Reduce file size vs. compression question. Am I doing this right?

[Ronny G]

Am I doing this right or is there an easier way?

If this has been discussed before, please point me to the thread.
I have some knowledge but not an expert.
My technical vocabulary is limited, so please bare with me.
I have authored several dvds with menus using GUI DVDAuthor.
(All the stuff I use is Freeware, btw).

I have several TV episodes on DVD-R that I recorded from TV.
I used my DVD recorder to transfer my vhs tapes to dvd-r in SP mode.
I know how to edit out commercials using Cuttermaran.
Can fit about two 1-hour episodes on 1 DVD-R disc.
Now I want to try something and put 5 episodes on 1 disc. I realize quality will suffer a bit.
I have DVD Shrink.
I used DVD Shrink to compress the titles to make them smaller.
I wasn't happy with the results--too much blockiness.
There must be another way to make them smaller without a lot of blockiness.
So, I downloaded Auto Gordian Knot.
I reduced the file size (which took about an hour for 1 episode btw), but didn't realize the result would be .avi.
Now I think my next step is to convert the .avi files back to mpeg so I can author them in GUI DVDAuthor.
So now do I have to download another program to convert them to mpeg?
It just seems like a long process, and I guess I just want confirmation that I'm going about it the right way.
If there is an easier way using freeware only, please let me know.

My other alternative is to go back to my dvd recorder and transfer all my vhs tapes all over again to dvd-r in LP mode (instead of SP mode). That way the episodes will already be a small file size.

If this has been discussed before, please point me to the thread.

Thanks for your help or suggestions.

[Nelson37]

NO.

Going Mpg to AVI to MPG again is pointless and will reduce quality.

To reduce filesize, you need to reduce bitrate. Yet, go too far and blockiness results. Moving away from the DVD standard is an option for some players, but not for most.

Your next step is to reduce the Need for bitrate by re-sizing to a smaller resolution, and re-encoding at a bitrate calculated to fill the disk. The slight loss in quality due to the lower resolution will be less noticeable than the blockiness previously mentioned.

[Ronny G]

Thanks for your reply.

Okay, so my next step is to re-size to a smaller resolution.
Sounds good.
How do I do that? Will any of the programs I currently have installed (Cuttermaran, dvdshrink, VOBedit, DVDGUI Author) allow me to do that?
OR do I need to download something else. Preferably freeware.

[tomlee59]

As Nelson37 says, you will have to make a choice between quality and filesize. There is no magical way to preserve high quality at small filesize, which is essentially what you are seeking.

If you are stubbornly determined to cram five hours of video on a single-layer DVD-R, then the most practical way of doing so is to convert your MPEG2 DVD video into MPEG1 at "half D1" resolution. This will necessarily reduce the sharpness ("definition") of the image, but at least blockiness during motion and in high-detail regions of the image will diminish markedly. Audio needs to have a 48kHz sampling rate, and be in MP2 format (which is probably already taken care of by your DVD recorder, but you should verify this).

For TV episodes whose video quality is relatively unimportant to me, this method works fine. I've routinely crammed 6-10 hours of TV episodes onto a single DVD this way, but be advised that you have to lower your expectations wrt quality. Again, there is no magic way to keep DVD-quality video while shrinking file size by such large factors as you are seeking.

There are many free tools for doing what you want. TMPGEnc will do this, for example. With fewer steps, EazyVCD will convert your DVD into VCD-compliant MPEG, which is 90% of what you need. You can then take that output, demux (using TMPGEnc's MPEG tools), convert audio into the correct format, remux, then author the collection of all of your converted MPEGs into a single DVD.

[guns1inger]

You can create your DVD as is, then run it through DVD Rebuilder. Use the Advanced Avisynth settings to force it encode to half-D1. It is essentially what what Tomlee59 has suggested, but allows you to author in the way you normally would and then convert in a simple manner.

[tomlee59]

I strongly recommend using guns1inger's procedure. It involves the fewest steps, so there are fewer tasks to master (and fewer to screw up).

[Ronny G]

Thanks! I'm going to try DVD Rebuilder right now.

[Ronny G]

When I downloaded DVD Rebuilder, I got this warning:

None of the supported commercial encoders were found on your system. Make sure you got Cinema Craft Encoder (CCE) or Canopus Procoder installed. You may use DVD Rebuilder with QuEnc or Rejig.

[guns1inger]

You can also use it with HCEnc. Where are you downloading it from ?

[Ronny G]

I'm downloading it from videohelp. I went to the DVD Rebuilder page on videohelp and clicked the link that says, download (mirror). I'll download HC Encoder, too.