So, I should be able to fit this project in if I use a bitrate of 5 without any problems, even if the file reports as 5.7GB right now (it's actually 5.18 on the drive)?

I should just go for it, even if it tells me it won't fit?

Thanks for replying.

Yeah, I reduced the bitrate to 5 and DVD Architect still won't let me burn.

Read Vegas rendering settings for a DVD first. Customize the bitrate in the appropriate DVD Architect compliant template and render in Movie Studio and follow the guidelines that KB article gives.
And please read also the linked threads.

Thanks. Giving that a try right now. I already rendered the video. Doing the audio now. I'll report back tomorrow. :-)

Mik

The mpg file it made is 4.9gb and the wav file is 1.2gb. It now says I'm using 138% of the disc space instead of 120% with the previous method of just "Make Movie" in Studio.

Something I noticed in Studio's "Project Properties" is the template was "Custom (720x480, 29.970 fps)" because I changed the Field order setting to "None (progressive scan)." I just changed that back to "Lower field first", and the template automatically changed back to "NTSC DV Widescreen (720x480, 29.970 fps)." I'm not sure if that will change the file size.

I'll give it another shot. After that, I'm lost. This project was supposed to be finished Sunday morning. Ugh. The editing was completed, but I can't get the friggin thing onto the DVD! It's only 1:47 long. That should fit.

Interesting. I did this same project last year. The running time was 1:44, and it fit the DVD fine. The template I used was "HD 1080-60i (1920x1080, 29.970 fps)" with upper field first.

Ah. Now I'm seeing the Customize Template button. I set Constant bit rate to 4,200,000. Let's see what happens in 4 hours!

If you're going under, oh, say, 7,000,000, i wouldn't use constant bit rate. This is when you should use two-pass variable bit rate encoding. Yes, it takes twice as long but it's definitely worth it. On the first pass Vegas will decide which portions of your video need more bits because of fast action or high contrast edges and compress those frames less, while "borrowing" bits from sections that have little action or smoother images.

With constant bitrate you end up wasting bits where they're not needed and getting a lot of pixellation and compression artifacts in the high action scenes.

"I'm not sure if that will change the file size."

It won't, not in the slightest.

Rendered file size is determined solely by two things and two things only: duration and bitrate. Nothing else, not the template, the codec, the file type, the frame size, the frame rate, or any other settings make any difference.

This is why the simple formula of 600/minutes is important and useful. It takes your known duration and tells you what bitrate will fit on the disc. That's all you need to know, and in fact the only thing that does allow you to make it fit.

Now, the answer you get from that formula is a combined video + audio bitrate. You need to subtract the audio bitrate from the answer to get the video bitrate. You mention using WAV, which is huge. It has a bitrate of about 1,536,000 for a CD quality file, or 1,672,000 for a typical DV quality file. That's taking a huge chunk of the 4,200,000 that you're using, and the video would have to be reduced to about 2,400,000 which is pretty poor for DVD. This is why most DVDs use AC3 audio with typical bitrates of 192,000. Using AC3 you'd be able to encode the video at 4,000,000 instead of 2,400,000.

And do remember to use MPEG-2 (that is what a DVD uses). In the Vegas Render As dialog, for video select MPEG-2, and then select one of the DVD Architect templates. You choose either NTSC or PAL and then choose either the standard (4:3) or the widescreen template, depending on the aspect ratio of your project. You then render the audio using the AC-3 or WAV option. AC-3 is a better option for most users because it takes up less space, as Chienworks advises.
All of this and more is in the linked SCS KB article.

Use the Videohelp bitrate calculator.