DivX on a DVD?

[DW]

Well, I've attempted to get some 1hr episodes of my tv show onto a DVD+R, and seeing as how each episode takes about up to 3.5GB using "DVD quality" encoding, i'd like to consider something else.

Is it possible to take my episodes and put them on DVD using DivX, and still make 'em look good? And still have good compatibility? is there a certain app(s) that I should use for best results? I assume it will not look as good as using standard mpeg2 encoding......

[Teitoku]

No. There's no way to both use DivX on a DVD and still have it be compatible with 90% of the players out there.

[mats.hogberg]

Compatible with DivX enabled DVD players only. OTOH, with a good quality source, you surely don't need 3.5 GB/hour for good quality DVD compatible encoding. If the source is noisy, perhaps, but not otherwise.

/Mats

[guns1inger]

DivxtoDVD (or better yet, ConvertXtoDVD) will get 3 45 minute episodes on a disc at the same quality as the original Divx file (assuming standrad downloaded divx quality)

With a good encoder (and you say what tools you are using) you should be able to get 2 45 minute episodes on a disc at very good quality, and three at slightly lesser quality. If your encoder uses terms like "DVD Quality" as a guide to what it is doing, rather than talking in bitrates, I would suggest it is little more than a toy and is the source of your problems.

If these are from a DVD recorder, rip them to your PC, re-encode them using correct bitrates, and you are back to 2 - 3 episodes on a single layer disc. Or go Dual layer and get 4 - 6 episodes.

[DW]

no, the source isn't noisy... its from a perfectly fine cable television signal. And I'm capturing into my video card via RCA cables, uncompressed AVI, so 1hr = about 61.5 GB to 62 GB.

Each program I've tried, Canopus ProCoder, MainConcept H.264, and DVD Workshop, all have templates for encoding to "DVD." With the exception of DVDWS, both the others allow you to change your bitrate and a ton of other things. Default seems to be:

Max Bitrate: 8000
Min Bitrate: 0
Average Bitrate: 6000 (MainConcept H.264 only)

I've tried to lower the max to 7000 and 6000.... but even with 6000, it comes out to 2.3GB, and that's starting to look noticably fuzzy. Ideally, i'd like it to get down to about 1gb per file/episode/hour, while still looking fine.

[greymalkin]

well at a bitrate of approx. 4400 total you'll get 2:15 on a dvd. If you resize to half dvd resolution you might get a decent result. Also, burn it to dvd and watch on your tv for best comparison. What flaws you notice on your monitor you may not on your tv.

[guns1inger]

Ideally, i'd like it to get down to about 1gb per file/episode/hour, while still looking fine.

Buy a Divx capable player. What you ask is not possible with DVD.