Hopeless Newbie: Only 20 Minutes of Video Fits on DVD??

[joe mondo]

I've just tried to burn my first DVD, and though I was able to successfully burn one, I am facing one huge problem.

I have a series of short videos - running maybe 5 to 10 minutes each in length.

All are WMV files. Each is roughly 57MB. Some are more, some are less but most are about that.

Using both Sonic My DVD and Roxio I tried to put a bunch of these videos on a DVD.

The problem is that in setting up the DVD I could include only 2 of these 10 minutes segments before almost filling the DVD capacity.

So I made the DVD just to be sure I could, and it worked - I have a 20 minutes long playing DVD.

The solution is probably quite simple, but I'm such a complete newbie that I am just not seeing it.

Can anyone suggest a course of action? Do the WMVs need to be converted to some other format?

Any assistance is appreciated.

[Gees]

You should do a lot of reading, especially the Guides before attempting to burn.

Those files most definitely do need to be "converted to some other format".

I'd recommend you start with WHAT IS DVD at the top left.

Then move on to CONVERT. THEN author.

[Solarjetman]

Yes, the files MUST be converted to a DVD capable format. mpeg1 and mpeg2 are the only acceptable formats and they must also meet other criteria

Your DVD authoring program is certinaly converting them for you. The reason you can only fit a limited amount of video is probably your settings are configured for a very high bitrate (probably 8000 CBR). Try finding the bitrate setting (or you may just have a choice of quality) and lowering it. That will fit more on the disk.

Sorry I can't give specifics, I don't use that program.

[bugster]

The solution is probably quite simple, but I'm such a complete newbie that I am just not seeing it.

Can anyone suggest a course of action? Do the WMVs need to be converted to some other format?

They most defintaley do need to be converted to another format, mpeg-2. There is a suitable course of action, and thats learning what you are doing.

Take a look at some of the guides this site provides. I suggest you start with the conversion guides. When you have mastered converting your source file to DVD compliant mpeg-2 with acceptable quality, then you can start with authoring and burning guides. When you get stuck (and you will) come back and ask specific questions that people can help you with.

BTW, 2 hours on a DVDr in good quality is a decent figure to aim at. $ hours (or even more) at lower quality is possible.

[joe mondo]

Thank you all for the speedy replies.

Will do.

[SLK001]

Yes! Read, read, read. Even at the MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE encode rate of 9.8Mbps, your 20 min video will only be 1.47GB. You are obviously doing something wrong, but you are not knowledgeable enough to tell us what you are doing exactly. And without knowing what you are doing, it is virtually impossible to give you any help.

[Solarjetman]

I would also like to add that you are not going to be able to fit the same amount of data on a DVDr as a store bought DVD. The commecrial DVDs hold 9gigs of data while the DVDr's hold only 4.7gigs. That means at an equivelent quality of video, you can only fit about half the amount as a store bought version on one disk.