VCD MPEG file too big need help with TMPGEnc plz

[ukcalibrauk]

I have just finished converting The Beatles Anthology from DVD to VCD. All went well except on Track 8, this is the longest 82 Minutes and the MPEG file is 837Mb. I used TMPGEnc to create this. I want to burn it onto an 700 MB CD, as I am afraid if I use a99 Minute CD it may not play on some DVD players (Domestic not PC) I re-encoded the MPEG with TMPGEnc and first lowered the maximum bitrate to 900 ( Constant Quality) then tried alower Sound quality 190....from memory, but ended up with exactly the same file size........I want to know which setting On TMPGEnc I can change to reduce the file size without any noticeable loss in quality. I can email the template used if it helps......

Thanks

Calibra 8) 8) 8)

[CrustyCurmudgeon]

As far as I know, VCDs require a fixed bitrate on the mpeg1 file. This means you can't get a size savings by changing the bit rate because TMPGEnc will just have to transcode it back to the standard 1150 kbit/sec MPEG1. In VCD 2.0 format, you can change the audio to a lower bit rate, as low as 128kbps, joint stereo. I don't know if this will save you enough space, though.

You may be better off editing out unimportant sections from the track.

[poopyhead]

@ukcalibrauk,

mode 2 burning for (S)VCD allows you to fit 800 MB onto an 80-min CD-R. the 700 MB limit is for mode 1 burning of DATA.

standard, compliant VCD will only allow you to fit 80 min on a 80-min CD-R. if you want to fit more than that on 1 CD-R, then you will need to make a non-standard, compliant xVCD...which will have DECREASED dvd player compatibility.

go here to make sure your dvd player supports xVCD: https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

also, if you wanna fit more than 80 min, i suggest you try using kVCD templates. go here for more info: www.kvcd.net

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@CrustyCurmudgeon,

don't take this the wrong way...just some minor corrections...

1) Tmpgenc is an encoder, NOT transcoder.

from www.doom9.org:

These transcoders are based on algorithms designed to recompress an MPEG-2 stream in real-time for TV broadcast. These programs can transcode an entire DVD movie in only a few minutes, because they do not have to decode and re-encode the entire video stream, but only part of it.

2) for the most part, VCD 2.0 standard specs locks the audio at 224 kbit/s MPEG-1 Layer II audio. however, VCD 2.0 seems to allow deviations from that on certain things.

[CrustyCurmudgeon]

Ok.. I got that. Thanks for pointing out the distinction.

That makes me wonder even more at NeroVision's lousy performance... but that's way OT.

[Craig Tucker]

One other option is to try overburning. It is quite a lot to overburn but it may just fit.

[ukcalibrauk]

Thanks for all the replies

This IS a good forum.........

Howz about if I burnt o a 99 Min CDR Am i likely to have any compatability problems.

Can I clear one thing up which has always puzzled me.

Does it matter what the file size is e.g. greater than 800MB, so long as it plays for 80 Minutes or less for a 700MB (80 Min ) CD

[Craig Tucker]

If you are creating standard VCD then the size is constant depending upon playtime as the bitrate is fixed at 1150kbps, so VCD is approx 10mb/min so 80 min = approx 800mb which will fit on a 700mb cdr. As far as the 99 min CDR's go you will just have to check it for compatability. I have a pioneer that will only play them upto 88 mins and then gets stuck in a loop.

[ukcalibrauk]

I tried a 99 minute CD and it refused to play on my DVD.
I changed the audio to 160 to try and reduce the filesize, it worked as a non standard VCD but reduced the size from 835 to 650 MB although I now have some `noise` on the audio. I have set TMPGEnc to Constant quality at a maximum bitrate of 1000, if I drop this maximum to say 800, will this reduce my final file size and will this noticeably affect the final quality

Also I could change the GOP from 1-5-2 to 1-4-2 but I don`t know what effect this will have on file size, it doesn`t seem to make any difference to quality

PS am encoding PAL

Thanks

[Craig Tucker]

Well you will be dropping 20% of your bitrate, not an incosiderable amount. Whether the quality will be acceptable, only you can be the judge of that.