How much video on a DVD?

dand9959 wrote on 12/3/2003, 8:02 AM
As a Pinnacle S8 refugee, I was never able to burn more than 60mins on a DVD, so my projects were all less than that in length, even after moving to MS3.

Currently, I'm looking at a project that will run, perhaps, 70m.

My question is: what is the longest project you've burned to a DVD using VF/MS3 and dvd authoring system of your choice?

What is the upper limit for consumer burners? 2G? 4G? What does that translate to in DV minutes? (uncompressed.)

Thanks!

Comments

ChristerTX wrote on 12/3/2003, 9:43 AM
I made a DVD that was slightly under 4 Gb.
For some reason the Ulead software that I use for burning would not accept the MPEG file unless it was slightly under 4Gb.
I think that it had to do with the overhead of the DVD menues.

It's hard to estimate the time directly related to size. Render your 70min project and as long as it is under the 4Gb you should be ok, including DVD menue.
hbwerner wrote on 12/7/2003, 6:36 AM
I've been burning 2 hour DVDs, and am now sure what your problem is. I save to MPEG2 from Screenblast MovieStudio, than put it on the DVD burning software (Click to DVD) on my Sony computer. The MPEG2 file is over 5 GB, made from a 25 GB AVI file. If your DVD burning software can make a 2 hour DVD (at a slight reduction of quality - see a recent discussion of that on this forum), you should be OK.
merkelck wrote on 12/7/2003, 7:53 AM
I, too, am one of many S8 refugees but I still go back there to burn dvds. The only way you can get more than 60 minutes on a dvd is to render it at reduced quality. In the settings page you can make a custom choice and it will tell you how much video you can get to the dvd. It is surprising to me that I have very little trouble with S8 in that mode but I just could never seem to get through a project without losing something.
MF3 is a dream, now if they would just ad a dvd system to it that was integrated.
Kent
JohnnyRoy wrote on 12/7/2003, 6:01 PM
> I, too, am one of many S8 refugees but I still go back there to burn dvds.

Me too but I could never get it to burn a DVD. It would always fail.

> The only way you can get more than 60 minutes on a dvd is to render it at reduced quality

I get about 90 minutes on a DVD at full quality. I use Variable bitrate with Max: 8,000,000, Average: 6,000,000. This will make the most use of your bits and still give very high quality.

~jr
vwcrusher wrote on 12/8/2003, 10:22 AM
I have a Sony myself, but I planned to use TMPGenc Author to author and burn. How is the quality of using Click to DVD?
ADinelt wrote on 12/15/2003, 9:18 AM
Not wanting to sound really stupid, but how do you set the variable bit rate?

Is this done during the capture or rendering process?

Thanks...
Al
IanG wrote on 12/15/2003, 10:22 AM
It would be set during the rendering process - however, MS doesn't give you the option. With VideoFactory it was an option if you'd bought the pro version of the MPEG2 plugin, though most people didn't see any benefit in it.

Ian G.
merkelck wrote on 12/15/2003, 11:56 AM
MS3 does not seem to allow for changing the bit rate if you choose to render to MPEG2. You can change it if you choose to use MPEG1. When I choose MPEG2, the "Custom" button is not active.
In S8, there is a preference tab that allows a selection for "good/better/best" and then one for custom. This relates directly to the bit rate which relates directly to the available minutes of video on the finished dvd. Of course, you sacrifice quality for more video. The 100% quality equates to 60 minutes and the 37% quality equates to 120 min. Depending on the material, it is pretty hard to even see the difference on most tv's. I make the final judgement on a tv connected to the "component" jacks of a $79 W-mart special dvd player.
The program "MyDVD" has a good explanation of variable vs constant bit rate in the HELP section. It is not as flexible as S8 as far as making a choice of bit rate but the results are the same. Higher bit rate = better quality=least amount on disc. The primary choice of bit rate seems to be governed by the amount of relative motion in the video material. A slideshow could be done at the lowest rate since no real video motion is involved. MyDVD also gives you a choice regarding the audio.