50GB project with 40MBps bitrate has 0.2MB instead

KingKRool2002 wrote on 8/2/2013, 11:23 AM
Hi,

I have DVD Architect ver. 5.0 build 178 and I am trying to make an .iso Blu-ray with a fixed MBps of 40, but I can't figure out how to do that. I went to Optimize Disc and set it to 40 MBps, but when I create the .iso file (for example for a 50 GB projected file size), the actual finished .iso file is only half the projected size (i.e. 25 GBs instead of 50) and when I watch the Blu-ray the MBps varies greatly and goes down to 0.2-0.7 MBps for the last 10-20 minutes of most of the videos. I tried increasing the Minimum Video Bitrate under Prefences, but it only goes up to 9.8 MBps. I have a very powerful pc and I want my videos to look the best possible. Right now, DVD Architect is making the videos look absolutely horrible (in terms of quality and pixilation) to the point of them being unwatchable.

I also noticed that the MBps when the videos play on my Blu-ray player usually ranges between 25 and 40 MBps instead of just staying at 40 MBps.

Please let me know how I can have a fixed video bitrate of 40 MBps for Blu-ray projects and how I can make sure that the videos don't go down to 0.2 MBps during the .iso process with DVD Architect.

I checked the actual video files and I previewed the videos in DVD Architect and both viewings are completely fine, so whatever is causing the videos to go down to 0.2 MBps and look unwatchable is happening during the .iso conversion/making process. It has happened several times with dual-layer Blu-ray projects that they end up being only @ 1/2 of the projected GBs size and I need to know how to stop that from happening.

BTW, I made sure to change the project size from 25.00 to 50.00 and it does say that the projected blu-ray/.iso size is @ 50 GBs, but for some reason, it never comes out anywhere near that size. I even tried making a projected 70 GBs project and it ended up being only 31.9 GBs (despite setting the video bitrate to 40). I know that with 25.00 projects, if the size is over 23.3 GBs, it doesn't shrink it to fit on a disc, so I have no idea why a 70.00 project ends up being 31.9 GBs.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Comments

videoITguy wrote on 8/2/2013, 12:20 PM
KingKrod - I cannot fathom all of your message - so I may miss several points you want to make. Let me assume you have an open mind and consider the following.

With SCS DVDArchitectPro I do not believe you can set a fixed bitrate. You can attempt it, but the internal code will ignore your manipulations. Normal Blu-ray disc production will have a variable bit rate of between 27 - 28Mbps. in other words you can narrow the variable rate somewhere between 24- 29 and that's about as much control as you are going to get. The reason the default target is 27-28 is to establish compatibility with most set-top players. Some cheaper players will have trouble in two ways with burned discs, 1) if you go beyond the 28 or 2) if your burn is widely variable between 22 to 29. So your aim is to narrow the variability somewhat to the 27- 28 range.

If you just forget tweaking the target bit-rate the default settings will produce correctly.

Now an issue might be you want to burn quantity volume size to a 50gb disc. Don't bother!

Create your production to fit on one or more 25GB discs...such as Part 1 followed by Part 2 in the production concept if it extends beyond one disc.

You can not get any more quality out of Blu-ray than at the 27.5 bit rate. Period. This will be from the Mpeg2 standard video stream. You can get nearly the same quality out of AVC video stream at 15 bit rate.
If you are using PCM audio streams, you may have to lower your targets (for the video portion) slightly for large full volumes on disc.
That's because all of the targets quoted are for the combination of the multiple streams (recall adding mutliple audio tracks is possible?).
KingKRool2002 wrote on 8/2/2013, 3:43 PM
OK, so HDTVs can't display any difference in video quality after 27.5 bitrate, correct?

I know that the Blu-ray does sometimes have a bitrate of 40 or 50 during the variable bitrate when I watch a disc and press the info/display button on my remote, so I thought that setting it to 40 MBps would be better quality than say 30 MBps (or less). Should I just do 27.5 always (even for videos of max setting games like Crysis 3 with a Titan graphics card)?

Also, my main concern is making sure the videos never go down to 0.2 MBps (nor lower than @ 9 MBps) in the variable bitrate range. How can I make sure of this? If I set the video bitrate minimum in Preferences to 9.8 MBps (which is the highest value that setting goes up to), will that mean that the range will never have a lower MBps when making a Blu-ray?

Any help with this stuff would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help so far.

Thanks.
videoITguy wrote on 8/2/2013, 4:37 PM
Again, while it may appear in DVDAPro that you can "tweak" the bit rate - in fact, you are better off with accepting the defaults to begin with.

Again, I suggest your input be from the highest quality Mpeg2 videostream you can muster out of your NLE output. Then import the video stream into DVDAPro into a normal default Blu-ray project setting. Simplicity is the order of the day.
KingKRool2002 wrote on 8/2/2013, 5:12 PM
So Mpeg2 is better HD quality than AVC? I've been using AVC 'cause I thought it was like Mpeg4-quality (I always thought that Mpeg4 is better than Mpeg 2, is that true?).
musicvid10 wrote on 8/2/2013, 5:42 PM
AVC has better compression than MPEG-2 at the same quality.
There are no inherent quality differences. It's all about bitrate.

You adjust bitrates, if needed, in Vegas.
The bitrate number in DVDA is just a cap.
KingKRool2002 wrote on 8/4/2013, 12:45 AM
Ok, I'm confused about what the mbps bitrate does. My Uncle says that it is used to determine the burning/playing speed of a Blu-ray. Can someone please explain (in noob terms) what the mbps bitrate is and what it affects (in terms of a Blu-ray project/.iso/disc)? Does it have any affect on the video quality/detail? When I increase the max bitrate, the project size increases, so I don't understand how it can't affect video quality? Any help with this stuff would be greatly appreciate. I am a complete noob at making blu-rays, I just want to make a simple HD Blu-ray with the best possible video quality (aka no pixellations or blurry/low quality videos).

Thanks.
musicvid10 wrote on 8/4/2013, 7:41 AM
Bitrate is the number of data bits per second in your video file. Has nothing to do with "the burning/playing speed of a Blu-ray". Yes, it affects size and quality; you have a limited amount of space on a disc, and Time x Bitrate = File Size, nothing else.
Lots of good instructions for making a successful BluRay here, in your program help, and on the internet. Best of luck.

videoITguy wrote on 8/4/2013, 8:34 AM
When the pot on the stove was overstirred, it spilled and boiled over making quite a mess of things. Stick with the defaults of the workflow suggested in previous posts, and say to yourself, "what me, worry? Na!"