Can you put 13 hours of video lectures on one DVD for DVD player format

[johnharlin]

I have 13 hours of a video lecture with the following video stats
Resolution: 640 by 480
Format: mpeg4
Frame Rate: 29.96 frames per second
Audio: AAC audio at 48000 hz
all combined using about 1.2 gigs of computer file space.

Other than the speaker lecturing, there is writing on the screen every so often that accompanies the lecture. I would like to put this 13 hours of video lecture on one DVD to watch on my DVD player. Can I do this in some format like VCD or other format for a DVD player still retaining some reasonable quality video without reducing it to just a cloudy screen.

What do you all recommend?

Usually, the most video I create for a dvd player is 4 hours or slightly over because more than that seems to reduce the quality of video to such a low level that it gets aggravating to watch. So that's why I'm asking. I've never even attempted to
put that much video on one dvd but it would be nice if you could do so, and see more than cloudy spots, for at least lecture-type videos.

[johns0]

13 hours of video on 4.37 will be around 500kbps and if your files are at 1.2 gb combined they will look really bad,are you sure the real size is 1.2 gb for the files?

[johnharlin]

Yes, all the 13 hours of video together are about 1.2 gbytes. I thought that maybe since there is no action like in a movie, you could use a lower resolution format like vcd or maybe lower bit rate or some other format so that you could keep it all on one dvd and watch it on your TV DVD player rather than a computer.

[johns0]

Do a test encode of one file at 500kbps at 720x480 and author it and burn to a dvdrw and see what it looks like.

[jagabo]

If there is very little motion (and things like noise, flickering lights count as motion in this context) you can encode with very low bitrates and still have good image quality. It's worth a try. You can reduce the resolution to 352x480 to further reduce the bitrate requirement.

If the video does have a little noise or other motion you don't really care about, you can reduce the frame rate (to 1 fps? 1/5 fps?) then duplicate the remaining frames to restore the frame rate. Exact duplicate frames don't require much bitrate. Obviously, you won't have fluid motion but if you don't care about that it's a possible solution.

[Cornucopia]

Are you hoping to have the writing be legible? Because that is the deal-breaker here.

Actually, though, if you use a dual layer disc, you should be able to achieve:
(8.3 * 1000 * 1000 * 1000 * 8)/(13 * 60 * 60 * 1024) - 128 = ~1255kbps. This is a reasonably low bitrate for 1/2D1 video.

So, encode to 352 x 480 MPEG2 at that bitrate, and make your audio MONO and then an AC3 at 128 kbps which should be quite decent soundwise.

Scott

Edit: doh! Jagabo got there before me again. But I do concur about the lower effective, if not actual, frame rate.

Btw, how large the files currently are in their mpeg4 incarnation is irrelevant.

[johnharlin]

Ok, thanks.

[yoda313]

If the writing is vital to absorbing the lecture why not extract the audio and playback on an mp3 player? That way you can listen to the lecture without a problem.

Try mp4box or ffmpeg to create an mp3 from it.

I suppose if the writing is necessary and you haven't reviewed it yet you could try just encoding those segments to dvd. You could just copy those portions and make a dvd that way. Then you wouldn't have to squeeze so much on a disc.

Just a suggestion. You'll have to decide yourself if listening is adequate.

-------------------------

Can you use a laptop for this venture? If you are travelling are you going to have a laptop with you? You could just watch the original unaltered file on the laptop. Use vlc or mpchc to watch it.

Can you borrow a laptop for this use? THat would probably be the best way to go about this. And since this is standard def video it wouldn't have to be a particularly powerful laptop. Just so long as it can handle the codec - probably h264 though you haven't mentioned that part - you can use gspot or mediainfo to identify the codec..


Edit - also do you have something like the original sony psp or maybe a zune or video capable ipod? You could try encoding a small segment to a format that can play on those players (likely at a 320x240 resolution). Again as mentioned though legibility of the text can be a problem. But that is another option to look into.

Edit 2 - also its probably not in your budget right now but for future use you could look into a portable dvd player that can play h264. I don't know if there are any but there might be. That way you could just burn the file to a disc without converting.

There are portable players like I mentinoed earlier that can play video but need to be specially encoded for that platform. But something like an archos player might have more flexibility in what resolutions it can play. If you have a budget for it it might save a lot of time and preserve the quality more by not needing to reencode it or at least use a larger resolution on a portable device.

Edit 3 - I see you mentioned you didn't want to watch it on a computer. If this is for a home application you could check the outputs you have on your computer. If you have an svideo out on your video card and an svideo in on your tv you can hook your computer up to your tv. Just move it close enough to connect the cable. You'll have to check your video cards manual on how to do this in your particular setup - there are also svideo to rca adapters if you have rca but not svideo on your tv.

Just another choice to look into.

Edit 4 - One other thing here while I'm thinking about it - why do you need 13 hours straight on one disc? I can understand not wanting six or seven discs cluttering up space at 2 hours each or so. But 13 straight?

You're not going to be watching it 13 hours straight right? Whats so bad about splitting to two or three discs at minimum? You'll be doing this in more than one viewing session anyway right?

I would use quality dual layer blanks and optimize the quality and use maybe three discs or so.

If your main concern is to store them in one case you can get a three disc case holder (single width even). They make the three disc cases for bluray movies. They have a flipper mold that holds two and then on the inside of the case is a regular spot for a disc.

I even have one that holds five or six I think it is. Its for an anime season set. Though it is wider than a single disc.

Just one more thing to consider.

[Nelson37]

Sure, you can do it, all you really need is clear audio.

Cornucopia is right, getting the text legible is going to be damn near impossible. Maybe re-type as subtitles?

Wait, I'm thinking like a picture of a chalkboard, how exactly is this "writing" presented?

[johnharlin]

Thank you, I don't have a duel-disk dvd recorder.
I don't have a TV next to my computer and the way everything is set up here I couldn't make room to do it. I have thousands of items and books all scattered around here like some crazy rat pack house and that includes about 8 old computers. I need to economize as much as possible and put the 13 hours of lecture on one dvd. If I put it on more then that it's not as economical and I could also end up losing the disks and then having to search around like a crazy man for the second part on another disk.

The way the text comes on is that the lecturer speaks and then when he illustrates some examples, he disappears and the text takes up the screen.

I don't want to convert it to audio because except for music, I can never ever listen to an audio tape. I just fall asleep. I need to be watching to stay awake. Often times, I even need to take notes, even though I don't really need to take notes, but I do so in order to stay awake.

I will think about some of these things and try some things the others suggested.

[yoda313]

I don't have a duel-disk dvd recorder.

Do you mean dual layer dvd burner? Those are the ones that can record more than 4gbs on a disc.

If I put it on more then that it's not as economical and I could also end up losing the disks and then having to search around like a crazy man for the second part on another disk.

As I mentioned if you do go the multi disc route you can buy an affordable multi disc case. Or at the very least get one of those flipper cases that can store at a minimum 10 to 20 discs and up. Than you would just label the case "lecture" and you'll have it handy.

I will think about some of these things and try some things the others suggested.

Good luck. I just wanted to point out as many options as possible.

Oh and fyi a dual layer dvd burner only costs about 30.00 usd new these days - from what I'm told its probably less now at places like newegg.com and tigerdirect.com.

[jagabo]

Oh and fyi a dual layer dvd burner only costs about 30.00 usd new these days - from what I'm told its probably less now at places like newegg.com and tigerdirect.com.

Yes, good burners are often on sale at NewEgg for about US$18 to $20. Sometimes even with free shipping.