6 hour DVD

[maritime]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and have what I hope is a very basic question.

I'm trying to get 6 hours of video onto a DVD by reducing the bit rate. The question is how do I do that?

The DVD encoder I have right now is Sonic DVDit SE, but am looking to upgrade to ReelDVD. I aslo have Canopus' ProcoderLE which is part of their edting system Edius. There is an option in DVDit to reduce the bitrate, but I don't understand how to get that onto a DVD or if that is what is for.

I appreciate you help!

[rsquirell]

Most software vendors have user forums for their products...if you want detailed instructions I suggest you search them out. Generally, my capture software allows you to adjust capture resolution as well as bitrate...and I find that a combination of 356X480 @2400kbps is almost as clear as a 720X480 @ 8000kbps MPEG2 capture of a VHS tape...the only difference is the capture file is 1/3 the size.

[setarip]

To maritime

If you've already created a DVD "package" (.IFOs, .BUPs, .VOBs) on your hard drive, you can use (excellent freeware) DVD Shrink to accomplish your desired compression...

[maritime]

Thanks for the reply's

I talked to a buddy of mine and he suggested that I compress to MPEG1 format. That will give me the 6 or even 7 hours I need on a DVD at VHS resolution. I'll do some tests (as soon as the power comes back on here - right now I'm wireless in Tully's coffee shop) and let you know what I find.

Cheers!

[ashy]

If you've already created a DVD "package" (.IFOs, .BUPs, .VOBs) on your hard drive, you can use (excellent freeware) DVD Shrink to accomplish your desired compression...

Don't take this the wrong way and absolutely no disrespect to the author of DVDshrink which is an excellent program, but compressing 6 hours of video to fit on to a DVD with DVDshrink will just result in awful quality, even worse than VCD.

DVDshrink is not intended for this much compression. Using TMPG to encode this material to MPEG1 at VCD resolution or half D1 352x480 is the best way to go to get the best quality/filesize.

[rsquirell]

Well...I capture VHS with DVXCEL Test Utility for the Dazzle DVC150 ( so I can adjust the bitrate and resolution...I now use 2400kbps CBR @352X480 which gives me DVD quality indiscernable from 8000kbpsVBR @ 720X480...the only difference is the capture file is 1/3 the size.) But still, the merged file of an 8 hr. tape is over 14GB. I then take the capture to TMPGenc DVD Author, cutout the ads (further reducing size by 1/4) and building DVD files for each individual program to take into DVD Shrink. Here I'll sometimes use a full level10 to compress up to 50% ( quality slightly less....but hard to see difference on the TV.) Then, because my capture device captures in LPCM audio, I'll visit TMPGenc, demux the VOB, convert the audio to mp2 and remux as an MPEG2 2/3 the size of the VOB. I've just done 2 DVD's this week...one with 2 2hr movies and 3 1 hr programs....the other with 1 2hr program and 5 1 hr programs...and they don't look bad...not the highest quality I've made, but pretty good for TV shows.