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  1. Okay so 2 years ago I made a project of burning videos to DVD. It took me all day to figure it out (trying out a lot of different software, making my confusion even worse), but I was able to make 2 DVD-Rs with 10 videos apiece. The quality is pretty good, and the total video time is around 240 minutes. I used standard 4.3 GB DVD-R. I used all freeware with no watermarks. The videos are AVIs and about 230 MB.

    Now that I've got a bit of free time, I thought I'd finish this project. The problem is that I burned the discs on my old computer which recently died. I tried using Windows movie maker but I can fit 5 videos tops (divided the same way as the previous videos). In DVD-flick, it's even worse - 3 videos and it wants to convert the AVI to VOB files that are a GB a piece! I ripped one of my previous DVDs to the computer I'm using now to find some clues (something I had never done before, so pardon if I sound stupid when describing what I found) and opened up an ISO in winrar. In the ISO video files were VOB files that were only about 455 MB a piece. This what I'm trying to re-create.

    SO I'm asking for help in what I could have possibly done to make these awesome DVDs. I tried making an ISO of the next 10 videos but the DVD only played on my computer and not on my DVD player which leads me to believe it has something to do with converting and compressing VOB files.

    I know I could just go with having less videos on a DVD, but it's the principle of the thing now. I have a lot of home movies and projects that I want to work on and would love any help on how to get the most bang for my buck per DVD-R. I appreciate it!
    Last edited by persephoneflower; 6th Apr 2012 at 15:33.
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  2. Yes, you will need some form of converter for file formats like avi, mp4, etc.
    Take a look at AVStoDVD or ConvertXtoDVD.
    If you have lots of video in standard DVD VIDEO_TS folders (BUP, IFO, VOB stucture) then DVDShrink can reauthor them, combining them for burning to a single disc. Ditto for actual DVD discs. It can reauthor to an ISO. Maybe you used that at some point?
    Last edited by transporterfan; 6th Apr 2012 at 15:46.
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  3. Member AlanHK's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by persephoneflower View Post
    Okay so 2 years ago I made a project of burning videos to DVD. It took me all day to figure it out (trying out a lot of different software, making my confusion even worse), but I was able to make 2 DVD-Rs with 10 videos apiece. The quality is pretty good, and the total video time is around 240 minutes. I used standard 4.3 GB DVD-R. I used all freeware with no watermarks. The videos are AVIs and about 230 MB.
    Whatever encoder you use, you have to find how to set the bitrate.

    I make discs using HCEnc to make the MPEGs. Using bitrate about 2200 or 2300 will give about 4 hours fot 4 GB, plus the audio this fits on a DVD.
    Lower than many would recommend, but works for me.
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  4. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    a blank dvd is about 25 cents. get a grip and make quality dvds with a reasonable amount of video on them. 240 minutes per disc will make them look like crap with a bitrate around 2mbps. make 2 hours the max and it should look ok with about a 4mbps bitrate.
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  5. aedipuss, thank you, except that I have a few DVD-Rs left and if I can recreate whatever the heck I did before it would be best. If you actually read my post you would have read that I SAID the quality was decent with that much on it. So why would I want to keep switching out DVD-Rs for a couple hours of watching my videos? I understand it's not the normal, which is why I'm asking for any suggestions.

    Transporterfan, I am using AVStoDVD now and it again wants to make the file about 1GB. I will try to figure out bitrate stuff. I know the software I used before was pretty intuitive and I could set the bitrate and quality.

    AlanHK, thank you. I will give that a try.
    Last edited by persephoneflower; 6th Apr 2012 at 16:01.
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  6. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    I have an educated guess about what's going on:

    If you look at the "What is DVD?" section, you'll see the folder/file structure/layout for DVD-Video.

    There, you'll see that you have IFO & BUP, and VOB files. The IFO files are the Navigation/Playlist "info" files, the BUP are just "back-up" copies of the IFOs (kept at the opposite end of the disc for safety reasons), and the VOB files are the "video Object" files (aka the media files).

