capture file sizes

[mjf]

I purchased the Pinnacle Studio Deluxe package which I am using to capture / convert my VHS tapes to DVD. The problem I am having is that I can only capture at the highest resolution 720x480. This results in huge avi files, approx 13 gigs per hour which won't fit onto a DVD. Is this overkill since the original source is a VHS tape? What is the resolution of a VHS tape / analog TV? Should I be able to encode this at a lower resolution without sacrificing quality?
Thanks.

Mike

[ManixTT]

For starters, the file size is legitimate, since your working with an AVI. You'll need to reencode the AVI into a DVD compatible MPEG2 format. The guides to your left under Convert should do the trick.

Also, regarding what capture size works best, I've had a lot of success capturing at CVD (or aka 1/2 D1) 352x480 resolution. It's completely compatible with DVD.

Check out this guide, which I recommend:
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/userguides/89899.php

[fmctm1sw]

You got sound advice from the last post and I'll throw my two cents in. 13GB per hour is actually not that bad. If I capture at full dvd resolution, my 80GB hard drive (74GB free) doesn't even last an hour (using absolutely no compression). I've been making cvd a lot lately and I heard someone recommend at least 1800CBR (encoding).