's school show and I now have an MPEG2 High Def file which shows as 9.56GB in size and 51 minutes in length.

When I try to burn an HD DVD on a standard DVD (4.7GB) I get the message that there is not sufficient room on the disk. Maybe not surprising.

Question: is it possible to burn a 9 to 10 gig High Def file onto a standard DVD without compromising the quality or breaking the file into smaller parts?

[Ken Berry]

The only two ways I can think of would entail quality loss. If you have a Blu-Ray player which is rated also to play AVCHD hybrid discs (AVCHD high def video burned on a standard DVD), then you could convert your HDV mpeg-2 to AVCHD high def mpeg-4 and then burn that to DVD. However, with that much video, you would need to reduce the bitrate of the AVCHD to a VBR with maximum of around 15 Mbps. This will still give pretty good quality, but it won't be near as good as your original HDV (in my humble opinion). I have done precisely that a couple of times, playing the hybrid disc back on my PlayStation 3 which is a Blu-Ray player rated also to play hybrid discs.

To get a high quality playback in such a disc, you would need to use a bit rate of around 17 or even 18 Mbps. But that will reduce the amount of video you can squeeze on a standard single layer DVD to around 20 minutes. That is in fact the route I now take for my hybrid discs since standard DVD blanks are so cheap these days, and I prefer quality of playback to amount of video per disc.

The only other way I can think of is to downconvert the HDV to standard definition DVD-compatible mpeg-2 and burn that to standard definition DVD. With 51 minutes of video, you could use the highest bitrate permissible for a standard def DVD and thus ensure the best quality for a standard def DVD... But you need to be mindful that a lot of DVD players have difficulty playing back standard definition video which uses a bitrate much over 8000 kbps. Theoretically, it could go up to 9800 kbps but you would need to be certain that your DVD player and those of anyone else you give the DVD to, can handle that higher bitrate. The end quality will be excellent as a standard def DVD, but again nowhere near as good as the original HDV.

[maxfrost01]

Hi, Ken

Thanks for the reply.
I think I will probably try your last suggestion (downconverting the HDV) for distribution to other parents - handing them 3 or more DVDs just feels a little over the top! If I go this route can you tell me the key steps from Share/Create Disc to give me control over format and controlling the kbps?

Just one other question. How is it I can buy a superb quality DVD from the stores (NOT BluRay or HDDVD) and watch a 2 hour movie on a single disk? Is it simply that my HD footage is so much better or can they do things we amateurs simply can't afford?

As ever, really appreciate that you guys are out there providing advice.

[Ken Berry]

It's not just a matter of possibly giving friends and relatives 3 or more DVDs, if you are talking about hybrid discs, then all your friends and relatives will have to have a Blu-Ray player which is also rated to play hybrid discs. Apparently not all of them can. The Sony PlayStation 3 certainly can, though.

As for your last question, essentially you hit the nail on the head when you asked if they can do things we amateurs simply can't afford. In the first place, they use sophisticated multi-pass encoders, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, which analyse the video down to the last blip, and calculate the best way of squeezing in the data in the best possible way. We amateurs, on the other hand, get at most two passes. Moreover, commercial DVDs are pressed, and not burned. Those two factors are enough to make all the difference, quite apart from the sophisticated cameras etc used in the original filming of commercial videos.

As for the steps you take with your HDV footage, you can do it in one of two ways. First, you can put the HDV footage in the main timeline of VS, and then choose Share > Create Video File > Custom. A dialogue box will appear and you need to ensure te Save As Type box is set to mpeg. Give the file a name. Then click the Options button. A new dialogue box will appear. Select the General tab. Make sure Upper Field First and 16:9 are selected as well as the PAL frame size (720 x 576) and rate (25 fps).

Then select the Compression tab. Here you have a couple of choices. For best quality you slide the top slider from default 70 to 100. This will nominally give you a little more quality but the rendering will take longer. You could also tick the Two Pass Encode box. This will mean VS will make one pass over the entire video and analyse it, and in the second pass it will apply the best formula for processing it which it can come up with. Again, this will extend the processing time. Set the Video Data Rate to 8000 kbps, and choose whichever audio format you want. Click OK to get out of that dialogue box, then Save on the original dialogue box to begin the conversion process.

As I said, it will take some time. At the end of it, though, you will have a high quality DVD-compatible mpeg-2. Note also that after you produce your new mpeg-2, you go to File > New Project. Don't worry about giving your new project a name. The objective is just to clear the timeline of your current project.

Once that is done, you select Share > Create Disc > DVD. The burning module will open. Use the Add Media button at the top to insert your new mpeg-2 in the burning timeline. Then go to the middle of the three icons in the bottom left of the burning screen. There is a little box beside the words 'Do not convert compliant mpeg files'. Make sure that box is ticked (it usually is by default). That way, your already compliant mpeg file will not be re-encoded. Then build your menus and burn.

The other way should work too, but could possibly be a little riskier. You open VS, then without doing anything else, immediately select Share > Create Disc > DVD. The burning module will open. Then you can insert your HDV files directly in the burning timeline. Since they are not compliant standard definition mpeg-2, they will be converted as part of the burning process. But you need to click on the second of the three icons in the bottom left of screen (the Options cogwheel icon).

A big dialogue box will appear, and in the window at the top, there will be a set of properties probably very similar to the actual properties of your HDV files, or else reflecting your default project property settings. Click on the Change MPEG Settings button below that window, and then Custimize. A new dialogue box, rather like the one described in the first workflow above, will appear, though with only a General and Compression tab. You use the same settings as I described above. Then OK out of that box and OK out of the original. You are back in the burner module. Build your menu and burn.

The only reason I said this is riskier is that the down-conversion process is a complicated one, and I think it is best done as a separate step as described in my first suggested workflow so as not to put too much stress on computer resources. If you follow this second workflow, then you are asking your computer to carry out this complex conversion as part of the burning process, which is already complex enough as it is. Sometimes, computers just can't keep up with all the demands, and keel over. Hence my preference for the two separate steps. You also don't save any time using the second workflow since the conversion still has to be done and it will take exactly the same amount of time as if it were being done separate.

Good luck!

[maxfrost01]

Hi, Ken

Thanks for taking the time to spell out the process which I have followed and (you will not be surprised to know) it works. The file size has shrunk from 9.5 gigs to 2.5 gigs which means I am definitely able to fit the video (and more) onto a single DVD.

Looking at the properties for the two files (big and small) the key differences appear to be data rate down from 25,000 to 8,000 and attributes have changed from 1440 x 1080 to 720 x 576.

Can I push you for just a little more help on creating the DVD from the smaller file?

I want to create a DVD that people can slot into relatively new DVD players and watch on a widescreen television. Which of the Create Disc options should I be using? I ask because sometimes I seem to end up with a DVD that plays 'letterbox' or squashes the images. Do I just go for 'DVD'?

To be honest I face a similar dilemma when I'm trying to burn much smaller HD films which DO fit on a standard DVD - which Create Video File setting should I be using? DV? HDV? DVD? My head starts to hurt! Can you provide a simple guideline or point me to a tutorial?

Thanks again - really do appreciate your help.

[Ken Berry]

Sorry. I already gave you all the information necessary. If you have produced your DVD-compatible mpeg-2 and follow my instructions in the burning module, you will get a 16:9 widescreen video which should fill the entire screen.

[maxfrost01]

I see it - sorry!
Let me give it a go.
Thanks for all your help.