Nero compresses too much?

[tchambers]

When I take a 7gb avi and try to burn it to a dl dvd, I get only a 2 gb file. I fee that will compress and give me a final product with much less quality as the original. Is their an authoring tool, with menu capabilities, that will not compress the original down that far? Or does avi need to be compressed to play on dvd?

[redwudz]

What kind of AVI? There are many, many formats under that container name. I suspect DV. And you are converting to MPEG-2 for a DVD?

The size of the AVI file is not related to the size of the encoded MPEG-2 file. It's just a product of the running time and the bitrate selected for the encoder. If you want to control the size of a encoded MPEG-2 file, you need to set a bitrate for your MPEG encoder. We have bitrate calculators for that in 'Tools' to the left. After encoding you would author the result to the DVD format and burn.

If you want a better 'One Click Solution' than Nero, try ConvertXToDVD. Or if you want more control, use a standalone encoder and authoring program.

[guns1inger]

To expand on Redwudz post, if your 7GB avi file is DV footage, then you have around 30 minutes of video. At the maximum allowable bitrate for DVD, you will only fill half a DVD5, or around 2GB (give or take)

Yes, you are not getting the best quality if you use NeroVision. This is regardless of bitrate used - it just isn't a great encoder. ConvertXtoDVD is better, but again, not what I would use to preserve memories. Both of these were designed first and foremost to convert downloaded avi files to DVD format. Because the quality of these files is generally sub-par anyway, both of these (and pretty much all one-click-wonders) are configured more for speed than quality because the quality is already low.

If quality is high on your list of features, you need to either use a better bundled tool, such as Premiere Elements or Sony Vegas Movie Studio (both of which use the very good MainConcept encoder), or learn how to use individual tools such as HCEnc, Avisynth and GUIForDVDAuthor. There is really no way around the fact that quality takes longer and requires more effort on your part. If you want an easy solution, you have to compromise your expectations.

[tchambers]

guns1,
thanks, I think that really sums it up. I have vegas movie 6.0, it has a burn to cd option, but no burn to dvd option? If I chose to burn with vegas, what would I do for a opening menu? Nero does a good job of that, I don't think vegas has that option. Will a program like vegas allow me to burn a larger file with better quality? Anothwords will it not compress the avi as much? Yes it is a mini dv file, edited in vegas and saved as an avi file.

[guns1inger]

DVD has a maximum allowable bitrate. At that bitrate you can fit just oven an hour of footage on a disc. You only have half an hour of footage , so you can only fill half a disc. If you use a higher bitrate (i.e. not squeeze it as much) then the disc will not be playable as a DVD. The issue is more that Nero is a poor quality encoder, so even when it is given enough bitrate, the results are not great.

I would suggest the following.

Edit in Vegas, and encode using the built-in Mainconcept encoder. Output as CBR with a bitrate of around 8600 kbps. Render the audio as AC3 (if you have the license) 2 chanel @ 256 kbps.

Author your new disc with GUIforDVDAuthor. This will not re-encode your video and reduce your quality.

Burn with Imgburn2

[tchambers]

I don't think Vegas 6.0d has dvd burning capabilities. I have downloaded Vagas 7.0 trial, I will try it their. Thanks for the help. I think I can follow your lead on this. My 7 gig file will be compressed regardless of where I convert to a dvd format. The idea is to compress as little as possible with as good a program as possible to reencode to dvd format..

[tchambers]

I apologize, I re-read your post and you said to edit in vegas. I have done that but I don't know if 6.0 contains the mainconcept encoder? How would I know? Do you think I might be better off firing up vegas 7.0 and doing everything within the program?

[guns1inger]

Both 6 and 7 (and earlier versions) contain the Mainconcept Encoder. Neither of them burn to DVD - that is what DVD Architect is for.

File -> Render As will find your encoder settings. It's even called Mainconcept under "Save as Type". The help file will take you through the settings.

[tchambers]

I see the mainconcept, thanks, what step would I put in if I wanted a dvd menu? Would that be done in dvd architect?

[guns1inger]

DVD Architect, if you have it. If you don't, there is the free GUIforDVDAuthor or DVDAuthorGUI programs