Slow render and huge MPG using DVDprep

naclhead wrote on 5/21/2006, 8:59 AM
I just learned that it is best to render Audio and video separately when preparing to move to DVDA. I got satisfactory results using render as MPG2 with the "default template" which does both audio and video in 1 file. For a 40 minute project it would take about 2 hours to render and yield a 1.2 GIG Mpg.

I tried using DVDprep yesterday and it took 3 hours and yielded a 2.2 MPG. I won't be able to fit many projects on 1 DVD at this rate. Is there an explanation? Are the settings higher in DVDprep? Also I didn't see a place to set the setting in DVDprep nor could I even see what they are set at.

Thanks a bunch, good stuff.

Comments

naclhead wrote on 5/21/2006, 9:12 AM
I think I found the answer. I looked at the bit rate settings (just learning where and what this stuff is and does). The template for DVD NTSI is higher than the default template. Going to experiment.

Can I make a custom template that does a lower bit rate and no audio and have DVDprep use that template?

Thanks,
JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/22/2006, 9:37 AM
> Can I make a custom template that does a lower bit rate and no audio and have DVDprep use that template?

No. DVDPrep uses the stock Vegas templates for NTSC and PAL DVD rendering. It is designed for people who don’t know what template to use, and frankly, don’t care what template to use. They just want to make a standard DVD. You could lower the bitrate on the standard templates but I wouldn’t advise changing those.

If you want to play with bitrates, then DVDPrep is really not for you. It purposefully doesn’t expose the user to templates. I recommend you make the templates you want and use the included Vegas batch render to output both MPEG2 and AC3 files in one step.

~jr
naclhead wrote on 5/22/2006, 9:58 AM
Thanks jr,

That begs another question then. First off the projects I'm working on are not mission critical. So my goal is to try to squeeze 2 hrs of vid on each DVD. That is what I thought is the limit of a standard DVD.

So here's my question: When creating a DVD in DVDA am I limited by Gigabytes or by time? In other words if I have three 40 minute projects and each are 2.2Gig will they fit on one DVD. The three projects total 2hrs which should fit. But the total size of the three would be 6.6Gig. Who wins? The time or the gigabytes.

Thanks so much
naclhead
JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/23/2006, 6:53 AM
Gigabytes wins. You should be able to get 1 hr 20 min at full bitrate. To get 2 hrs you have to lower the bitrate. There are bitrate calculators on the net that will help you decide what that bitrate should be. Bottom line: the size of the files must fit on the DVD along with any overhead for the menus and DVD structure itself.

~jr