AVI files with DVDWS 2

Number9 · Post by **Number9** » Tue May 31, 2005 9:48 am

Hi again,

I have 22 AVI files, each are around 40 minutes long but only 350-400MB in size (amazingly good quality though...)

I had hoped that as the clips total about 7GB, it would be possible to create a 2 x DVD-5 set with the whole lot.

However, when I import them to DVD WS, it calculates the space taken on the disc according to a disc template (by default, 60 minutes which means that only one of my files will fit per disc...)

I don't have the option to uncheck the 'convert to disc template' option (I presume this is because the video is not MPEG-2) - so the best I can hope for is the longest template which still won't let me fit 11 clips per disc.

If I choose this option, I presume the MPEG-2 will be encoded at a very low bitrate and I'll notice some quality loss from the original AVI files?

Any way to get round this?!

James

Number9 · Post by **Number9** » Tue May 31, 2005 9:52 am

I should mention these are XVid AVI files, rather than DV or anything else...

Cheers!

James

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Tue May 31, 2005 10:59 am

your source videos are highly compressed, and when you want to move them onto a DVD, they will need to be re-encoded to a valid DVD format (per DVD specs).

This might actually cause them to grow in size from their current 350-400mb.

You might be able to get ~6 hours on a DVD5 disc, but it depends on what bitrates you use for your project -- which are customizable. That long won't look pretty (maybe sub VHS quality). Really depends on the quality and nature of your source videos...

Here is some info on DVD specs:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvd

There are also tools at that link that help you deal with xvid and divx videos. Some times those formats don't work well in DVDWS (and many other applications).

Number9 · Post by **Number9** » Tue May 31, 2005 2:37 pm

Thanks George,

Yes it does seem that the files grow exponentially when converted to MPEG-2 - like I say, each file is growing from 350MB to 3GB when written to a DVD (looked great though!)

I guess I'll have to have a play around and see what offers the best quality / space tradeoff.

Thanks again!

James

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:40 pm

I guess I'll have to have a play around and see what offers the best quality / space tradeoff.

Yeah, you'll have to make that judgment for yourself. In any case, it's going to take several DVDs... So, it may not be worth sacrificing that too much quality.... Do you really care if it's 5 DVDs or 11 DVDs?

The typical 90-minute movie (with AC3 audio) fits onto a single-layer DVD with quite good quality. Audio makes a big difference too. 90 minutes of LPCM eats-up about 25% of your DVD. 90 minutes of AC3 or MPEG will only eat-up about 10% of the DVD.