Maintaining video quality in VS X4

[santiam]

I burned a DVD of some .MOV clips, and the quality of the video on the DVD is noticeably worse than the original files. The size of the original files is 2.9 GB, but they are shrunk down to just 2.01 GB on the DVD. The bitrate is also significantly lower. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

[BrianCee]

Perhaps you could explain a bit more about what you are trying to do and how you are going about it.

Are you trying to burn .mov files direct to the DVD - what procedure are you using.

are you tying to burn a DVD which will play on a standard DVD player - which means converting the .mov files to mpeg - how exactly are you doing that.

[Ken Berry]

...and if your .mov file is in fact high definition, this could help explain both the quality and size loss... Can you please right click on the .mov file in the timeline or library window and copy ALL its properties here? Then we'll have a better idea of what might be going on.

[santiam]

The.mov clips are standard definition, and I'm trying to burn them to a DVD that will play in DVD players. This is the Properties screen for one of the clips. This particular clip is 754 MB, but when I try to burn it to a DVD using VS X4, it is only 588 MB.

[Ken Berry]

I am assuming that you do any editing then go immediately to Share > Create Disc > DVD, but can you confirm that you are doing that, please? If so, I would suggest that instead you go first to Share > Create Video File > DVD. This will then convert your .mov file to a DVD-compatible mpeg-2. You then start a new project and go to Share > Create Disc > DVD, and when the burning page opens, you insert your new mpeg-2 file.

And I wouldn't worry too much about any change in file size. Your original video, while using the .mov extension, is encoded using an MJPEG codec, and the MJPEG format, while nowadays somewhat passé, produces very good quality though large files. Conversion to mpeg-2, which uses different algorithms, could account for the small decrease in file size.

[santiam]

You're correct, that's the method I was using to burn DVDs. I tried the method you suggested, and the size of the clip still comes out to 588 MB when I burn it to disc. I guess that's just a result of converting from one format to another.

However, I also have a DVD-compatible mpeg-2 video file that I am editing. This file is 5.24 GB, but when I try to burn it to DVD, the file size increases to more than 8GB. There is no conversion necessary, so why is the file size increasing? The window below shows file's properties.

[canuck]

Can you post the properties of the files that is created?

[santiam]

Here is a 3.5 GB clip that is already DVD-compatible mpeg-2. I simply added a few chapter points to the clip, and the output file expands to 6.5 GB. Can someone please help me determine what is causing the file size to change so much?

Before:


After:

[canuck]

You changed the bit rate from a max of 6124kbps to 8000kbps.

Are you going to burn that 1:42 mpg video to a DVD? If yes then you should realize that a standard 4.7GB DVD can only hold 60 minutes of video at a best quality setting. To make that long video fit on the DVD you will have to reduce the bitrate until it fits or split the video over 2 DVDs.

[Ken Berry]

With that DVD-compatible mpeg-2, after editing it I would suggest you choose Share > Create Video File > Same as First Video Clip (as long as the first clip is indeed some of that mpeg-2). That way the original properties, including the 6124 kbps bitrate, will be applied to the new video. And indeed, with a bitrate like that plus Dolby audio, you should just about be able to fit your 1 hour 42 minute video onto a single layer DVD. If it is still too large, then do a custom conversion and lower the bitrate to 6000 kbps.