[i]Optimal[/i] Bit Rate for DV to MPEG-1?

[Video-Pal]

I wish to convert a family video in DV to MPEG-1 using TMPEnc. The standard template keeps the bitrate around 1150 kbps I was wonderting to get a superior quality while not allowing the file size to grow very big - what kind of bitrate should i set to get the optimal quality with not too big a size. My original video is around 14 mins (PAL) with around 3 GB size. The standard template of TMPEnc with 1150 gives me a size of around 210 MB. Any ideas as to what bitate should be tried? By the way the orginal DV file has a bitrate of around 18,000.

Thanks in advance.[/i]

[holistic]

I wish to convert a family video in DV to MPEG-1 using TMPEnc.

Don't do it ! . If it is in DV the source is of good quality. Use MPEG2

My original video is around 14 mins (PAL)

You are in luck , 14 minutes will fit nicely on a 700Mb CD at a bitrate of 6000+ depending on rate chosen for audio
Try this : http://vcdhelp.com/calc.htm

By the way the orginal DV file has a bitrate of around 18,000.

What ?? DV is `3.7 Mb/sec


Of course a CD made with a MPEG2 video "file" will not be viewable in a standalone DVD player . So your options are : 1) make the high quality mpeg2 (for archives) and lower quality VCD (or svcd) and/or 2) try making a cVD ( http://vcdhelp.com/glossary#CVD ) and see if it will work in your standalone.

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[txpharoah]

MPEG1 at 1856k bitrate is a legal VCD bitrate and a legal DVD file.

[Video-Pal]

Thanks for ur replies!

Yes i do understand its a real waste to go for mpeg1/2 with lower bitrates when the source is DV. But as u said it is only for showing it to friends and family that i am putting it on VCD and SVCD format.
For archives i am
Putting the edited files on DV tapes.

My one file is 14 mins but then i have 90 mins of DV on each mini DV cassette so i wonder how many Discs i would need to use if i keep archiving at 6000 kbps.

About bitrate u r right it shd be 3.6 but AVI codec for some reason is showing me a bit rate (of my edited file) top be around 18000
I wonder why?

By the way my original query stands does one really benefit by increasing bit rate while encoding in mpeg-1 i.e. going beyond the standard 1150? Given that the trade off is with file size?

[2man]

why not put on miniDVD (720x480 ntsc or 720x576 pal bitrate cq_VBR 4000 and audio 320 kbps, author as DVD but burn on CD)
only problem - NON-STANDARD but quality same as DVD

[DJRumpy]

You can always encode these as WMV, and setup autoplay on the CD, pointing to the WMV file so they only have to put the CD into the computer. This would, of course, remove the possiblity that they could view it on a standalone player. If your shooting for something they can play on a standalone, get the models of their dvd players, and check the compatability for SVCD, or xSVCD in the DVD Players section: https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers
If they all support SVCD/CVD, then use that format. All of them will probably support VCD, although they may not support bitrates above the standard. Check for xVCD compatability before exceeding the VCD maximum bitrate.