Bob,

Thanks for your super fast responce. It takes about 8 hours to re-encode. Would you be able to advise me the bitrate ? I don't want to go wrong this time.

Besides calculating the bitrate correctly, also remember that a "4.7" DVD actually holds 4.37 Gig. (base 2 vs base 10)

A good bitrate to try for 126 minutes would be around 4,600,000.

I have a bitrate chart in Vol 1 #7 of may newsletters

Hi Edward,

In fact I am using your calculator. Somehow I am not getting it.What about the min & max bitrate....do I have to tweak them too ? The dvda menus do take up some space.I need to be sure before the long en-code again and am running short of time.

Do I have to adjust the Optimise settings in DVDA ?

Try this -- it will answer all your questions.


jetdv's estimate of 4,600,000 is conservative and will produce a good quality dvd. Trust the process.

Also at 4.6Mb/sec I'd suggest 2 pass encoding which does take a while.
Bob.

Use Nero Recode to crunch it down to fit. It does a very good job. Preview it before you burn it and see what you think.

Just to be safe, I rendered the movie as 1 file at 4 kb/s and the size is 4.33GB. But when I load the same file into Dvda, it shows 6.2 GB.
Where did the extra 2GB come from ?

You've probably fed DVDA something that it will have to re-encode. When you rendered to MPEG did you select one of the DVDA templates?

If anything isn't quite normal, DVDA can be very bad at estimating sizes. Lots of menus can impact this, etc.

if you used the correct template, I'd try preparing the project with DVDA and then seeing how large all the files in the VIDEO_TS folder are - if they come in at or below 4.37GB then you're good to go.

--Scott

Yes, I usually round "down" the numbers given in the chart just to be on the conservative side. I usually left the "Max" at 8,000,000. By default, Sony has the "Min" set at 192,000. I usually raise that to 2,000,000. Once brought into DVDA, you do NOT need to worry about the optimize screen (at least not for the video - there may be other things there to adjust)

Some of the bitrate calculators will give all three numbers: Min, Avg, and Max. My chart only gives the Avg number.

I am really puzzled. I will repeat what I said earlier. I rendered my 2hrs 6 mins video using the mpeg2/PAL DV template at 4500 bitrate.(just to be on the safe side) The size read 4.25GB. Here is the problem: as this file is brought to DVDA, the size bloats to 6.2GB.

What has gone wrong ? I am desperate to get a fast solution. Help !

Did you use the DVDA mpeg2/PAL template? or just any template? The DVDA templates produce a video only file and then you need to perform a second render for your audio, usually AC3.

If you did not use a DVDA template, then DVDA may be getting confused and when it gets confused it can report incorrect size estimates.

Like I said before, try just preparing the project in DVDA (ignore what it ways for size) and then see what size you end up with of the files in the VIDEO_TS folder. If they are under 4.37GB then you are good to go.

--Scott

The thing that really helps this is the Batch Render script, found under Tools - Scripting - Batch Render. Expand the MPEG-2 tree, select the DVD Architect PAL video stream, then expand the Dolby Digital AC-3 tree and select Stereo DVD, and click OK. It will render both audio and video with obvious names. You may want to rename them to something more manageable - but be sure to name them exactly the same except for the extension. i.e., MyVideo.mpg and MyVideo.ac3 When you import the mpg into DVDA it will automatically pick up the ac3 file if they are named the same.

Here is the problem: as this file is brought to DVDA, the size bloats to 6.2GB.

DVDA misses on the estimation sometimes. Perhaps it's doubling the audio or something. Just make sure the settings are correct (i.e. AC3 for the audio) and go ahead and prepare the DVD ignoring any warnings. How big is the Video_TS folder? Probably less than 4.37Gig.

file is brought to DVDA, the size bloats to 6.2GB

I think everyone may be missing the obvious. Once you bring a file into DVDA, if you put that file in more than one place, and then do something to that file in one place that you don't do in another (like add subtitles), DVDA will encode a separate VOB file for the second "instance" of the same file.

james, you need to provide more information about your project and exactly how that file is being used. Is it only used in one place in the DVD project?

If you want to post the DVDA "DAR" file somewhere where I can download it, I'd be happy to take a quick look and see if I can spot something.

