best format for a 2 hr dvd on 4.7?

[brucefl]

Well I had to re-record it from tape.
I was wondering because I have never done such a long one,
what may be the best settings as far as bitrates trying not
to loose any more quality than necessary.
Thanks Bruce

[Ken Berry]

That would require a bitrate of 4000 kbps. Depending on the original quality, this will only give you as good a quality as VHS tape. But if it came from a tape source other than DV or HDV, then you won't be losing much in any case...

[brucefl]

Thanks,
I thought it would be around there. Yes, from a vhs and actually it was an older camcorder and it was not the best quality to begin with
I will tweek it to see what I can get.
Bruce

[Ken Berry]

If it was not the best to begin with, then 4000 kbps might be appropriate. But with older tapes, I usually capture using Firewire via a mini DV camcorder used as passthrough. This maximises the quality, whatever it happens to be. And then if it is all too long for a single layer DVD, and I still want to keep the best quality, I happily divide things into two and use 6000 or 7000 kbps. Many say that you will never get better quality than with 6000 kbps in any case from an analogue source. That may be so. But if you have two hours of video, and can evenly divide it into two parts of approx. one hour each, then you could even use 8000 kbps for each. May be a waste of bitrate but at least you will then know you have the best quality possible.