set output size in mainconcept mpeg encoder?

[jeex]

i've just started using the mainconcept mpeg encoder and i must say i am very very impressed..

i have a bunch of pal svcd's that i've been wanting to convert to fully compliant ntsc dvd's and the task seemed nearly imposible before i started using this program..

the only thing that worries me is the fact that i havent found a way to set the output size..

i recently did an 2 disc 88 minute pal svcd to ntsc conversion.. there were no problems with sync, quality loss was not noticable, and the conversion was done very quickly (2 or 3 hours).

i set mainconcept to convert the video & audio, i used the default bitrate setting for the video and had it use LPCM audio..

after it was done encoding i saw that the 2 files combined were 5.18gb.. so i stripped out the lpcm audio and converted it to DD 2.0 AC3 audio @ 192kbps with besweet gui.. after muxing i was left just barely 18mb under the maxium size of a dvd-r (a bullet burn)..

now, i dont mind the fact that mainconcept encodes my audio for me.. because i imagine that it does the appropriate pal->ntsc conversion for me so that i dont lose sync.. but i am worried that during longer movies the video size will be too large to fit on a dvd.

how would i go about setting the output size for the video in mainconcept mpeg encoder?

i've done the math and figured that 1 minute of lpcm audio requires 11mb. and 192kbps DD 2.0 AC3 audio requires about 1.5mb per minute.

so if i knew how to set the output size for the files i could use as much of my dvdr as possible for the movie..

if it comes down to it, i guess i could use dvd2one to transcode the project.. but i think that would result in more quality loss than just setting the output size through mainconcept mpeg encoder.

thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide

[ImaWeTodd]

Given the video length, can't you just use the bitrate calculator in tools to find the bitrate, and then change the default bitrate in the MC Encoder?

[SaSi]

I am using both Mainconcept (to encode into MPEG-2 for DVD) and DVD2One to transcode DVD material.

First of all, let me say that DVD2One will do such a good and swift job that the quality loss it introduces is (to me) acceptable.

Furthermore, the new version (1.2.0) that does variable compression does a much much better job compared to the previous versions. I transcoded a 2 hour movie into a 1 Gb target using both the previous version and the latest one and the image quality has improved dramatically. So, I would use DVD2One for reducing a DVD.

Now, to Mainconcept. First of all, I advise you to read the manual that comes in PDF form and is installed in the application directory. It is far from perfect but will help you with some basics.

On how to control the output size, this is done by altering the average bitrate for Video in the same way you chose the bitrate for audio. The bitrate calculator will be handy to start with, however you may find that the calculations are so simple that you may do them with a normal calculator.

[jeex]

@sasi

okay, so youre saying i should just let mainconcept mpeg encoder encode at its default bitrate (even if it is too large for a dvdr) and then let dvd2one transcode because i will get a better quality movie by transcoding through dvd2one instead of just letting mainconcept lower it down to dvdr size? (hoooo, thats one helluva run-on sentance)