Hey everyone. I've been having some trouble here encoding.
If I use TMPEG 2.5, the best I can get an AVI file down to is 3.5 gigs. I need TWO of these files to fit on a 4.3 gig DVD. This obviously isn't going to happen
If I use TMPEG 3.0 XPress, both can fit with ease, but EACH file will take 6.5 hours to encode.
So you can see the problem here. With 2.5 I turn all the bit rates down to a bare minimum and that's the best I can get. These are XviD files I'm trying to encode, btw. It's strange too, because for a while I was encoding other AVI's of about 700 megs to under 2 gig MPEG2's without a problem. Is it the XviD format that's the problem?
Why? Do you want to fit many movies on a DVD? Usually you fit a movie per DVD, unless you have short clips. Otherwise you would need a too low bitrate.
If you want to keep using TMPGenc, just change the Rate Control Mode from VBR (Variable Bit Rate) to CBR (Constant Bit Rate).
Obviously, VBR=4000-8000 (average = 6000) is better than CBR=6000, but starting frm a 700 MB AVI you won't notice a big difference. And encoding in VBR slows very much TMPgenc.
Calculating the average bitrate
Quote:the best I can get an AVI file down to is 3.5 gigs
why? You can have the final DVD size that you want. Just use DVTool. Insert the AVIs length, the audio type you'll use (more likely AC3 192 kbps or MP2 224 kbps. You can make it with FFMPEG GUI from a WAV extracted from the AVI with VirtualDub (se FAQ).
For instance, a 120' movie with 192 kbps (AC3) audio can have a bitrate = 4915 kbps. A 120' movie with 224 kbps (MP2) audio can have a bitrate = 4883 kbps.
Using, in TMPGenc, those value will create a DVD (M2V video + MP2/AC3 audio) 4489 MB large.
If you want to fit many movies (I hope, with the same type of DVD audio) you just have to put L1+L2+L3...+Ln in the 'Movie Length' box of DVTool.
Just a little caution: from the TMPGenc 2.5 wizard you can read "...about 155' in a 4.7 GB DVD-R", which means that if you put (many) more minutes of movie the average bitrate of the stuff inside the DVD will be (much) smaller than the 'average' bitrate needed.
Of course, the extent of the 'low bitrate' depends a lot upon the movie's type. A romantic, bohemian movie needs a lower bitrate than a 'fight movie'.
