Struggling with MKV shrinking

[Lochtsa]

First, just wanted to this is a nice site with alot of good info.

I am new to this site, and have been reading posts before I decided to post my question.

Here is what I am trying to:

1. Have a MKV file that is 13.5 gb

2. Want to convert the MKV to DVd, but need to shrink the file or put it on multiple DVD's

I used ConvertX to DVD and the result was not good, video was bad due the shrinking. I read a post about Handbrake, it did not work for me.

In conclusion, I just want to convert this large file to dvd format, and whether if it takes 4 dvd's to do it, does not matter to me. Of course, if I could simply put it on one DVD that would be wonderful without sacrificing quality, but I'm sure thats a pipe dream.

Thanks, in advance

[Baldrick]

What do you mean by dvd format? A DVD-Video so you can play on most dvd players? Or just so you can fit it on a dvd?
What happens with handbrake? Errors message?

[Lochtsa]

Thanks for the quick response Baldrick.

Sorry , I was not very clear. Yes, I want to take MKV file and put on a DVD -R and view it in my DVD Player.

Handbrake:

I followed your guide, and it was easy to follow. I clicked on the video tab and put 4400 for the size. The result of Handbrake gave me a file 12.9gb versus the original of 13.5gb. Thus, still not able to burn to DVD Video.

My plan was to use Handbrake, via the guide, to shrink the MKV file. Then use ConvertX to DVD to encode the smaller MKV, and burn the result to DVD Video.

[guns1inger]

Why would you convert the file to slightly smaller, then use ConvertXtoDVD to convert it again ? If you have ConvertxtoDVD, convert the original file to a DVD and burn it with imgburn. Don't add a pointless, quality reducing extra step in between.

[Lochtsa]

Why would you convert the file to slightly smaller, then use ConvertXtoDVD to convert it again ? If you have ConvertxtoDVD, convert the original file to a DVD and burn it with imgburn. Don't add a pointless, quality reducing extra step in between.

I think you misunderstood me. I am trying to convert the original 13.5 gb file to 4.34 to put on a dvd. I was explaining to Baldrick that Handbrake trimmed the file from 13.5gb to 12.9. Like you stated, it was useless and pointless. I must have made a mistake somewhere in the settings.

I tried using ConvertX to DVD, with the original 13.5 gb, and the result was very low quality. I was hoping there are better alternatives out there to reduce the size of this file and burn it to DVD Video.

I would also not have a problem to putting this big file on multiple DVD Video discs. I am currently looking at a program called WinX HD Video Converter, but was just wanting some input from others.

[poisondeathray]

DVD video is standard definition 720x480 for NTSC. I'm guessing your .mkv file is HD. So it's not going to look good no matter what you do, even if you put it on 10 or 10000 discs. This is a limitation of DVD-Video (DVD-video meaning video playable in standalone players, not a data disc)

Get a blu-ray player, media box (like wdtv, popcorn hour), or htpc, and you will get HD and full quality

[guns1inger]

I have found that the default setting for ConvertXtoDVD 4 is not great. They have changed the quality settings to be based on preset running times, and not related as strongly to the actually running time of the video. The first few encodes I did were woefully undersized and therefore lower quality. You can try playing around with those settings, or try a different program. I would suggest AVStoDVD. It is free, uses HCEnc, and is well supported.

[Lochtsa]

I would suggest AVStoDVD. It is free, uses HCEnc, and is well supported.

AVStoDVD worked very well, thanks for the help