    The VIDEO_TS ones are the "root", or first play items (not what you usually want except menu). The VTS_##_## ones are the ones with the programs you want to create. They create "title sets" (hence the "TS").

    Each VOB file can be a MAXIMUM of slightly <1GB. There doesn't necessarily need to be a MINIMUM, but some programs pad the VOB out to the full <1GB. What you need is software that will either:
    1. Put all your programs into a single titleset (VTS_01_##) and use the IFO Playlist feature to jump to each program's start
    or
    2. Put EACH program into its own titleset (VTS_01, VTS_02, etc).

    You also want an app that DOESN'T pad the VOBs. Most usually don't for the ENDING Vobs in a series, but some apps can use multiple titlesets and some can't.

    The apps I use are Pro apps where you can easily make these fine adjustments (at the cost of complexity and $$$), so I won't really make a recommendation about those suggested already.

    Just use a DVD-RW disc and test a few times with the various available apps till you get it right. Make sure you notate what you do so you can repeat it, though.

    AFA Quality:
    If you are happy with it, I guess that's all that matters. 240 Minutes IS alot of MPEG2 to put on a 4.3GB disc!!

    You might get less bitrate-starvation artifacts if you dropped from Full D1 (720x480) to 1/2 D1 (352x480) or 1/4 D1 (352x240, aka VCD quality). If the sources are already at one of those sizes, they are more of a natural option. *Note: some apps don't know how to handle these resolution options in DVD-Video.

    Scott

    edit: I do think you'd notice the quality difference if you upped your bitrate to level aedipus was suggesting. Perhaps you could buy DL discs (7.9GB)?
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  7. I am confused how you have lots of 455 MB VOB files. As a rule VOBs will fill a disc (depending on how many files you load into your chosen converter app) and, usually, all but the last VOB will be 1GB. That's a standard. Even 10 files loaded into a video-to-DVD converter will produce 1GB files. The menus would use chapter marks to jump to a position within the VOB itself when you selected which movie to play. Do you have menus or do these files play sequentially in your DVD player?

    If you have lots of small VOBs then either you had a very odd/none-standard video-to-DVD converter or else you used a straight video converter and saved each conversion (individually or batched) to a VOB with a set size limit.

    I am also unsure how you managed to incorporate them all inside an ISO using a single converter app.
    Apart from VOB files, are there IFO or BUP files inside the ISO container?
    I suspect you used a converter app and an ISO maker of some sort, rather than a video-to-DVD converter.

    Maybe you made lots of small VOB files and created new IFO files with IfoEdit?
    Last edited by transporterfan; 6th Apr 2012 at 18:00.
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  8. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    It's possible, just not standard. You can have up to 99 Titles, so...must depend on the app (or its engine).
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  9. Cornucopia - thank you for all the great info. I may just get 7.9 GB discs but the principle still stands haha.

    transporterfan, I'm confused too xD but yet, here they are. Now, if I recall correctly I used A LOT of different freeware programs that day figuring out what I needed to do (deleting most of them and crying in frustration). In the end, I'm fairly certain I ended up with a two step process (as you suggested) -which is why this is so much harder remembering what I did. Once I had everything sorted out, I remember it was a breeze to add my files, convert, ??? = awesome DVD. I didn't set up menus or anything fancy. Like I said, the whole thing with the ISO is just what I ripped from one of the DVDs, but it did contain the IFO and BUP files as well. So, yeah, mystery indeed.

    For this particular project continuation, the source videos are at 640x480. I think I may have used a lower resolution but, like I said, not low enough that it came out pixelated. My current DVDs look nice enough (almost no noise) on my 27" screen that I normally use (it's a super sweet DVD-VCR combo to boot haha) but also looks the same on my dad's 46".

    I know it may not seem like it but I think I'm starting to understand better what I'll need to do, so thank you everyone!
    Last edited by persephoneflower; 6th Apr 2012 at 18:49.
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  10. Remember to call back and tell us how you did it. We are all curious...don't leave us hanging! Lol. Good luck.

    Edit:
    If you use MediaInfo on one of your old video files (VOB) you can copy the information for bitrates etc and port them across to your new converter.
    Last edited by transporterfan; 6th Apr 2012 at 18:57.
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  11. transporterfan, will do! Thanks!

