DivxToDVD Output Too Large

[Seagrass]

All of a sudden avi files that have been converted to DVD are over 4.5GB
I have set the manual size to as low as 3.9GB but they still come out over 4.5GB???

[Jeremiah58]

It happens sometime.
Just use DVD Shrink to fit to disc.

[Seagrass]

doesent that compress the file again?
I would prefer to to only compress 1 time for best quality

[Jeremiah58]

You would not notice any difference in quality, because the compression would be very slight.
When similar thing happens to me - I use DVD Shrink.
I understand what you would prefer, but I think that you do not have a choice in this particular case.

[guns1inger]

DivxtoDVD seems to work best when you don't change it's default values. It uses the original compression statistics to create the new mpeg2 version. Usually this results in remarkedly small files sizes for quality comparable to the original avi file. It also means that it is less likely to reach a given target size. It is a single pass variable bitrate encoder, and predicable outcomes are not something this type of encoder is known for (this holds for most one-pass VBR encoders, it is inherent in the method). If you want to be able to control the output size with some degree of accuracy you will have to learn how to use the basic tools to do this yourself. This included correctly encoding with a good standalone encoder, and authoring with an authoring tool. This need not be daunting, as both tmpgenc plus and tmpgenc DVD Author are easy to use, capable tools for the beginner.

[Seagrass]

THanks for the advice.
I have use tmpgenc in the past and it doesent support AC3. Also the quality is no better than DivxtoDVD and it takes almost twice as long to transcode avi's

[guns1inger]

Actually, if used correctly the quality from tmpgenc may even be higher than the original as you can apply filters as you encode. Or you can use virtualdub or avisynth to clean up the image and frameserve to tmpgenc. I use CCE and often frameserve to it to produce output better than the original.

But you are correct that it won't be as fast as DivxtoDVD. That is the price you pay for quality. As for AC3, you can get an encoder for tmpgenc / TDA that encodes to 2.0 AC3. If you have AC3 audio to begin iwth you can strip it out with virtualdub and use later when you author.

Out of curiosity, what was the combined runtime of the 'too large' disk ?