question about capturing and burning on cd-r

[ravencat]

I have been reading on this forum for some time and have done a lot of experimenting. I would like to burn movies I capture off DTV on one cd-r to be played on dvd standalone player. I want to have the best possible quality. (I understand it will not be as good as dvd)
My specs:
Card: avermedia stereo
Software: PowerVCR II used mostly
Capture: Off DirecTV via s-video
Operating System: WinXP Pro
Hard Drive: 2 80GB Western Digital Special Editions
Processor: AMD 1800+
Ram: 512 MB DDR
CD-r software: Nero Burning Rom with codecs

My questions are: 1) When I capture what is the best setting to do so? 2)What is the best way to convert to the format to burn on one cd-r? 3) Is there a program that would calculate a 100min movie to burn specifically on one cd-r?

Thanks in advance!

[macleod]

generically speaking, since there are some unanswered questions, if you do a 100 minute video, you will be capping at UNDER the vcd limit, which some people say looks bad anyway (VCD format). VCD format is (NTSC) 352x240, 1100kbits, 44mhz audio. To do 100 minute video, you would set powervcr to around 800 (haven't done the math) and hope that this XVCD will play on your dvd player. There is a program called FitCD, which would help you determine bit rate and whatnot to fit on a CD.

for capping and converting, you will be better served by getting vdub, IUVCR or other "AVI" capture software. I personally capture at 640x480 with mjpeg codec set at 18 and then convert down. If you use tmpgenc to convert, the wizard will allow you to state how big the final mpeg will be.

[ravencat]

Thanks macleod. I eventually want to buy a dvd-r but for now just want some movies for cd-r. I am splitting and saving the movies that I like best and burning the raw data on cd-r for the future. I have made a few movies in vcd format and most are watchable if not great. I thought maybe there was a magic wand software program that would increase the quality at least a little bit. I will try to use virtual dub for my next capture and convert with tmpgenc and see what happens. I just bought the capture card a little over a month ago and I have read a lot on this forum/site several months before I purchased it. I cannot afford to get more expensive cards at the moment so I probably need to accept the substandard quality for now. I have yet to try to backup the dvds that I purchased to compare quality of each.