VHS to DVD Help

[cactusbix]

Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster.

I bought a device which does a very nice job of transferring my vhs tapes into mpg-2 files on my computer. The only problem is the file ends up being like 10 GB. I don't mind because I want a high quality file.

But I still want to transfer this to a regular size dvd.

I want to use DVD Shrink to shrink it down to size but obviously that's not going to read an mpg. So I want to convert it a DVD format (complete with vts files and so forth so DVD Shrink can read it).

I'm using ULead Dvd Movie Factory 6. I put the mpg into the file and it reads the output as 10 GB. Here's my problem. When I click "burn," it pops up that the output is going to be too big (which is what I want) and I must re do the settings to either 8.5 GB or 4.7 before it lets me start.

How can I make a DVD Shrink compliant dvd file out of my mpg file without reencoding and/or losing quality?

[guns1inger]

Not wanting to be rude about it, but you can't have it both ways. You can have quality, or you can use DVD Shrink. Which is it ?

Before getting too far down the track, check the original file with mediainfo. If the audio is PCM you can immediately save quite a bit of space by re-encoding it to AC3.

If the file is still too large, use a good quality encoder to get the file down to a size that will fit whichever DVD size you need (SL 4.38 or DL 8.5 GB), probably using a 2-pass VBR encoding method.

Do this, and you will get far better quality than creating an over size DVD and then using Shrink. Shrink is designed to take a little off the top as quickly as possible. To do this is uses a lower quality method that re-encoding. If it is only a small reduction it may not affect quality too much, but the larger the reduction, the greater the loss. You will get far better results by re-encoding properly, then authoring, than authoring and then using Shrink.

[redwudz]

I think you are going about this the wrong way. I would leave Shrink out of the picture entirely. Transcoding the file with Shrink will really make a hit on quality, compared to re-encoding it.

Why not just encode the 10GB MPEG file to the proper DVD size the first time around and author it to DVD? You can use one of the all-in-one converters: https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/all-in-one-dvd-converters

Or do it the better way and encode the file to the proper size MPEG, then author it. Or if you want quick with less quality, Rejig is one option for easy. Works similar to Shrink. But I would use a good MPEG encoder instead.

The freeware GUI for dvdauthor is one popular authoring program. If you want proper menus, etc., a authoring program is usually a better choice than a all-in-one.

[victoriabears]

What is the device you are using and how many hours and minutes is the program you are wishing to get to dvd ?

For all we know its 10 hours of footage that has no right fitting onto 1 dvd anyways.