a question of speed

[lodoss_24]

Ok, let's say I'm using 1x dvd-r's with a 2x dvd writer. And I'm trying to burn like 8 hours or so of avi/divx on the disc. First of all, sonce I'm using a 1x dvdr, does that mean I can only burn at the same speed it takes to play it even though I'm using a 2x writer?

Let's just say it'll take half the time(2x), would that mean it would burn at half the actual running time of 8 hours(4hrs), or would it burn at 1 hr since a dvdr can hold 4.7 gigs of digital data and avi/divx isn't the same as if you were ripping from a dvd.

someone more knowledgeable please shed some light on these subjects please. thx.

[Nelson37]

Media is certified to maximum burn speed. 1x media means burn at 1x.

Burn speed has no relationship to play speed or length of video.

[lodoss_24]

yeah, I figured that - it's pretty obvious, just wanted to make sure. What about the other question?

Ok, I'll re-state the question: According to the charts in this site(unless I'm misreading them) you can fit over 20 hours of avi/divx video on a 4.7 gig dvd-r. This makes sense to me because: 1. DivX/avi obviously isn't as good(for lack of a better word)as dvd video so doesn't take up as much space; and 2. Let's say I have 12 divx episodes of 'Friends' that are 200 mbs a piece, so that's only 2.4G. So even with a menu and chapter stops there should be room to spare on a single disc right? So if I burn at 2X it would only take around an hour or so, not half of the actual running time of 6 hours, right??? I think I understand, just need someone to confirm it.

[Nelson37]

Think about it. 2.4 gig could represent 6 hours, 2 hours, or almost any amount of play time, but it is still 2.4 gig. There is no relationship between time taken to burn and playing time of file, only x amount of time to burn x amount of megabytes.

[lodoss_24]

Right, I did think about it - that's why apparently I was right. Just trying to make sure. If it seems like I'm asking stupid questions, just remember that i've never even burned a cd or even owned a cd writer. I'd rather seem stupid and get definite answers than spend a sh1t load of money on something I can't use the way I want to. Someone actually told me that 2x means it takes half the running time to burn, which is true to an extent. Just not in this case. my ohter question was: can you really fit over 20 hours of divx on a single dvd, which I'l just assume to be true since no one has said otherwise. It's just a little confusing for a newbie like me when something says: "fits up to 4 hours of video", and then anohter thing says"fits up to 26 hours of video" - because they're diferent formats. anyway, thanks for your help.

[DJRumpy]

The video aspect of CD's, & DVD's can be very confusing. The DVD itself can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes of data (about 4.3 in the real PC world).

If you are simply putting DIVX files onto a DVD (these woudln't play in any existing standalone DVD players), but you could watch them from the DVD, on your PC, then yes, depending on how well the DIVX is compressed (how big it is), then you could probably fit quite a few hours onto one DVD.

If you are putting video onto a DVD, with the intention of watching it on a standalone player (essentially, making a DVD Movie), then size becomes somewhat less important, and the number of minutes becomes much more important.

All of this, depends on the Bitrate of the video, the Bitrate of the audio, and the resolution of your movie (essentially, the quality of your movie). DVD supports 3 different resolutions each for NTSC, and PAL. The better the quality, the more space it will take up.

I would suggest you start in the Newbie section over to the left, and simply start reading.