    EDIT: Wait, is there an advantage to burning and ISO? Or do DVD burners automatically create it and I just did mine in a more round-about manner? Just curious. I hope I can find a decent batch converter. I know the one I used before I loved ;_; alas! I've found a couple with batch conversion, which would make things easier, so I'll give them a try and let you guys know what worked out.

    EDIT Part 2:
    Got the info from one of the ten VOB. The data is as follows for anyone who is curious
    MPEG-PS: 445 MiB (is that like a MB?) 24min 22sec
    720x480 (16:9) ratio at 29:970 fps
    Overall bit rate: 2552 Kbps

    does any of this add up to explaining how I got that much data on one disc? The quality seems pretty high even though the bit rate is low. Like I said, it looks pretty good on screen. I guess I just need to convert AVI to mpeg, put in those values, and just sit back and convert?
    Last edited by persephoneflower; 6th Apr 2012 at 20:08.
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  12. An ISO is just a container. Imagine it like a box you put all your files in. On the top of the box (which the computer can read, the header) is information about what is in the box and exactly where to find an item within the box.
    Some devices can read ISO's some can't.

    AVI and MP4 are also containers. The beauty of a container is that they can hold different things, but keep everything in one place.

    I imagine your ISO contains an AUDIO_TS and a VIDEO_TS folder. The IFO, BUP and VOB files go in the VIDEO_TS folder.
    The AUDIO_TS folder is, generally, unused for DVD videos and remains empty.

    What you need to do is create both folders.
    Load your videos into your converter and set a limit to your file size...445 MB
    Set your output as (VOB) and the output location as the VIDEO_TS folder.
    When all the conversions are done, load IfoEdit and create new IFO file for the new VOB set you have created.
    Test it works by double-clicking the new IFO file or play it in whatever desktop player you use.
    Assuming it works (no guarantees here!)
    Select both folders and load them into your ISO maker program. It will produce....an ISO.

    Here is the thing...if you burn the ISO to DVD as Data it will record the ISO file to disc (a copy of the container, like you have).

    If you burn the ISO as an Image it with produce a full blown DVD movie disc, recording just the folders inside, just like you buy at the store. The advantage to this is it will play on any DVD player regardless of what containers it recognises.

    In all honesty, I suggest you just use a video-to-DVD program with just a few files on each disc to keep the quality fairly high. You can include menus and chapters and it is much easier to navigate.

    Use ImgBurn to make your ISO's and burn your discs if you decide to go the long way round.
    Last edited by transporterfan; 6th Apr 2012 at 20:43.
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  13. true true but hey, at least I know what I must have done. Goodness, how did I do this on my own?? (hint: I didn't...I found some guide online which seems to no longer exist!) Thanks for all of your help
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  14. Member AlanHK's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by transporterfan View Post
    I am confused how you have lots of 455 MB VOB files.
    GfD will do that. Each video title gets its own VOB. It's perfectly valid and works in any player.
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  15. I had checked out GfD but dismissed it because it doesn't accept AVI as source material. If I can't find a converter that will work I may just have to make this a three step process (convert to mpg, then convert again) if I decide to do it "the hard way"
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  16. Member AlanHK's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by persephoneflower View Post
    I had checked out GfD but dismissed it because it doesn't accept AVI as source material. If I can't find a converter that will work I may just have to make this a three step process (convert to mpg, then convert again) if I decide to do it "the hard way"
    Using two or three applications in turn that do their jobs correctly and efficiently is a lot simpler than some bloated all-in-one app that forces you to do things its way.

    GfD, like any authoring app, will produce a VIDEO_TS fileset, including the VOBs.
    Just burn that and you've got a playable DVD.

