DVDA4 Size Estimation Waaaaaaaaay Off

YesMaestro wrote on 5/27/2007, 10:33 PM
I have 10 mpg2 files that Windows shows is a total size of 4.8 gigs. For some reason DVDA4 shows a total of 14.2 gigs. I am going to put it on a dual layer disc and setup the parameters in my project to reflect this. Yet DVDA want to recompress all the files even though Windows says they all fit on the disc. Even Nero shows its only 4.8 gigs. Is there a way to let DVDA go thru the authoring process without having it optimize all the files? Thanks

Paul

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 5/28/2007, 4:02 AM
Ignore the optimization step. Just let it prepare anyway. Chances are it will really end up being 4.8GB when you're done. DVDA is notoriously bad with it's size estimates.
GeorgeW wrote on 5/28/2007, 5:30 AM
What are the properties of your 10 mpeg2 files? Perhaps they are not dvd-compliant, and so DVDA believes it has to re-render in order to make them compliant...
johnmeyer wrote on 5/28/2007, 8:25 AM
You have two separate problems:

1. Bad size estimate.

2. Recompression of MPEG-2 files.

The second one is the root of the problem. MPEG-2 files should not need to be recompressed. Save the project, close DVDA, start DVDA, re-open the project, and check the DVDA Optimize dialog again. Do the MPEG-2 files still need to be recompressed? If so, where were they created? Vegas? Some other application? Are they really MPEG2? You could check with GSpot and see what it says.
GeorgeW wrote on 5/28/2007, 8:59 AM
MPEG-2 files should not need to be recompressed.

That's a misleading statement -- MPEG2 does not "automatically" mean DVD-Compliant...
YesMaestro wrote on 5/28/2007, 1:35 PM
MPEG-2 files should not need to be recompressed.

That's a misleading statement -- MPEG2 does not "automatically" mean DVD-Compliant...

That is true. I used SUPER to convert the divx files given to me to mpg2 with ac3 audio with the proper dvd specs(or so I thought). DVDA was saying (under the optimize feature) that both the video and audio were not dvd compliant and therefore wanted to recompress everything. As far as the file sizes being way off, for some reason, Windows & WMP was reporting the lengths of the clips were about 1/4 the length and size of what they should have been. Hence my problems. I decided to go a different way to make a dvd. I guess I was doing something wrong with SUPER.

Paul
bStro wrote on 5/28/2007, 1:56 PM
In DVD Architect's Explorer window, right-click the MPEG2 file and choose Properties. Paste the contents here so we can see the file specs. If DVDA said that the AC3 has to be re-compressed, too, do the same for that.

Rob
YesMaestro wrote on 5/28/2007, 3:46 PM
Rob, here is the properties of the file thru DVDA. Wierd thing is, it says it is 513megs, but under Disc Spaced Used it says 1.5gigs.

Paul


General
Name: Nick Skateboarding01.avi.MPG
Folder: D:\Nick Renders
Type: MainConcept MPEG-2
Size: 513.84 MB (526,172,160 bytes)
Created: Monday, May 28, 2007, 6:28:12 PM
Modified: Monday, May 28, 2007, 6:36:51 PM
Accessed: Monday, May 28, 2007, 6:41:16 PM
Attributes: Archive

Streams
Video: 00:22:31.217, 29.970 fps progressive, 720x480x32, MPEG-2
Audio: 00:22:31.123, 44,100 Hz, Stereo, MPEG
GeorgeW wrote on 5/28/2007, 4:14 PM
General


A couple of reasons why DVDA might be re-rendering:

1) mpeg audio -- it will allow AC3 (Stereo or 5.1), or LPCM audio (both at 48khz)
2) your video is 29.97 progressive -- this should be interlaced
ECB wrote on 5/28/2007, 6:32 PM
In your DVDA project select Make DVD, then Next, then Optmize, In the left column select a mpeg and in the right column select video or audio and if see DVDA is scheduling a recompress.

If you created this mpeg2 with Vegas you did not use DVDA Architect NTSC Video stream template because the stream is progressive not interlaced. Progressive by itself should not cause a recompress but the other parameters could be incorrect. Make sure you choose the DVDA Architect NTSC Video (or WS) stream template . HTH.

Ed
johnmeyer wrote on 5/28/2007, 9:11 PM
GeorgeW is exactly correct: DVDA will not let you create DVDs with MPEG audio; progressive video is certainly allowed, but I have never done it, so I don't know what "gotchas" await.

As for the project being too large, did you add subtitles, multiple audio channels, or multiple instances of the same file? Did you use any of the video for animated buttons or menu backgrounds? If these things are done incorrectly, you can end up using the same assets twice (which will make the project size explode) rather than just having two pointers to the same media (which adds virtually no size to a project).
YesMaestro wrote on 5/29/2007, 8:01 AM
I hadn't even created a menu or anything else yet. All I did was add the mpg2 file to the project and the reported disc space used almost tripled compared to what the file size is. I used to render out in Vegas mpg2's with embeded audio and I know DVDA would recompress it, but it never gave me such a file size vs disc space used discrepancy.

Could it be that it is calculating necessary disc space when it gets recompressed?
bStro wrote on 5/29/2007, 1:33 PM
Could it be that it is calculating necessary disc space when it gets recompressed?

Yes. The Disc Space Used is an estimate of what the final size of the DVD will be. If DVD Architect has to re-encode any content, then the Disc Space Used will reflect the size after that content has been re-encoded, not the original file's size.

That said, DVDA seems to overestimate, so even that number will usually be a bit of a stretch.

Rob