VS9 and MPEG Settings question

[leaseahb]

I have been trying to read up on all the information regarding MPEG formats and DVD settings. I'm in a crunch on a project, so please forgive me if these are basic questions!

I have captured video on my computer from VCR tapes. I have edited the video and I need to put it on a DVD that can be played in regular home DVD players. Here are the specs for the video I captured:

MPEG-2 Video, Upper Field First
24 Bits, 720x480, 4:3
29.970 Frames/Sec
Variable bit rate (Max. 8000 kbps)

I have a little under 2 hours of video that I would like to put on a DVD+R disc, but when I follow the directions in the sticky message of this forum - the video file is too large for the disc.

What is a good setting to reduce this to in order to save it on the DVD?

Thanks for any information you can share
Lisa B.

[plooger]

I have a little under 2 hours of video that I would like to put on a DVD+R disc, but when I follow the directions in the sticky message of this forum - the video file is too large for the disc.

What is a good setting to reduce this to in order to save it on the DVD?

Being unaware of any "fit video to size" option in UVS9, I usually just create the DVD folders on my hard drive (using standard DVD quality settings) and then use DVD Shrink to convert the content down to fit on a single DVD. This usually works well, as long as I'm not trying to overcompress the video.

See http://www.dvdshrink.org

[Black Lab]

I also use DVD Shrink with good results. Another option is to reduce your bitrate to 4000. Since your footage is taken from VHS tape, anything above that will not improve the quality and only reduce the space available. You should be able to fit 2 hours worth at 4000 kbps.

[Ken Berry]

There is in fact a reduce to fit option in VS9. But I would have to say it has caused some problems. And it seems only to work when you have a file which is close to the limit of the disc you want to burn it to i.e. you only need to compress it a bit. But I would be more than happy to hear comments to the contrary. I too use Shrink, but occasionally also the Nero equivalent tool (Recode) which was designed by Shrink's 'inventor' and works well with non-copyright discs.

[leaseahb]

Thanks everyone for the information. I do have Nero Recode and didn't even realize it. I do see the fit to target dialog box - cool!

I was under the impression that DVD-5 could only hold 2 hours of video no matter what your compression setting are. I'm guessing this is a wrong assumption. Basically I have 25 hours of video captured from VHS at the bitrate of 8000. I guess if I take that down to 4000, I'd be able to fit more than 2 hours on the DVD? That would be awesome if I could

Thanks again for the info!

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi

There is another option called (Half D1) I think.
This not only reduces the bit rate but the frame size as well.
I have not used the half D1 option but it has been reported as ok for VHS quality.
Worth a test.

From the burner window.
Go to ‘Options Cogwheel’ from the ‘Change Mpeg Settings’

Look at the LP template, this will give you an idea of the settings.
VS 9 indicates 180 minutes per disc

Use make movie manager to create your own template.
Then render the video ‘Share Create Video File’

Trevor

[RichardB]

You created the file with 8000kbps. If you reduce this to 4000kbps constant bit rate you should be able to fit 2 hrs of video onto a single disk.
The 4000kbps rate is equivalent to VHS and it does not make sense to use a higher brate anyway. There should be minimal quality loss if any.
You have a choice of either re creating the video file or use the create disk process to re- render the video.
When you create the DVD go to the options gear icon at the bottom and un-tic "do not convert compliant video files". Then go to "Change MPEG Settings" and select "Customize". You can move the quality slider to 100% and select " 4000kbps" and "constant " rather than variable
It will take a long time to create the disk as the video has to be rerendered in the process. Just make sure you do not have anything in the timeline when you create the disk. I have never had any problems with this procedure.

[Radioman62]

To capture full DVD resolution for VHS as source is really a waste of space.

I have done VHS capture several years now, with the half D1 resolution and burned to homemade DVD's.
In PAL land where I live it's 352x576 and for NTSC folks it's 352x480. The audio will be the same as for the full DVD, 48kHz samplerate and LPCM, mpeg or AC3 (Dolby Digital)
I have used other software then Ulead to capture though. For Videostudio I would have choosed 3500 max bitrate and VBR 2 pass(VS9) as a start.

Maybe you could get 4 hours of video to one single layer DVD

[leaseahb]

Thanks everyone for the replies

I figured I captured the VHS tapes at too high but I figured better to cut the quality back than to wish I had more! I'll definitely keep these notes for the next time I capture video!

Thanks again!!
Lisa B.

[erock1]

Hi Lisa B.,
I know I'm a bit late (pun intended ) but since no one else mentioned it, I just wanted you to have a "Bit Rate Calculator" so you can figure out what bit rate to use to fit content on a standard DVD disc without any fuss. Here's the URL for the calculator: http://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm

It's really easy, just use the advanced mode, enter the total time length of your video (hrs, mins & sec), enter your audio rate and you get the bit rate to use. In your scenerio, if you use a constant bit rate of 3159 and your audio is 224 k/bits you could fit 3 hours of video onto a standard DVD-5. Check it out, very simple and way cool
Regards,
Erock

[leaseahb]

Thanks Erock for the link. I was wondering how to calculate everything up. I figured I'd just use the "hit or miss" method.

Way cool tool!
Lisa B.