CBR RATES

[bhoy]

Hi Guys can I have a bit of advice please.

I normaly encode at 2000 cbr and that way I can fit 2 movies on a DVD-r with a menu.
With longer movies which only 1 movie will fit can I up the cbr for quality without endangering the playback compatability.
I've read on the forums that some standalone players don't like authored dvd-r's with high bit rates like 2500 and above.

Any advice on this would be greatly apreciated.

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I checked them all but this 1 seemed to match my question closest.

[therick]

I think that you are in the wrong forum...I would have put this in Advanced Conversion, but never mind that.

What format are you burning to the DVD-R? I assume that it is 1/2 D1 (352x480) with a CBR of 2 Mbits. Ok, the first thing that you need is to start using multipass VBR for your encodes. It will save you a ton of space and you will see no difference in quality.

I don't have a DVD burner, but I have been using CVD to ensure that when I do get one I will be rock-solid ready. I use an average of 1.8-2 Mbits/sec on my encodes and movies fit easily on two CDs. If my calculations are correct, I will be able to fit 2 movies on a DVD-R with no problem. My maxes are around the 2.5 Mbit/sec range-which worries me that you heard that standalones don't like video (of the 1/2 D1 res. I assume) over 2 Mbits/sec. Where did you hear this?

Anyways look into using CCE to do some multipass encoding and I am sure your VBR video with an average of 1.8-2 Mbits/sec and a max of around 2.5 will leave your CBR encodes in the dust.

[Bel]

Yes, you should increase your bitrate if you're only putting one movie on one disc. You will also notice if you look at the template wizard that once you go up to the 3000 cb template your resolution will switch to full dvd resolution. This will increase the quality of your conversions. The dvd specs allow bitrates up to 9500 for all streams, so you have a long ways to go before it becomes an issue.

As Therick said, you'll get better quality and smaller file sizes with vbr and will have the same control over file sizes if you use your average bit rate to be what your cbr should be. This comes at the added cost of increase conversion time, so the choice is up to you. I generally use cbr and do exactly what you do (put 2 movies on 1 disc). If I really care about quality, and it's one of those "special" movies I'll move on to VBR. However, to answer your question, yes increasing the bitrate will give you better quality, and you should not run into problems on standalones due to too high a bitrate.

[therick]

what encoder are you guys using? I use CCE and I get about .9 realtime from DVD rips...so 2 passes on a 2 hr movie is usually a little over 4 hours, and 3 passes is around 6.5 hours...how long do your encodes take? 6.5 hours isn't really a long time to wait for a 3 pass VBR encode. Hell I remember the days of 12-16 to even 20 hour encodes with TMPEGEnc...hehe

[bhoy]

Bel can i ask a quick question when you say you use vbr for that special movie, what settings in tmpg should I use as I've never used vbr before.

The settings in tmpg show 2 pass vbr, manual vbr or automatic vbr.
If I change it to manual vbr it shows a minimum of 2000 and a max of 8000 and a b picture spoilage of 20.

What would you say are the best settings in tmpg for say a 2 hour movie to fit on a dvd-r.

thanks very much for your previous advice.

A big thanks as well to therick although some of it was over my head.