Recorded TV using PVR, files too HUGE to author DVD

[jmkeuning]

OK, I have done this a lot - I use my PVR to record some TV or VHS tapes and then I use Nero (gasp!) to author the DVD. I burn the DVD to the HDD and use DVDShrink to cram it all down.

Well, my last VHS recording is a two hour show that is 7 gigs. I want to put it and two other videos (1.5 and 2.75 gigs each) on ONE DVD. I cannot get it to work. Nero gives me a warning that I proceed through (about the thing being to bog). It then creates an 11 gig DVD Folder on the HDD. DVDShrink opens the folder and sets the Compression at 37%. But I cannot get it to successfully burn.

This will only be approx 4.5 hours of video and I have done this before. I know the quality will suffer a little but the VHS tapes weren't so hot to begin with.

What would you all do? I have considered re-recording the tapes again and just cranking down the quality on the PVR but I know there must be some way to do what I want digitally!

[guns1inger]

Resize to half-D1 and encode at the correct bitrate with a good encoder. HCEnc is free, high quality, but a little tricky when you first start out. Use a bitrate calculator to work out the bitrate you need to encode to. Author with a good authoring tool that will not Re-encode - GUIForDVDAuthor is a free alternative. Like it or not, there is no place for Nero in this process, and if done correctly, no place for DVD Shrink, either.

[pinetop]

Are you using the WINTV-PVR-150 as your PVR?
What caputuring software are you using?
I have the Hauppauge USB2 PVR, by using Wintv2000 or Ulead I can fit 3 hours of VHS on 1 DVD. And the quality is nice. Also, you may need to encode the audio, my guess is its mpeg1, encoding to AC3 cuts the size of the file. TDA with the AC3 plugin is perfect for this and a good authoring tool for mpeg2s.

[jmkeuning]

Yes, I use the PVR-150 with the WinTV software. I started capturing at this cards highest setting at the advice of someone here on the forum, I think it was that Fulci Lives guy. I have never had a problem with the supersize MPEGs until this operation.

Here are my settings:

[jmkeuning]

OK, I loaded up HCEnc and needed a D2V file so I ran DGIndex and created one. Following the steps in the guide, it looks like the next thing is to set the bitrate. But my bitrate is grayed out.

It looks like I need to load an INI file. What's this? How do I get one?

[jmkeuning]

I selected "load HC.ini" and was able to proceed... will let it run tonight a post results tomorrow.