Converted files too big for dvd problem

[Harry WJ]

I convert my .avis into DVD files (video_ts) using WINavi then author with TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.6. I have done this many times easily and successfully and these are programs I am comfortable and happy with. I can usually easily fit 2x1.5 hours tv episodes onto one dvd complete with motion menus. When I was doing this latest project I had 10 .avis all the same size (695-698Mb) and encoded exactly the same way and WINavi converted the first four into manageable file sizes (around 2.3-2.4Gb) for authoring with TMPGEnc. However, WINavi has started converting files to about 2.6-2.75Gb which means they're too big to be authored with TMPGenc - even without motion menus - with another of its normal-sized sister files. It does this with single files and also in batch encode. I've tried encoding qwith a lower audio bitrate but it has made no difference. That wasn't meant to be a fix, just an experiment. Obviously, my questions are:

Why is this suddenly happening?

How can I fix it?

Thanks and hope someone can help.

Harry

[Baldrick]

can't you change the video bitrate in winavi video converter? if not change to a tool where you control the encoding like tmpgenc express, tmpgenc plus, mainconcept mpeg encoder.

[Harry WJ]

Thanks for the reply.

Having tried again to encode a few times this morning with various files and finding that WinAVI is producing video_ts files that total between 2.6-2.75Gb in size I'm going to try setting video quality to medium instead of highest and see if that makes any difference.

Why I should try this is beyond me as I've been encoding this way no problem up to now. This issue just seems to have happened spontaneously. I wish I could find an answer why?

Harry

[Harry WJ]

In WinAVI, by reducing the video quality to medium and also by not including chapters, I got encoded video_ts files 1.4Gb in size. I think I can now experiment between quality and number of chapters to get the file sizes I need thanks.

However, this doesn't explain how I got the problem in the first place. I'd still like to have highest video quality when I can. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Harry

[Harry WJ]

Even though these two new encoded files with the video quality setting at "higher" fit easily onto one dvd the resulting image quality it well below par. I'm still baffled by why the "highest" video quality setting now suddenly produces video_ts files that are too large. All my attempts to use other encoders have proved unsuccessful either because they take too long or because of error messages or stupid glitches eg. TMGEnc Plus not letting me reduce one file to about 48% of the disc size.

Harry