Shrinking 5.2 GB of video

[moviebuff2]

Hi

I used FAVC105 to convert 2hrs of video (in mkv) to DVD (.vob), setting at the highest quality. The end result is 5.2 GB of video (3 DVD folders) which exceeds the capacity of a single-layer DVD disc.

The video bitrate is 8000 kbps, the audio (6 channels) bitrate is 224 kbps.

I can use TMPGEnc to author the whole thing and burn it on a double-layer; but I don't want to do it.

I want to fit the whole DVD into a single-layer disc. I think there are at least 2 ways of doing this.

One way is DVD shrink which will compress the current DVD to approximately 90% (4.5 GB divided by 5.2 GB). This means the video bitrate will be approximately 7200 kbps, and the audio bitrate will be ____ (I'm not sure ).

The other way is to burn each DVD folder on a re-writable disc then re-record all 3 of them (total 2 hours) onto a single-layer disc at SP speed, via component and optic connections. The video bitrate will be 4380 kbps, and I am not sure about the audio bitrate.

My intuition tells me that 7200 kbps is better than 4380 kbps.

However, I would like to hear your opinions on this subject.

Thank you

[mats.hogberg]

3 DVD folders? Do you have 3 source files?
Lower the bitrate to make them all fit one DVD-5.
Don't use DVDShrink unless you have to.
Do absolutely not go the DVD Recorder route (regardless of bitrate).

/Mats

[mpiper]

Moviebuff,

DVDShrink is OK, but it shrinks by dropping details/keyframes to lower file size. It does not re-encode. So you loose quality and gain macroblocks in your video. In slow moving videos, you'll never see them, since the missing data doesn't change from frame to frame drastically. But, large changes, or fast motion will degenerate into big colored squares.

May I suggest using DVD-Rebuilder. Use the HC encoder in the free version. It will re-encode the entire movie, attaining the desired bitrate to meet the file size, while keeping all the detail possible at the bitrate.

Here is a forum dedicated to the program, frequented by the main developer.
http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?f=75

[mats.hogberg]

My suggestion is to do it properly from the start - Encode what you want to put on one disk at the bitrate that allows you to do so.
First encoding at some (too high) random bitrate, then trans/reencoding again to make it fit just doesn't make any sense at all.

/Mats

[moviebuff2]

Thanks, guys!

I thought I might be able to take a shortcut. :0

I just spent a total of approximately 24 hours to convert 3 mkv files (total size of less than 3 GB) to DVD, separately. I thought the end result would fit nicely onto a single-layer disc; but it doesn't.

It looks like I will have to redo the whole thing with a lower bitrate for video.

Do you think a video bitrate of 7000 kbps will be low enough. I am just picking this number by using my simplistic calculation:

My total DVD size at video bitrate of 8000 kbps is 5.2 GB.

A single-layer disc size is 4.7 GB.

4.7 GB is approximately 90% of 5.2 GB.

90% of 8000 kbps is 7200 kbps.

However, one can never utilize the entire 4.7 GB. So, perhaps video bitrate should be lowered to 7000, instead of 7200, kbps.

[mats.hogberg]

Enter Bitrate Calculator.
https://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm

Just add up the times of all your videos, and enter it at "Video length", select your media (DVD-5) and audio bitrate, and it'll tell you what video bitrate to use.
For 2 hours of video on a DVD-5 with 224 kbps audio, you get 4853 kbps video bitrate. No guesswork. Basically simple maths.
Better safe than sorry, so make it an even 4800 kbps.

/Mats

[moviebuff2]

Wow! I did not know the video birate would drop that much. Thanks, Mat. I think I will just author and burn these 3 DVD folders onto 2 separate discs.

That way, I will be able to keep the high video bitrate and will not have to go through another series of long encoding sessions.