The files i think are 320x240 or so. No, they're not full quality. is this a normal video file size for this? I just want to make sure there isn't a problem with my render settings. Just kind of a bummer that only a few of these will fit. i guess 6 or so. is there a way to render them at a little less quality since they're going IN compressed?

You MAY be able to set the encoder to render them at that resolution, I'm just not certain if that means wyou end up with a nimage that size on the screen or if the DVD player will zoom it up to fill the screen.

I'd do a test run first, not only to check that but becuase you are not within DVD specs. Most DVD players should play it BUT...


I'd also try it both ways to see just how the quality looks. Up scaling in VV may give better results than leaving it to the DVD player.

most likely what is happening is the original files are mpeg-1 (not mpeg-2). so thusly and towit herefor afterward you are compressing an mpeg1 to mpeg 2 and the bitrate is set different and thusly the filesize will increase.

You can bring down the bitrate if you want, or just crunch it in the DVD authouring application (DVDA...right?)

But here is where my math is funny....if the files become around 500 mb - 4 files only come to around 2 gig. Last I looked a disc could hold (at least) 4.7 gig. so wouldn't that be more like 8?

How long are the video's in question? I'm making DVDs with some extra compression getting about 5 hours of video on a disc that still looks pretty sharp (using DVDA)

One other thing you could try, since these files are just for personal use in your home ... see what happens if you just write all the original MPEG files to a data disc (not a DVD format, just a data format). You can experiment with a CD-R first if you want to be cautiously cheap. It's possible your DVD player will show you a menu of filenames from which you can select. If this works, try the same thing with a data DVD disc. If it works, you should be able to get about 40 of these videos on a single disc. They will be the same quality as the original files because they are the original files. As a nice bonus, you will have saved hours or days of rerendering time.

If it doesn't work, you might want to still use this method anyway and spend under $50 at Wal*Mart for a cheap Apex DVD player for your son. With the time and effort you save the $50 may be worth it. My Apex 1200 DVD player handles this very nicely. It will play just about any MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 file i dump on a data disc. It's a very handy and fast way to store videos as long as i'm not worried about being compatible with other folks' players.