How can I reduce the size of mpgs to fit on one Dvd-R?

[CorkSucker]

I cannot find any info on this anywhere. I am not talking about ripped streams here, but 3 files that I have attempted to make DVD compliant.


I think that i have encoded a DVD compliant mpeg2 stream.
BUT...
The total size of my mpg files is 5,191,697,920 bytes. I want to fit them on one DVD-R.

I have 3 mpg files. Each approx 1.6GB. NTsc,29FPS,9.8MPS,16:9

Additional Info:
using VDUB/CCE I encoded the divx.avi to 3 pass VBR
reencoded audio using toolame
Mux with BBMPEG

File size : 1647537052,1765998304,1778162120
Duration : 3705.2515 s,3725.4717 s,3282.112 s
Number of frames: 111046,111652,78691
Drop frame flag : not set
Systems :
format = MPEG-2 Program Stream
mux rate = 10080000 b/s
Video :
format = MPEG-2
chroma format = 4:2:0
width = 640
height = 480
frame rate = 29.97 frame/s
bit rate = 9800000 bit/s
Audio :
format = LayerII
bit rate = 128000 bit/s
sampling rate = 44100 Hz
mode = stereo

What are your guy's recommendations?
Reduce the VBR of one of the sections? IF so would it still be DVD compliant? Would it reduce the size?

Use AC-3 audio instead of PCM? IF so what would be the most effective method of doing so, and what are the side effects(would it effect which players/PS2 that it can be played in)?

At max I could cut 25seconds on the intro. Would that be enough to make it work?

Finally what software would you use to burn it? (lets pretend money is of little consequence here...) Recommend top 3 choices on software authoring.

Can DVDiT PE do it with the way you recommend? NERO? Spruce? Primo?

Thanks In advance,

Corky

[resnullius]

reduce the bitrate... it will still be within the norm using a 7200kbps will still give you a great quality and increase compatibility(alot of computers cant process that high a bit rate) as to burning i'd either use reeldvd(if i could get my hands on it(haven't found a copy yet)) or dvdit pe(which is easy to find) to make a disk image then nero. use pcm as it is more compatible, not all players accept ac-3

[CorkSucker]

resnullius thanks for the response.

Which of the miriad of tools would you use to change the bit rate, and will that affect Standalone DVD compatibility which is my ultimate goal here.

Thanks,

Corky

[SLK001]

Cork,
Sounds like you used a constant bit rate of 9.8Mbps. This will certainly give you very good video, but at the expense of shorter run times.

You are confusing me with your bit rate statements - on one hand, you say that you encoded at 9.8Mbps, then on the other, you say that you use 3 pass VBR (which SHOULD give a lower bit rate).

You can use CCE to transcode your video down to a more "normal" bit rate. I would use CCE set to VBR, with a AVERAGE BR around 4.5-6Mbps, a MINIMUM BR of 2Mbps and a MAXIMUM BR of 9.2Mbps. This will give you EXCELLENT video (and probably encode to less than 4 GB!). You can lower the average BR even lower to get more time.

Re-reading your post, I see that you have almost 3 hours of video in your project. The only way to get this on a 4.7GB DVD is to lower the average BR. If you still have the original *.VAF files from CCE, then you can do this in a single pass (and still be multipass).

[AntnyMD]

Once you get the bitrate down, you're going to find the authoring software will still reject your MPEG2 files, because they are not compliant resolutions. The only compliant resolutions for NTSC are 720x480, 352x480 and 352x240. Your 640x480 clips are off-spec.

Your audio sample rate is also off-spec. The only compliant audio sample rate is 48kHz.

You should stick with 2-channel Dolby Digital, NOT PCM. PCM files are HUGE, while Dolby Digital gives impressive playback quality at a fraction of the size of PCM files. Dolby Digital audio is a part of the DVD spec, so it should be as accepted as PCM, it too being a part of the spec.

[ViperXT]

You could probably reduce the bitrate some. Most commerical dvds are not even close to the maximum of 9.8mb/s all the time. You could convert to AC-3 which may be lossy but should sound good enough. Also whoever said to go PCM because it is more compatible is way off, it was my understanding that at least one AC-3(Dolby Digital) track is required by the DVD standard. No DVD player will have trouble reading an AC-3 track.
Justin Ward

[CorkSucker]

Thanks greatly guys!

This isn't for the weak of heart.

SLK001- I do still have my VAF files from my CCE runs. How would I utilize them to reduce the bitrate.

Do I still need to frameserve?

Thanks again guys.

[resnullius]

viperXT pcm is part of of the original dvd spec some older dvd players don't support it. And free dvd software players don't because dolby charges 2$ for every ac-3 decoder sold.

[SLK001]

Load up your original *.AVS files (or whatever your frameserver uses) and then double-click on it. This should bring up an EDIT screen where you can change the AVERAGE bitrate. Set VBR passes to 1 and the file will re-encode with the new settings.