DVD to DVD-R: Movies that didn't need to be transcoded

[Mac-DVD-Burner]

Was wondering if anyone knew why some movies can fit on one DVD-R without transcoding while others can't?

I've read in these posts that the size of the movie file depends on the length of the movie yet that generalism yields conflicting results, i.e.: some shorter movies *can't* fit on one DVD-R without transcoding while some longer movies *can*.

I used OSeX to rip (elementary streams) and Sizzle to create the DVD image.

Movies like Spiderman (121 mins), Shallow Hal (113 mins) and Enough (115 mins) can fit on one DVD-R without having to transcode and they all are LONGER IN TIME than Blue Crush (104 mins), Signs (106 mins) which cannot fit on one without transcoding.

[AntnyMD]

Its all about bitrate, framerate and encoder settings.

[erk]

And don't forget PAL and NTSC movies are slightly different lengths. The best thing to do is not worry about which movies fit and which do not until you have them on your hard disk, if they are over 4.3GB then transcode them, if they are not don't.

[the_13th_saint]

Easiest way to tell is to insert the DVD into your computer
when the icon pops up on the desktop
select it and click get info from the file menu
if it's under 4.3GB, no transcoding required
if it's over 4.3GB, time for forty-two to do it's work.