140 minute DVD...?

xjasonxisxdeadx wrote on 1/29/2005, 6:23 AM

ok......this is my first encode. I am fluent in Vegas Audio so i'm not that bad.

I have a 140 minute movie in Vegas for export to a single layer DVD in Architect.

Here are my questions...

1. Am I supposed to render the audio and the video separately? I wasn't at first.... Is that why it was forcing me to recompress the audio in Architect?

2. Obviously, the default settings prohibit me from using an mpeg longer than 120 without going over the limit, so how do I set it to just fit....losing as little quality as possible? I don't need any crazy menus or anything.

Thanks!

-jay

Comments

B_JM wrote on 1/29/2005, 6:29 AM

render audio to ac3 224 2 channel

render video to VBR 2 pass 8000 max , 4120 average, 2000 min.

xjasonxisxdeadx wrote on 1/29/2005, 6:36 AM

you guys are awesome!

ok....it's rendering....i'll let you know what the results are tomorrow!

thank you!

Coursedesign wrote on 1/29/2005, 10:10 AM

Yeah, BJ_M, thanks, your help has been just awesome.

I just made a 3 hour time code burn DVD for client review, based on one of your old postings re how to fit up to 6 hours on a DVD-5.

I didn't have to compress quite as aggressively as that of course, and indeed it looks totally OK!

After I made this DVD, I checked the bitrate continuously (easy in PowerDVD) as I was watching different scenes. This was very educational, as now I think I understand better how to optimize bitrates for different scenes (handtweaking where the best quality makes a difference).

xjasonxisxdeadx wrote on 1/29/2005, 1:00 PM

nope....didn't do it.

I tested just the video and it still pops up as using 4.8 GIGs of space on the DVD.

The final file is 4.11 GBs.

Is there anything else I can cut or should I try different settings?

thanks

-jay

Laurence wrote on 1/29/2005, 1:28 PM

That's strange, you should be able to go up to 4.37 Gig and still have it fit on a DVD. Do you have a lot of menu stuff or something?

Here is an online bitrate calculator that you can also download and use from a web browser:

http://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm

xjasonxisxdeadx wrote on 1/29/2005, 2:02 PM

these are the properties that show up in Architect. I have no menu or anything. As soon as I drag the file (video only) the bottom meter goes into the red and says 4.8 GB. Strange.

General
Name: DVD.mpg
Folder: C:\Documents and Settings\Jason\Desktop
Type: MainConcept MPEG-2
Size: 4.32 GB (4,420,757,504 bytes)
Created: Saturday, January 29, 2005, 9:34:38 AM
Modified: Saturday, January 29, 2005, 2:13:28 PM
Accessed: Saturday, January 29, 2005, 4:43:36 PM
Attributes: Archive

Streams
Video: 02:19:49.815, 29.970 fps interlaced, 720x480x32, MPEG-2

Plug-In
Name: mcplug.dll
Folder: C:\Program Files\Sony\Shared Plug-Ins\File Formats\MCMPEG
Version: Version 2.0 (Build 842)
Company: Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

briggs wrote on 1/29/2005, 6:53 PM

I always find myself going back to this thread and doing the 600 divided by number of minutes thing. It always seems to work for me.

-Les

jetdv wrote on 1/29/2005, 7:40 PM

Don't worry about what the meter says. Try preparing the DVD anyway and then see how large the prepare folder is.

NickHope wrote on 1/29/2005, 8:06 PM

Agree with that jetdv, I notice that the meter is giving me warnings or even showing 4.7 but when I prepare the DVD it's just OK.

If you need a tiny bit more space you could drop the audio rate to 192kbps from 224kbps. It will be fine. 192 AC3 is very commonly used. If you need even more space you just need to drop your average bitrate from 4120.

I just made a 115 minute DVD with 2 x 192kbps AC3 tracks, 2 x subtitle tracks and some menus. The video and audio quality are excellent. I did the MPEG2 with CCE, not the built-in Main Concept encoder. My DVD folder is 4.24 GB (4,561,156,096 bytes) so I still have some room. My MPEG2 settings are:

2-pass variable bitrate
average 4800kbps
maximum 8000 kbps
minimum 1000 kbps

B_JM wrote on 1/30/2005, 6:22 AM

the bit rate i told you to use will leave you 180meg of extra space on a dvd-r and 80 meg on a dvd+r

i t will work unless you told me the wrong lenth of the project ...

xjasonxisxdeadx wrote on 1/30/2005, 11:12 AM

i don't know. it still didn't want to fit at that rate. something else must have been making it excede the limit. so i lowered the bit rate a little bit more and had just enough for for the audio at 192. after that...it fit perfectly with like 72 MBs to spare.

you guys have been endlessly helpful. i'm sure I'll be back soon. I'm sill getting the hang of using Vegas like this.

thanks!

avhawaii wrote on 2/1/2005, 1:34 PM

I am about to burn my first 145 minute DVD as well and I have been reading this thread with great interest. How long did it take to render the MPEG2 file based on the successful settings?