Suddenly, Too many gigs

joesailor wrote on 10/13/2004, 10:46 AM

I am fairly new at this.
Does anyone know. I rendered a long project using Vegas Video (about 1 hr, 40 min) and burned it to a DVD, MPEG-2, wav (as a test) using DVDA. It was just over 4 gigs. I had my share of problems and frustrations (I had to render video and audio separately or lost the audio), but I did get a final product, thanks to the forum.

It needed a few changes. I went back to the original .vf, loaded it into Vegas and changed 2 words and lowered the volume on the music track. When I finished rendering the video and audio and moved them to DVDA it is now over 6 gigs. WOW. I am more than amazed.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Where did I go wrong?

Thanks.

Comments

rs170a wrote on 10/13/2004, 10:50 AM

What was your bit rate for the video? For that length, my bitrate calc says a CBR of 5,776,000. You did use AC-3 audio, right?

Mike

joesailor wrote on 10/13/2004, 11:50 AM

Mike,
Thanks, but I am new to this and I have no clue as to bit rate or where to find it. AC-3 audio, no idea where this is or how to find it. I have made several VCDs using CDs. Here I thought doing a DVD would be simple, like push the button to burn it.

I've gotta run, but will check back in an hour or so.
Thanks
Joe

rs170a wrote on 10/13/2004, 1:29 PM

Thanks, but I am new to this...

With all due respect, you really do need to spend some time reading the manual. It's got the answers to these and all others that you'll no doubt have in the next little while.

Start with Chapter 16: Saving, Rendering & Printing Projects (specifically p. 271 in the Vegas 5 manual).

Rant over :-)

When you're ready to render your project, the preferred method is a 2-step process. Render the audio (AC-3) first and then the video (MPEG-2). The reason for AC-3 is that it's comparable to MP-3 audio in that it shrinks the size of the sudio file drastically (on the order of 10:1). his lets you increase the video bit rate to get better quality.

DVD Architect knows that it has to load the corresponding audio file when it loads the video file (as long as they're in the same folder) so you don't need to worry about that part of it.

Steps are:
Audio: File - Render As. Select "Dolby Digital (AC-3)" in the "save as type" box. Use the "default" template.
Video: File - Render As. Select "MPEG-2" in the "save as type" box. Select "DVD Architect NTSC video stream" in the 'template" box.
Now, because your video is so long, select the "Custom" button and then the "Video" button. On this page select either CBR (constant bit rate) and enter a value of 5,600,000 in the box or VBR (variable bit rate) and use values of MAX: 8,000,000; AVG: 5,6000,000; MIN: 3,400,000.

After you've rendered your project again, burn it to a DVD-RW and try it in your player to make sure you're happy with it.

Good luck with your project and welcome to the Vegas community.

Mike

jetdv wrote on 10/13/2004, 1:43 PM

If you want, essentially, "push of a button", render the complete project to DV-AVI, put that in DVDA, and use the "Fit to Disc" option.

If you want to render in Vegas, I have the entire process documented in my Newsletters

joesailor wrote on 10/13/2004, 6:13 PM

Thanks

I will put this information to use.

I was not and am not aware of a manual. All I have had is the pages (about 60 of them) that I printed after I downloaded. I am sure this will help.
Thanks Again.
Joe

jetdv wrote on 10/13/2004, 6:36 PM

Vegas 5 Manual