too large files

[theinternetter]

When capturing two-hour television programs from video tape and live programs, I get material tht is more than 60% bigger than DVD discs can handle. I've reset the DVD quality to 4 and bit rate to 4200 from the default of 5600, with better but still not acceptale results.

How can I capture 2-hour video that can be burned on a 2-hour disc without major editing?[/b]

[Capmaster]

When capturing two-hour television programs from video tape and live programs, I get material tht is more than 60% bigger than DVD discs can handle. I've reset the DVD quality to 4 and bit rate to 4200 from the default of 5600, with better but still not acceptale results.

How can I capture 2-hour video that can be burned on a 2-hour disc without major editing?[/b]

More information is needed. What capture device are you using? What format is the capture and what are all of your settings?

By the way, all-bold text, like all-caps, is very annoying. You don't need to shout on this board

[theinternetter]

I have a HP DVD writer 3000dc which uses MPEG-2 format. I've tried several settings and am now at DVD quality 4 Mbps and 4300 kb/s bit rate.
Sorry about the bold.

[Capmaster]

I think something is very wrong. You should be able to run the bitrate up to between 4.9 and 5.3 average and still get 2 hours on the disc. You are using "VBR" or variable bitrate aren't you? If you're using CBR, or constant bitrate that will eat up more disc space, though not as much as you say it is. VBR throttles back the bitrate for static scenes and ramps it up when there's action. It's much more efficient than CBR when trying to fit alot onto a disc.

I looked at the specs for the dc3000 and it doesn't say what the audio format is. It's possible that it's using LPCM audio which is an uncompressed format and eats up more disc space. It shouldn't add 2-3GB for the audio though, even using LPCM.

I'm out of ideas. I hate to suggest this, but maybe a call to HP tech support is in order? You might have a bad unit that isn't allowing you to control the bitrate correctly.

Maybe another dc3000 owner can help you out here.

[Gazorgan]

He's capturing directly to MPEG2. You really can't get 2 hours onto a DVDR by capturing directly to MPEG2. You can if you capture to AVI in HUFFYUV or MJPEG codec, then edit and convert to MPEG2.

You can easily do it if you set your resolution to 1/2D1 and your bitrate to 3500.

[Capmaster]

He's capturing directly to MPEG2. You really can't get 2 hours onto a DVDR by capturing directly to MPEG2

I've done several hundred 2 hour+ direct-to-MPEG2 captures that fit onto 1 DVD using 720x480 and reasonable bitrates (all above 4 Mbps).

[theinternetter]

Many thanks to everyone.
I am using VBR.
I should've noted that I've burned 2-hour discs in the recent past; can't account for what happened since.
I can't count, literally, the number of hours I've spent with HP techs. So far, they've had one solution: burn 2 diskcs for two-hour files. I'm supposed to get a call back from one tech today.
Last week, I received a replacement HP DVD writer because the original one became defective.

[theinternetter]

An H-P tech had me change to 640 x 480 and I still get files too large to burn (by 16).

[georgepds]

Maybe you could say how large in GB. The comments here suggest the length of the datafile in GB should be smaller than that which can be held on a dvd. If, hoeweever, they are not then you can always recompress afterwards. Rejig will do this.

I suspect you may be using some weird mpeg format that makes the files too large( either HD resolution, or mjpeg, or 4:2:2 sampling, take your pick)

[SHS]

I do this with My WinTV-PVR 250 which is setup like this with VBR videobitrate = 4500000 with peakvideobitrate = 6000000 and audiobitrate = 224 which usely give me tab bit over 2 hours per disc.
But if it to big to fit on a DVD after Authoring try using DVD Shrink to make it fit this tool come in real handy.
My guest is your DVD Authoring is convert the audio over to LPCM or your recording in PCM which eat up lot of space.

[BobK]

> You really can't get 2 hours onto a DVDR by capturing directly to MPEG2.

That's not really true. I use a Snazzi III PCI and Movie Mill to capture. I can adjust the bitrate and put well over 2 hours on a DVDR capturing directly to MPEG2.

[lordsmurf]

An H-P tech had me change to 640 x 480 and I still get files too large to burn (by 16).

HP tech support official gets my "DUMBASS AWARD".

That resolution is not allowed by DVD.

[indolikaa]

Are you capturing PCM audio?

If you are, you just found the source of your problem. See for yourself...





See the difference in maximum allowable bitrate? The top image is for PCM, the bottom image is for MP2 or AC3 at 256...