My ingorance is blatant but can you be more desciptive on/about:
"that the MC encoder is bested by the TEMPGnc encoder"

Thanxs, Garo

You can also use Windows Media 9 to make a great video disk, and include a player/installer on the disk, by going to TOOLS>BURN CD>MULTIMEDIA CD/include player instller. Windows Media 9 at 3 meg is MUCH better and smaller than MPEG1, but this won't be playable on Mac (yet) nor on Win95 machines. (ever)

I'm not sure if I have that player - and anywy it's in Swedish and I couldn't find the "Tools" part at all - What I would like to do is render my music video at the highest possable resolution that will still fit on a CD = 750 megs - so any examples of settings that would accomplish that would be great!

//Garo

So are the best settings when making a music video to be saved onto a standard 700 mg CD and played on a PC?

1. Go to www.dvdrhelp.com (same site as vcdhelp.com) and go to the compatibility charts for DVD players. Look up your DVD player and find out what format CDs it can play. There are VCD, SVCD, and XVCD. The first is a standard format, the second is almost a standard, and the third (XVCD) is an ad hoc "standard" for video on CDs. You may find that your DVD player will only play some, but not all, of these formats. This will tell you what your choices are. (I know you want to play these CDs on your PC, but you should be aware of what will work on your TV's DVD player).

2. Once you know what CD standards your player can handle, decide how much time you want to fit on one CD. You can fit about an hour if you use VCD encoding. You can fit about half that with SVCD. You can fit even less with XVCD. The quality, however, improves greatly as you go from VCD to SVCD to XVCD.

3. To actually create the files, go to File -> Render As. For VCD, choose MPEG1. For the other two choose MPEG2. Then, for the template, choose the VCD NTSC template (choose VCD PAL if you are in Europe) for VCD. To make an SVCD, choose MPEG2 and then choose the SVCD NTSC template (PAL for Europe). If you want to create XVCD, you choose MPEG2 and start with the SVCD template. However, you'll have to do some reading on the dvdrhelp site to learn the rest (it's beyond the scope of this post). I can tell you that it requires clicking on the Custom button after selecting the SVCD template and modifying bitrates and other parameters.

4. When you have finished rendering, burn your CD (type "burning" into the Vegas help index to get instructions on how to do this).

Type "VCD" in the Vegas help index to get more info on how to create a VCD.

Actually I don't want to make a DVD - I want a file to be opened/used on a PC. I didn't ask for instructions on making a DVD - rather am still asking for some SETTINGS to get a highest possable resolution that will fit on a 750 meg CD. That was my original question. I have rendered many long useless files, too big, too small, to many rates on the sound or what-ever and just want some examples that fit the criteria I have mentioned here and previously.
Thanks, Garo

Actually I don't want to make a DVD -

I didn't give you directions on how to make a DVD. My post was how to make a CD -- which is exactly what you asked for, both in your original post, and in your response. Go back and read my post and follow the directions. These are directions on how to create a CD, not a DVD.

Perhaps my discussion about looking at compatibility for DVD players confused you. I was merely pointing out that, since most people eventually want to play these disks (CDs with video on them) on DVD players, and since most (but not all) DVD players can play them, you might want to check this out in advance so that you cand create a CD that will play not only on your PC but on your DVD player as well.

Please read my previous post again.

Your confusion may be in that VCD Help and DVD Help is one in the same site and gives instructions for BOTH making CD's and DVD's.

First step; from VEGAS render as a AVI.

Second step; download TMPGEnc from the link at above site.

Third step; Open the file you rendered in Vegas in TMPGEnc.

Fourth step; render the file AGAIN using one of the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 templates.

Shortcut Staying in Vegas:

Render as either a MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. The main reason I gave the TMPGEnc option was in case you make a MPEG-1, the render quality is better.

I think I'll just take and re-post my original question and see what happens.
I am now lost in the options of rendering :-(
So are the best settings when making a music video to be saved onto a standard 700 mg CD and played on a PC?

I have tried all sorts of settings and sometimes I have to wait 2.5 hours or more for a rendering only to find out it's too large, wrong codec or someother thing so - what settings give me a file that will fit unto a 750 meg CD? No one have an full working example?
I don't need any more instructions as to how to render or anything like that.
//Garo

In Pinnacle it tells me how large my file will be upon rendering in a given setting BEFORE rendering - this is afaik not the case in Vegas - so it's very frustrating to not know the results in megabytes until AFTER rendering. The video I am rendering is about 5 min long - I want to choose the highest resolution possable and still get it on a standard CD. Still poking around in the dark for the proper level of resolution to accomplish this .

