TV shows to DVD

[crazysxycool]

I've recorded 4 tv shows (each being an hour long) and extracted the commericals from them leaving about 43 min. for each episode. Each file is around 1.95gb in mpeg format. I would like to put all 4 on a standard 4.7g dvd. Is this possible? Do I need to convert the files to another format to make them smaller so they'll fit? I don't mind losing a little quality.

Thanks.

Wy

[Cobra]

Firstly, welcome to VideoHelp!

It depends on what the MPEG format is that you have them in just now. Look at the top-left of this screen, under the VideoHelp logo. Click "DVD", and you can find listings of DVD-compatible MPEG files. You can find out what your ones are by opening them in GSpot (an excellent program to keep handy). If they are compatible, author your DVD using something like TMPGEnc DVD Author.

You will end up with a DVD image or a collection of DVD files that are too big to fit on a DVD (as you already know). Use DVD Shrink to reduce the size of the files, then burn. It should work out just fine.

If you have to convert the files, just use TMPGEnc set to the correct DVD profile (eg. PAL or NTSC).

If you need any more help, just post up again in this thread.

Best of luck,

Cobra

[redwudz]

What do you want to play them on? If it's a DVD player (Unless you have a Divx player), you would need to use a MPEG format. If you look to the left in 'Tools' you will see listings for bitrate calculators. Take the running time of all your video total and plug it in. It will tell you the required bitrate to encode with for the size you want.

If the bitrate gets down below 3000, you might consider using 1/2 D1 format. See 'What is' DVD to the upper left for the DVD formats. It's similar to VCD format, but with a higher bitrate. Works well for long playing DVDs. Since your source is TV, you shouldn't notice too much quality loss. Generally 2 hours of video will still have good quality. When you get 3-6 hours you will degrade the quality quite a bit when you get towards 6 hours.

You can always make up a representative 5 minute clip and try different MPEG encoder settings to see if it's acceptable.

And welcome to our forums.

[crazysxycool]

Thank both of you for the welcome and replies

These DVDs will be played on my dvd player and not the computer. I'm currently trying Cobra's suggestion and then I'll redwudz's.

Redwudz - I downloaded the vid calculator as you suggested and the bitrate was 2639 and max bitrate was 9576. If I wanted to try your suggestion of 1/2 D1, how would I go about doing that? I use Nero 7 for my burning.

Thanks again,
Wy

[teegee420]

Nero is fine for burning, but only that. You're going to need an mpeg encoder like TMPGEnc. Check the tools section on the left for a list of other choices under "Video Encoders".