Maximizing Video Time on DVD's...

[bomybomy]

When I was on the "video comparison" grid on this site, I see that it says the amount of play time you can get on DVD in DVD format is 1-2 hours, with 2-5 hours in parenthesis.

Is there anyway to get more than 2 hours of video on a DVD?

I do need it to be able to play in most DVD players, but it is for educational use, so the video and sound quality don't have to come anywhere close to the max.

[steve2713]

You can get 15 HOURS of video on a DVD if you wanted, just as an example. You only have to meet the specs of a DVD Video disc. You may want to use a lower resolution of video to retain decent quality if you're going to put 4 hours+ of video on 1 disc, though. But to answer your question, there's NOTHING that limits you to 2 hours of video or less per disc.

[bomybomy]

Steve,

Thank you so much for that info. Do you have any suggestions as to what programs I can use to get the files down that low? I use DVD Shrink right now, and it compresses the video down to somewhere between 30 and 40 %, but that only takes 1 hour of raw footage and makes it about 2 1/2 hours.

[reboot]

Re-encode in tmpgenc using the KDVD template.
You'll get about 12-16 hours per dvdr in approx VHS quality.

[steve2713]

bomybomy, do you have a certain amount you'd like to fit on 1 disc? As reboot and I suggested, you'll want to use a lower resolution if you're going to be putting large amounts of video on the disc. 352x480 would still give you good quality and roughly double the capacity, while 352x240 could be used if you wanted a TON of video on the disc. It just depends how much you want on the disc.

If you don't really care that much about the overall sharpness of the picture, you could certainly follow reboot's advice, it'll fit huge amounts of video.

[bomybomy]

Thanks alot guys! I'll try it out and see how it goes!

[bomybomy]

It worked fine. How do I burn these onto a DVD-R now? Also, is there an easy way for me to build a menu for multiple files?

[Xylob the Destroyer]

i used to encode in VCD format, then used TMPGEnc DVD Author to burn
but I have learned from the sins of my past

quality always beats quantity

[reboot]

I exclusively use DVDLab Pro to author.