Transcode A MPG

[Anakin]

I recorded WM23. It is nearly 4 hours long. The file after the encode is 14gb. I did it at 9200kbps max and a VBR 1 pass at 100%. What I want to do is let DVD Shrink 3.2 transcode it. How can I get it to load a file and not a DVD structure. I have tried to author it with various programs but I get an error at VOB_9.

I do NOT want to reencode at a lower bitrate. I would rather encode at a higher bitrate and them let a transcoder do the maths at what needs bitrate and what doesnt.

[redwudz]

You might try ReJig to transcode the MPEG file. It works similar to Shrink, but doesn't need the DVD file structure.

You might want to split that file to two DVD discs. Transcoding is not really a great alternative to choosing the proper bitrate in the first place. It's more useful when you have a slightly oversize file. Four hours of video is unlikely to fit on a DVD without a fair amount of quality loss or re-encoding to a lower bitrate.

You could make up a short representative clip and try a few alternatives, such a transcoding or re-encoding.

[theewizard]

I thik you could get 4 hrs very nicely on a double layer if the bitrate wasn't so high

besides you going to have to author or at least convert to mpeg2 with something because shrink is not going to accept wmv,

AFAIK dvdshrink only accepts DVD files

try avi2dvd, its a GUI front end with avisynth 2.5 famesrever engine and several different encoders all in one pkg

4hr video will likely take an overnight run, as much as 8-10 hrs on high quality settings for a 4hr input file

[guns1inger]

The best quality reduction will be a 2-pass VBR encoding using a good quality encoder. I would not put 4 hours on a single layer disc without going to half-D1, but a DL disc should look OK.

[Anakin]

The best quality reduction will be a 2-pass VBR encoding using a good quality encoder. I would not put 4 hours on a single layer disc without going to half-D1, but a DL disc should look OK.

I am using a DL disc. But the file is 14gb or so. I dont want to reencode. Would rather just transcode. But looks like I need the file in the DVD structure to do so.

[Anakin]

I thik you could get 4 hrs very nicely on a double layer if the bitrate wasn't so high

besides you going to have to author or at least convert to mpeg2 with something because shrink is not going to accept wmv,

AFAIK dvdshrink only accepts DVD files

try avi2dvd, its a GUI front end with avisynth 2.5 famesrever engine and several different encoders all in one pkg

4hr video will likely take an overnight run, as much as 8-10 hrs on high quality settings for a 4hr input file

WMV? I converted it to mpg2 lol

[Abond]

If you use Rejig to transcode, you do not need DVD structure.
Anyway the compression would be nearly 50%. You will get bad quality.

[guns1inger]

Transcoding is fine for smaller reductions, however the method it uses tends to reduce quality fairly quickly after than. Re-encoding will give you substantially better quality than transcoding for such a large reduction.

[t0nee1]

I agree with guns....Re-encode to DL disk.... I'd use DVDRB...
Or as redwudz stated ,split to two disk.. transcoding it will reduce quality no matter what!!! re-encoding it will give you better quality...
JMO!!!!!!

[theewizard]

I thik you could get 4 hrs very nicely on a double layer if the bitrate wasn't so high

besides you going to have to author or at least convert to mpeg2 with something because shrink is not going to accept wmv,

AFAIK dvdshrink only accepts DVD files

try avi2dvd, its a GUI front end with avisynth 2.5 famesrever engine and several different encoders all in one pkg

4hr video will likely take an overnight run, as much as 8-10 hrs on high quality settings for a 4hr input file

WMV? I converted it to mpg2 lol

"wm23" this is mpeg ? , i wouldn't know, why didn't you just say mpeg

[Cornucopia]

At first, I too thought that "wm23" was a codec or something. But a Google search brings up "WrestleMania23", so maybe that's just the program (s)he's trying to convert.

Anakin,
"Transcoding" isn't a magic bullet. It doesn't really do "lossless" conversion. It is ALWAYS lossy, just depends on how much. Also, it usually isn't even as good at recompression (which is what it is really doing) than an additional standard compression/encoding pass would be, it's just often a lot faster, because (the good ones) it just re-Quantizes the same DCT data (by throwing away a little bit more of what it thinks can be ignored).

Simple math will tell you that your 4 hour (14400sec) show which has filesize of 14GB (114688Mb) must have an AVERAGE bitrate of 114688/14400 or 7.96Mbps. 9200kbps is just your MAX during the peaks. BTW, that's Audio+Video, not just video, so video would be lower.

More simple math will tell you that a dual layer disc has ~7.95GB (65126Mb), which means you need your A+V bitrate to be under: 65126/14400=4.52Mbps.

No 2 ways about it, you'll HAVE to reduce your bitrate to fit onto 1 DL disc. Or, if you can't imagine a life without high bitrate wrestlemania, split it to 2 DL discs (2 SL doesn't make much more sense than 1 DL).

Scott

[Anakin]

I am doing it at 352x576 as we speak