question about converting dvr-ms to dvd

[maca]

This is for anyone out there who has a TV card and uses their computer like a TIVO to record shows and movies. I'm using Windows 7, and record old movies off TCM with Windows Media Center. They are in WTV format, which I can then right click on and convert to the more friendly DVR-MS format. I use DVR-MS Toolbox to convert to MPG, and then author the MPG into a DVD to keep. So far, so good. Here's where the goofiness starts:

On some MPGs created this way, my DVD authoring program will see the files as DVD compliant already. They won't do a lengthy re-encode, just author the DVD in about 3-4 minutes. The resulting movie will be about the same size on the DVD as the original MPG, about 1G per hour. Great. BUT... without changing any settings on how I record, convert, author, etc, the movies will sometimes be completely re-encoded when authoring, resulting in a very long authoring session, and a finished DVD which will have a ridiculous size, like 7G for an MPG which was originally 1.5G or something. What's going on here? Since I'm changing nothing about the way I'm doing this, it almost seems that there's something within the WTV files themselves telling my software to treat some movies differently. I'm really stumped on this one. If all the mpgs needed re-encoding, fine. But why some and not others, when no settings have been changed? Has anybody encountered this? Thanks for any help.

[usually_quiet]

If you happen to have digital cable and record the MPEG-2 transport stream directly using a digital TV tuner card, there is no guarantee that the stream will always be encoded the same way.

I would suggest that you use MediaInfo in text mode, then compare one of your problem .mpgs against the DVD standard spelled out in VideoHelp's "What is DVD?" to figure out what doesn't match the specs. (The link for "What is DVD?" is in the upper left corner of VideoHelp's pages.) If the video doesn't comply with the DVD standard it take can a while to re-encode video to be within the permitted specs.

What authoring packages are you using? Some are very strict, and will re-encode video that other authoring packages accept as compliant. Also check your bitrate settings. Your bitrate settings might be too high and cause the overly large file sizes for a long movie.

There are other ways to convert from .wtv to something else. MC-TV Converter can convert from .wtv directly to .ts or .mpg without the hassle of using DVR-MS as an intermediate step. If you are open to paying, VideoReDo makes good software that can work directly with .wtv files.