    I'm dubious that you could transplant one of these to your original fileset, if that's what you are thinking. The indexes, chapter points, etc will not match.
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    Figure out the used bitrate's and scale = mediainfo ... from here you will have a better idea as to how they all fit and the applications suitable for the job at hand.
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  18. Member yoda313's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by persephoneflower

    (hint: I didn't...I found some guide online which seems to no longer exist!)
    That is unlikely. Check here and you will either find your original guide you used or a near replica of it:

    https://www.videohelp.com/guides

    Granted if you like the video quality you got on your original project that is all that truly matters. But I would like to chip in and agree with the others that generally its better to limit the total time on a project so that the quality can be better. Trying to fit too much video on a disc at the expense of bitrate is usually not a good thing. But again each to his/her own I guess.

    By the way - do you happen to have a device that can play h264 files? Something like a xbox 360 or ps3 perhaps? You might consider venturing into h264 instead (in the xbox case you'll be doing a mp4 file with h264 inside - the ps3 can handle full blown avchd discs and m2ts files with h264 inside - I'm pretty sure it can do h264 .ts files also but don't remember for sure). All things being equal h264 will compress smaller than other codecs at the same quality level. Format factory is just one such program that can do that. (freeware naturally).

    Also more and more bluray players can play h264 video either in mkv or mp4 files. If you have a bluray player check out its specs on what it can handle.
    Donatello - The Shredder? Michelangelo - Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw?
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  19. Originally Posted by AlanHK View Post
    Originally Posted by transporterfan View Post
    I am confused how you have lots of 455 MB VOB files.
    GfD will do that. Each video title gets its own VOB. It's perfectly valid and works in any player.
    Thanks for that. One for the toolbox.
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  20. Yoda313 - I didn't know that. I don't have a blu-ray player nor do I have an Xbox or PS3, but it's good to know since I have family who would probably appreciate home movies who use those devices. Thanks!

    I keep getting error messages galore on GfD (despite looking at various guides). Does anyone know of another good batch converter that will let me go from mpg to VOB (or better yet, AVI to VOB) and set the info obtained from mediainfo? (As opposed to setting it normally). At this point its become - "lets see what happens", so I'm not concerned about simplicity (my DVDRs and I have already made peace). Menu options aren't really important because I don't really use them.
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  21. Member lacywest's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by transporterfan View Post
    I am confused how you have lots of 455 MB VOB files. As a rule VOBs will fill a disc (depending on how many files you load into your chosen converter app) and, usually, all but the last VOB will be 1GB. That's a standard. Even 10 files loaded into a video-to-DVD converter will produce 1GB files. The menus would use chapter marks to jump to a position within the VOB itself when you selected which movie to play. Do you have menus or do these files play sequentially in your DVD player?

    If you have lots of small VOBs then either you had a very odd/none-standard video-to-DVD converter or else you used a straight video converter and saved each conversion (individually or batched) to a VOB with a set size limit.

    I am also unsure how you managed to incorporate them all inside an ISO using a single converter app.
    Apart from VOB files, are there IFO or BUP files inside the ISO container?
    I suspect you used a converter app and an ISO maker of some sort, rather than a video-to-DVD converter.

    Maybe you made lots of small VOB files and created new IFO files with IfoEdit?
    I've made some DVD Video disks ... the end result ... not all of the VOB files were 1GB ... 1GB ... some were smaller ... I cant remember the details ... I just happen to look in some old folders on some of my hard drives and noticed what I saw ... hmmm
    Last edited by lacywest; 8th Oct 2012 at 05:03. Reason: typo
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  22. Originally Posted by lacywest View Post

    I've made some DVD Video disks ... and the episodes were X Rated videos ... the end result ... not all of the VOB files were 1GB ... 1GB ... some were smaller ... I cant remember the details ... I just happen to look in some old folders on some of my hard drives and noticed what I saw ... hmmm
    Looks like we are all in the same boat. I know what you mean. In the early days when good software was scarce, we all cut our teeth on the likes of IfoEdit, VobEdit...and TMPGEnc was king. It's just been that long...

    Ah, we have become spoilt and lazy. DVDShrink did if for me. Soon as that came out I swore I would never try manipulating the innards of a DVD ever again (except for extracting selected bits). DVD Author sealed it. Between them I could cut and make clips and re-author and...

    Point is, I remember more failures and coasters than successes. I think I choose to forget the 'how' of it.
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