Compressing files

[jdtswan]

Please could somebody help me, Ive been tearing my hair out on this. How can I compress and squeeze many video files onto a 4.7 GB DVD. for example all my favourite simpsons episodes (there are many!), at the moment using nero I can only get about 14 episodes onto one dvd, it seems rediculous that I cant put much more on there. My domestic dvd recorder manages to squeeze 6 hrs onto a dvd, surely there is a way of doing this. Ive tried Nero, Sonic, DVD Shrink (but it wont recognise my files), Ashampoo shrink and burn and quite a few others, what am I doing wrong please, please help???

jonathan

[Baldrick]

what's your source video? dvd or avi???

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=299162&highlight=

[redwudz]

You need an encoder. Programs like Shrink are 'transcoders'. With an encoder, you set the bitrate for the size/quality of your file. Use a bitrate calculator to determine this. You take the total running time of your videos and use that in the calculator. If your bitrate falls to about 2000kbps, then you may want to use 1/2 D1 mode, as it is more efficient at low bitrates. See 'What is' DVD to the upper left for the different DVD modes. You can also save some space by encoding the audio to AC3, compared to MPEG-1 Layer2.

An easy encoder to try is TMPGEnc encoder. There are also freeware encoders in 'Tools', along with bitrate calculators. <<<<<<

And welcome to our forums.

[jdtswan]

Thank you very much, WOW what prompt replies, my source files are mpg's, avi's and div x I think, and Im also going to try TMPGEnc, no idea what it is, but I'll have a bash and see what happens, thanks again.

Jonathan

[redwudz]

TMPGEnc has a 30 day free trial and if you look to the bottom of the linked page, a whole lot of guides.

[jdtswan]

Does TMPGEnc only do 1 file at a time?

[redwudz]

I haven't used it for that, but for TMPGEnc batch encoding, this thread may help: https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1462160#1462160 You can also get more information from the TMPGEnc guides.

It can get a little complicated if you need to do framerate conversions such as PAL 25fps to NTSC 29.97fps.

Another program to look at is the freeware DivxToDVD or the payware version ConvertXToDVD. Both can convert different formats to a DVD compliant video file. They also can do more than one video at once.

But the individual encoders like TMPGEnc give you better control and quality when you need to compress files down to a minimal size and still preserve some quality.

[jtoolman2000]

DVD recorders at the 6 hour setting tend to produce crap. By the file formats you mention, I gather you did not buy these right? SO I am to asume you obtained them on line. The quality of most if not ALL files such as those are pretty dismal to begin with. Unless they were ripped from the original commercial DVDs and not from original aired broadcasts, they are really not worth the trouble to author to a DVD.

The fact that you can put 14 episodes and still want to stuff more shows tells me that maybe you don't care what they look like in the end. Yes you can reencode at a very low rez and bit rate and suff 30 shows in one disk. They look as if they were show with a video phone for the middle of a war zone

[jdtswan]

fair point, I admit quality isnt my number one priority, but It would have to be watchable. Thanks

[jman98]

Do some research into encoding into DivX format. It will give you the best quality/size ratio. Various guides on encoding to DivX are available at http://www.doom9.net and other places. If you want to do this the easy way, you can consider going to http://www.divx.com and buying the DivX Create bundle. It has an encoder that is ridiculously easy to use. Actually, it's arguably too easy to use because it offers you almost no options for customization, but the good news is that even if you are not very strong technically, you can figure out how to use it.

The downside is that many DVD players do not understand the DivX format, so if playing these discs on a standalone DVD player is important to you, you need to get a DVD player that supports the format first.

Your DVD recorder in 6 hour mode is recording in a mode equivalent to VCD in terms of quality. You can probably get about 16 or 17 episodes at bit rates and quality similar to VCDs per DVD if you encode with TMPGenc. Set your bit rate to 1150 Kbps Constant Bit Rate (CBR). It might be best to use MPEG-2 as most DVD authoring programs won't accept MPEG-1 for DVD, even though it is legal. Use 48 KHz for your audio.