Completely start the DVD-A project over again, with a clean slate. Then drag in your 4.33 GB file. It should only say about 4.6 or 4.7 GB once it's actually in DVD-A. I've successfully rendered projects in DVD-A that have said up to 4.9 GB (in DVD-A, not the mpg file) Although it's usually on the very low side of 4.9GB and iffy as to where that exact cut-off point is.

I've successfully rendered projects in DVD-A that have said up to 4.9 GB (in DVD-A, not the mpg file)

Me too. As others have said, DVDA's estimates are lousy. However, James said the size reported was 6.2GBytes, and even DVDA's estimates aren't that bad. Something else must be going on.

The reason I said start over in DVD-A with a clean slate, is because I've noticed in the past, if I drag media into DVD-A and then change my mind and delete it, sometimes the the amount of space taken in DVD-A doesn't change after removing the media, so when you drag in a different file, it just adds on to what it already says in the bottom corner. But if I just start over, it's fine.
There also seems to be a problem if you drag stuff in, in a certain order and then try to change that order, the order won't change. So, I'd have to close it out and start DVD-A with a new project and start over again and it worked.
Seems like deleting or changing some things in DVD-A doesn't always work. Of course some of that may be due to me still using DVD-A 1.0

Within DVDA3c Explorer I'm looking at the DVDA files I rendered within Vegas:

MyDVDProject.mpg 4.34GB
MyDVDProject.ac3 161.75MB

Unless my math is incorrect, that makes 4.50175GB NOT the 4.8GB red warning I'm getting! Menus? Just the plain vanilla default one that comes up. No text edits no additional submenus - nada! Am I to deduce that for some reason - rounding up and the 0.5mb background menu default has added some 300mbs? That is unacceptable. It is unacceptable because it wastes my time and truly weakens my confidence to produce DVDs within the spec I want and need at the 2hour water-shed.

( chilllll ) Here are the facts:

For the video-only DVDA PAL render I did a 2-pass 5,044,000 Average with a max 8,000,000 and kept the minimum to the default 192,000 render. I read Edward's charts and plumbed for this being something that WOULD give me head room when I got to DVDA3c. This produced the 4.3GB mpeg2 file. It took nearly 4 hours - maybe 3.5 or 3.75 hours to render.

For the audio I plumbed for the Stereo DVD - as far as I can ascertain no difference here between the Default and the Stereo - this produced the tiny 161.75mb AC3 file.

I still get this 4.8gb warning?

Grazie

Ok . . I just "crashed" on to see what would happen next . . . those that know, know what I'm gonna say next . .. It worked.



DVDA said it would need to do some work, yeah I thought, and that is gonna be a complete re-render of the hours I'd already done - none of it. It would seem that DVDA3, when near to the 4.7gb limit is overzealous about a few things. Anyways, off it jolly well goes and the render menu starts - clock whizzing around and the time climbing. But what is this? It is saying it has rendered? It is complete? It is ready for me to burn? Surely not! . . Yup, what it must be doing is ONLY rendering that which it needs to do only for the graphics and the various DVD management of the final DVD.

I apologise - only to the point that what I'm seeing is not a FAIR indication of what is needed to be done. The red warning - 4.8 - can only be an indication - it aint the bottom line. So, having my 500mb headroom, with this particular project, I can now get busy with menus and subbies and maybe even some "small" animations. Seeesshhh...

I suppose if I really think about it, DVDA doesn't actually know what the whole project will need UNTIL it has done a really good assessment . . oh of course IT does know .. . Well, then, maybe it could UPDATE the red warning sign to reflect what headroom, if any, I've got. Would this be a good thing?

Grazie

Just go into Optimise, that'll give you a more accurate indication.
Also even menus get audio rendered for them I think, set the default audio to ac3 will help just a little as the minimum menu length is 0.4 seconds.
Bob.

At risk of being a bit off-topic: One thing that may be worth considering, especially for this particular case of having a looming delivery deadline and a very long re-rendering time adding to the stress, is having a handful of dual-layer DVDs handy. I realize they're more expensive, but I just picked up a pack of Memorex DVD+R DL's for about $2 apiece. I RARELY need them, but they come in very handy during crunch times.

David