Mulitiple films on one dvd

[Ben_Chep]

Whats the best way to back up 2 or films onto one dvd that will play in standard dvd players?
The only way i could think was by converting them to svcd then use Mainconcept to convert them to a dvd compatiable format, but this doesn't give me the quality i require for the size of the files (the file sizes will have to be around 1.5 to 2 gigs).
are there any guides available or can any one help?
Thanks in advance

[Baldrick]

Why convert to svcd? I would convert to dvd with low resolution similiar to svcd, 352x480/576 ( it is dvd compliant).

You can also use dvd shrink or dvd2one but the quality will not be the best: https://www.videohelp.com/guides?tools=&madeby=&formatconversionselect=DVDs+to+one+DVDR&...or+List+Guides

[Ben_Chep]

Thanks, but before i start does any one else have any other ideas?

[FulciLives]

Thanks, but before i start does any one else have any other ideas?

Well Baldrick really gave you the best answer. The only way to get 2 full length films onto one DVD disc while still retaining quality is to use what is called HALF D1 which is 352x480 for NTSC or 352x576 for PAL

It is totally DVD compliant unlike the SVCD resolution which is not.

As for the bitrate simply add up the running times of your two movies and then use a bitrate calculator to find the bitrate you should use.

I recommend doing a 2-pass VBR if you can with a MIN of 1500kbps and a MAX of 5000kbps with the AVG being the value you get from the bitrate calculator.

For instance 2 movies that are 90 minutes each total 180 minutes or 3 hours. If you use an audio bitrate of 224 (be it MP2 or AC-3) then your VIDEO bitrate would be approximately 3000kbps which would leave just enough room for any additional overhead associated with your DVD authoring program etc.

So in this example you could do a CBR of 3000kbps or a 2-pass VBR with a MIN of 1500kbps an AVG of 3000kbps and a MAX of 5000kbps

See the trick here is that HALF D1 does not need as high a bitrate as FULL D1 (720x480 for NTSC or 720x576 for PAL) to look as good. Even though the resolution is less it still looks fine on most televisions unless you have a monster 60 inch plus screen.

As for my suggested 2-pass VBR values I have found that HALF D1 hits the MAX bitrate around 5000kbps so no reason to go higher and I personally don't like going below 1500 as a MIN though some people will go as low as 300 or even 0 but I don't know how "safe" that is in terms of compatability amoung different DVD players. Some DVD players seem to have problems if the bitrate is "too" low.

Anyways hope this helps!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Ben_Chep]

Thanks guys i'll let you know how i get on