Either the references are typos or you guys are playing with me.
These don't get any sites: http://www.vcdhelp.com/ or
www.dvdrhelp.com or www.dvd.help.com

I want to choose the highest resolution possable and still get it on a standard CD.

Click on the link below, and you will get a bitrate calculator that will give you what you want:

Bitrate Calculator

Click on the link below, and you will get a bitrate calculator that will give you what you want:

Bitrate Calculator

Link doesn't seem to be correct - either were any of the others I got from this thread - I did get this site though: http://www.dvdhelp.us/
but couldn't find any Calculator there.
Actually I think I'm gunna give this a rest and actually try all the resolutions I can come up with on my own and see which one is the best.

Although I AM confounded as to why no one could just suggest some settings based on some experiance they might have had with Vegas - could have saved me many days and many hours of experimenting. :-(

//Garo

Bitrate Calculator Link doesn't seem to be correct

The site is temporarily down. Try again later.

Well, folks, I have decided to quit contributing to this forum. It is too frustrating to spend the time to tell someone exactly what to do and then get this kind of reply.

However, as a swan song, here is one last attempt:

The VCD format is a standard. You get one hour, no more, no less.

SVCD is almost a standard. At the best quality setting, you encode at 2556 bits per second (which you would find once you use the bitrate calculator that two people have recommended). At this bitrate, assuming that you use a 700 Mbyte (80 minute) CD, you will be able to get just slightly over 38 minutes onto one CD. If you want to get more, you will have to lower the encoding rate. The bitrate calculator will let you know what the relationship is (the site will be up shortly, I'm sure). In the meantime here are some other values:

Minutes Bitrate
40 2484
45 2182
50 1941
55 1741
60 1579

You're welcome.

If the helpful answers of three of the best posters on Sonic Foundry Forum (SPOT, johnmeyer and BillyBoy) didn't satisfy your inquiry, then I think, you're luck is running thin.

I'm just a hobbyist (more like a weekend shooter, as I have a regular engineering day job) but here's a trick I learned in estimating proposed rendered file size within Vegas. Go to-

Tools/burn CD on the Vegas main menu

Your objective here is to open Vegas' Burn CD Dialog Box. Play with your settings first then open that dialog. Vegas will estimate the proposed file size.

johnmeyer,

I, for one appreciate the efforts put in by video pros in here. that includes you.

I'm sure you would reconsider=)

XPUser2003

Garo, 5 minutes? That's pretty short. Even at above DVD quality of 8,000,000 bits per second with 224Kbps audio the file will only be about 308MB. That will fit on a standard CD twice with plenty of room to spare. This rate would hold over 11 minutes on a CD.

What settings are you using that makes a file bigger than 700MB for a 5 minute video?

The answers I'm getting now are considerably closer to what I am trying to understand and I want to apologize for reacting in a frustrated and unthankful manner. In my defence I can mention, however, that most of the links I recieved either were typos or sites that didn't exist or were not up like: http://www.dvdrhelp.com/ or http://www.dvdrhelp.com/calc etc.
I think I am starting to grip the bit rate relationship to file size thanks to johnmeyer and if john or anyone else on this forum ever comes to Sweden then I owe you a beer or the desired equivelent.
Tack så mycket as we say over here
Trans: Thanks a bunch
//Garo

garo...(I'm using VV 3)

I understand your frustration. You don't want to make a VCD, a SVCD, or a DVD. You just want to have your rendered project fit on a standard CD-R, right? A multimedia CD.

Video Factory has all the information you are looking for (and then some)! When you go to render a file in VF, all the information pops up. I don't know why they did not include it in Vegas? (But, that does not answer your question).

Here is the answer you are looking for: (Stick with me)

Hit Tools -->Burn CD -->Multimedia CD.

Here you have all your settings, but not the estimated file size. See the grayed out area that says 'Render loop region only'? (What is up with that)?

Now you need to go back and make your event (all of it) a loop region.

Now go to Tools -->Burn CD -->Multimedia CD....

The box is now checked, and you have your 'Estimated file size' and 'Free space' on your drive.

Check and uncheck the box. The information goes away.

I know I took you on a round about way to do this, but I wanted to point this out to people. Why would you only want to know the file size of a loop region? I'd like to know the file size of any file I render. This is helpful for e-mailing clips, posting to web sites, and for trying to fit a video on a CD-R.

The feature that Video Factory has will give you more options, like how long it will take to download with different speeds, and different settings...all before you render it! Sony...please add this to VV 5!

Hope that helps,

Jon

(Are you buying me a beer)?

What is Video Factory?

Video Factory, is the little brother to Vegas Video (basically a stripped down version of Vegas), I believe it is now known as Screenblast now that Sony took over.