Can someone help on how to get more than 120minutes on dvd?? =(

[f-zer0]

Sorry that my first post is a request =( but i guess that is what draws us to forums sometimes,Anyways can someone please help me on how to get more that 120 minutes onto a dvd5 an still have good sound/video quality an let me know the programs i need an the settings what they should be?i am wanting to to burn more of my video files onto one disc an they are a series an they are 20 minutes each and are in RMVB format i have only been able to get about 6 on each dvd and i heard i could get like 13 and still have good quality can someone help please? thanks ALOT

[redwudz]

You can get 1 hour of very good quality MPEG-2 on a DVD-5. You can get 2 hours of good quality MPEG-2 on a DVD-5. When you get above that, quality starts to decline fairly quickly. Using a more compact audio format, like AC3 can help save room for more video bitrate.

Bitrate is determined by the desired size of the file and the running time. We have bitrate calculators to tell you what bitrate you would need to use for a desired file size. Try the VideoHelp Bitrate calculator as it's easy to use. There are also options to create longer playing files. One is the 1/2D1 format and the next is MPEG-1/VCD format. All this is in 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page.

Or you can use a format like Xvid/Divx if you have a set top player that can play that. You can get quite a bit more playback time with those formats and still have decent quality.

You have a bit of study ahead.

And welcome to our forums.

[f-zer0]

Thanks for the welcome,and i have been reading i can see alot of studying ahead lol,but i don't wanna use a dvd player that supports dvix to play my files i need to burn them on REGULAR dvd format w.e that is,i've tried converting them to MPEG2. and sound ac3 with "total video converter" and when i burned them to nero i had popping sounds and fuzzing when it got to loud scenes....so i went back an tried to convert the sound to mp3 still didn't work,i thinki need some new programs to convert and burn i tried a few different ones like "flick" an several others i cant think of the names right now,i just wanna learn to burn these more than 6 20 minute episodes to dvd5 without losin alot of sound or video quality,an sorry bout the "bitrate calculator"i'm not sure what i am suppose to do with it since i am new to doin this kind of thing,OH lol almost forgot DVD SHRINK doesn't work at all,i heard it was the best but i haven't EVER gotten it to work with anything :P

[guns1inger]

ConvertXtoDVD will convert RMVB files. While it claims up to four hours on a disc, 3 hours is about as far as you really want to push it.

Bottom line is that after 2 hours quality will drop, and after 3 it will be noticeable using most methods. If you are willing to learn avisynth scripting and how to set up an encoder correctly then you might push it out to 5 hours by encoding at half-d1 resolution. FAVC is the only 'automated' tool I know that can encode at half-D1, but I don't know if it handles rmvb.

Also, if these are fan-subbed anime (and a lot of rmvb files seem to be, then you need a tool that can cater for overscan, otherwise you will lose your subs because fan-subbers are morons when it comes to correctly positioning subtitles. Again, FAVC can fix this for you, if it can read RMVB files.

[f-zer0]

Lol thanks guns1inger and good guess they are anime files but they are not subbed they only have water marks like saying DIvX or things like that or website links which i really woudnlt care if they disappeared they block alot of things sometimes,so if i use this "ConvertXtoDVD"it will convert them an then can i use my nero to burn them an make a menu to select which ones i want to play?an like you said over 3 hours is pushing it,does that mean i should convert 9 files of 20 minutes to equal exactly 3 hours an then burn them for best results?and since they are anime (cartoon) files does it mean i can probably shover more files since they are not like regular movies an the film isn't like all great quality?i appreciate the help and again thanks

[guns1inger]

If you are using the official Divx codec for playback then you may find that the files aren't watermarked. The codec is set to periodically display the Divx logo during playback (or encoding), however you can turn this off through the codec settings in the Start Menu.

You need to do a test and find out just how they look. This is difficult if you use a one-click-wonder, because you can just do a sample run. If you were encoding by hand then you could encode a 5 minute sample clip at different bitrates to see how it looked, then work out how low you felt comfortable with. Animation, especially line work like anime, actually tends to encode badly. The more you squeeze, the worse it gets around areas of high contrast, such as colour bands and outlines. You get very noticeable blocking and banding, and mosquito noise around the edges.

Give ConvertXtoDVD a try. Start at 3 hours and see how it goes. If it's OK, try more. If it isn't, do a run at two hours for comparison.

Remember that bitrate is only part of the equation. Unless these files are already DVD resolution, they will be resized, usually up. This will expose a lot of flaws not previously seen, that will also interfere with the encoding process. These were already in the originals, however playback software is designed to hide a lot of these issues. Encoding software isn't unless you add a lot of filters, which means doing it by hand.

[f-zer0]

8) Hey guns1inger thanks alot i tried the convertxtodvd and it worked but since it stretched the screen out to like normal size or dvd it even cut it out a LITTLE on the edges an i also got 14 eps on one dvd man an still had decent quality,i was wondering though if there is a way i can make the episodes size like a little smaller because dvds are like what? 720X480? and there regular size i would like to keep,it's about 320X240 i think does that sound to small? and i want to change it to not be widescreen,also if i made the screen smaller to like320X240 this would increase quality right?thanks again man your great! =)

[Alex_ander]

... if there is a way i can make the episodes size like a little smaller because dvds are like what?

Use 352x480 size, this will keep vertical resolution/interlacing and reduce blockiness at low bitrates. In 16:9 case (you say you don't want to keep it) this will need letterboxing or cropping.

[guns1inger]

The only One-click answer to your problems seems to be FAVC. It will allow you to add overscan borders and allow you to encode at VCD or half-D1 resolutions.

[f-zer0]

"Unless these files are already DVD resolution, they will be resized, usually up. This will expose a lot of flaws not previously seen"You we're right about that,Now the characters look LITERALLY like pencil drawings,I like this tool you suggested (ConvertXtoDVD) <--Pretty simple to use (Thats what i want right now =\) But is there another program i can use after i have used convertxtodvd to compress them where they would fit onto one dvd5,after that part can i save the folder that convertxtodvd made and then use another program to size it back down to 320X240,since convertxtodvd sized it up a lot more than i wanted (720X380)i mean convertxtodvd works great besides this problem also i haven't had the chance to download that favc yet to know what it is,sorry but i will soon,thanks

[f-zer0]

Hey i recently fixed my problem with the dvds i decided to go with 8 episodes on one dvd5 because the quality comes out so NICE,but the only thing is the program im usin is very easy but it doesn't let me add a menu,does ANYONE know how i can add a menu into this program when i use it to convert the files and then burn them onto dvd the program im usin is called Easy mpeg to dvd burner,what i do is use total video converter to convert the rmvb files to mpeg2 and audio to AC# and then when i use the other program it converts it again i guess and then burns with EXCELLENT quality i just kinda want a menu,it doesn't mattter if it's even a plain menu i just want one to select which episode i want to watch does anyone know how to do this?