File Size Too Big

[sjmaye]

I am working on a DVD that is essentially one 1 hr and 15 minute movie clip that is a 15GB AVI file. Along with the menu it DVD Architect 2 is saying it will take about 5 GB for the DVD.

Other than reducing quality what are my options?

[deckard8]

What are you using for your avi to mpeg2/dvd conversion?
Generally you shouldn't notice any great quality loss converting your avi to a 5gb mpeg2 - not if your using Cinemacraft anyway.

[sjmaye]

I had considered using TEMPGEnc to encode the MPEG 2 from the AVI file. I have not done this yet. The information I gave in the previous post was simply placing the AVI file in DVD Architect 2 and letting DVDA 2 do the encoding.

I knew that TEMPGEnc would probably encode better than DVDA 2, but I thought the result file sizes would be similar (assuming the same quality settings)

Am I wrong here?

[spectroelectro]

75 minutes of video should not take much more than about 2.5 to 3 gigs of MPEG-2 if encoded properly. Choose VBR, and some sensible settings like 2K min 5k av 8k max. Tmpgenc or MainConcept will produce about a 2.7 to 3 gig file from a typical 75 minute AVI sournce file. Canopus ProCoder or Cincema Craft Encoder set on multipass VBR will produce a somewhat smaller file, especially if you choose the CCE option to preprocess the AVi file and optimize for size. The ony possible reason for producing a 5 gig MPEG-2 file from a 75 minute AVI file is setting the bitrates wrong or using something like CBR with a sky-high bitrate like 7K. Of course make sure to use an AC3 soundtrack (BeSweet + AC3 Machine).

[bugster]

Of course make sure to use an AC3 soundtrack (BeSweet + AC3 Machine).

Exactly, thats almost certainly were loads of space is going. I would guess that DVD Architect 2 defaults to uncompressed PCM audio. Use Ac3 as suggested, or mp2 if you are in euro-land.

[sjmaye]

You are right, I have DVD Architect set at CBR and 8000+ bit rate. I have had so much trouble trying to get a really good quality appearance after rendering that I "went for the gold" on the settings. How much quality loss should I expect to see at lower rates?

[bugster]

How much quality loss should I expect to see at lower rates?

Not much. 6000 should be fine for almost anything. You can also help things by encoding with VBR if your encoder supports it, with a 5000 to 6000 average, max 8000 or even up to 9800 if you want.

[pete2828]

6000K is more than enough that you won't notice a difference unless the video is very motion intensive.. like the raining fight between neo & smith in Matrix 3 (AVG bitrate was like 8200K). Most holywood DVDs are encoded MIN 2000 AVG 5500 MAX 9000. 6000K is will give you almost identical master copies unless you analyze each frame. Even on an HDTV they will look identical.