Captured VHS to DVD didn't turn out so well...

[snafubaby]

I used my set top DVD Recorder to copy a 2 hour, 12 minute VHS movie onto a DVD-RW. I used the recorder's "Fine" mode, which records 1 hour maximum, at a high bitrate. The results were very impressive. I used 3 DVD-RW's. I recorded two 1 hour parts onto 2 dvd-rw's, and the resulting 12 minutes on the last one. I attempted to merge them together to create a very impressive movie. It worked, when playing the files on the PC. BUT the resulting multiplexed dvd files are a whopping 7 gigabytes. I tried using DVD Shrink to compress them down to the 4.4 gigs to make a compliant DVD, but it cut them down to almost 4.5, and when i tried to burn them to dvd, it gave an error saying that the compilation is too big for a DVD. Is there some way to keep the quality when using some other method to compress things further? Or would it be better to make the movie into TWO parts? Please advise.

I usually use a usb-based video capturing device, but for some reason it's been crapping out badly lately, making the videos very jittery, so i decided to try the set top dvd recorder. I know, what i need is a dvd recorder that plays and records divx. I can fit multiple movies on one dvd then. Until then, i am trying this method in hopes it will work.

So, to keep the quality at the maximum, should i just burn the movie onto two discs? Part 1, and part 2? Please advise.

[hech54]

Just split the large 7GB one into two pieces.

[snafubaby]

Thanks! I figured that would be the best option.

Cheers and happy holidays!

[jagabo]

DVD Shrink would be the worst option for reducing 7 GB to 4.3 GB. To put 2+ hours of VHS on a single layer DVD you should reduce the resolution to 352x480 and reencode.