Compacting files to dvd on Nero 6

[pere0608]

I figured out to take mepg and avi to nero vision to decode to dvd, but only one movie of 780mb took up the whole dvd, i'm trying to fit multiple video files into one dvd.

[Liono]

I have exactly the same problem...a 700mb avi file fills my 4GB dvd using Nero vision .....can anyone help us out?
Cheers

[guns1inger]

The basics.

There are different types of compression for video. Mpeg is one of them. DVDs use mpeg2 for the most part, although mpeg1 is usable in cetain circumstances. Xvid/Divx are variants of mpeg4.

Mpeg4 compresses a lot more than mpeg2. In other words, you can maintain a reasonable quality at a lower bitrate than you can for mpeg2. Most of the files you have aquired are also much lower in resolution than DVD, which also allows for a lower birate to be used to encode them.

When you convert to DVD you must resize back to DVD resolution, then encode using mpeg2, which requires a higher bitrate. a general rule of thumb is that an xvid to mpeg2 conversion will grow 3 - 4 times in size to maintain similar quality.

Digital video is represented by data. Data is measured as the bitrate of the video. Video has a bitrate. Audio has a bitrate. Bitrate (audio + video) x running time = space required. DVD has a finite space (4.38GB for single layer). To fit more running time into that space, a lower bitrate must be used. Lower the bitrate, reduce the quality.

Bottom line. If you want to put multiple videos on a single DVD disc, do not create DVDs. Burn them as data, and get a Divx certified standalone player. If you can't do that, then live with one file to a disc.