I have exceeded my DVD Disc capacity

[Art White]

I filmed a pageant like I have been for years but this year I used CC Media Encoder to output MPEG DVD2 then import into Encore CS5. Made some nice motion menus but this time my project is 6.65 GIG. Dunno what happened but all I have are 4.7GB DVD's Wondering if I start over and export at a different Codec, what would it be? I've never used bigger DVD's or double sided. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Art

[Justin Molush]

Its cases like this which make me export a decent color depth/bitrate master for all my projects before I downconvert to DVD or any other lower than original source format/delivery format.

I would personally export a decent quality master in whatever flavor matches/exceeds your original source color depth for the master file (for DSLR footage I usually use XDCam 4:2:2 50mb, if I edited on mac I would do prores). This would allow you to re-compress in a reasonable time frame if the initial render is rather heavy (In my case, it usually is quite lengthy for the initial render), Yes the file will be fairly large, but it could be preferential over forcing the computer to re-render everything instead of just compressing a master.

In this case you should just re-render at a lower bitrate. Do the math based on your original bitrate and scale it down to fit accordingly. The cheap way would be take your current MPEG and just recompress that, but that usually never turns out as good as a re-export from a master or from the original timeline.

[Don Bloom]

I know nothing about your program or encoder but in Vegas or any other program I used or seen to render to MPG simply adjust the bitrate to meet the length of time of the project. Don't forget to include the motion menus in the calculation.
There's an online free DL of a bitrate calculator (I think it's called Marks ---maybe) which is very accurate and asks about things like motion menus or static menus, total length of project to be rendered etc.
I've run as much as 3 1/2 hours on a single sided DVD. Quality does take a bit of a hit compressing that much but for EDL for clients it's fine.
Search thru the forum to find the exact name of that bitrate calculator. It works!

[Rob Cantwell]

this is the one i have bookmarked Bitrate Calculator

also as was mentioned include the motion menus in the calculation and make sure they were saved off as SD and not HD

[Art White]

Thanks guys,
Never had this problem before and I've done a few wedding, pageants and recitals. I usually use 2 cameras HXP 170 and 300. This time I added 2 GoPros. I simply export right from Premiere CS5 but now I use CC and don't have that option. Looks like I will have to experiment with the Media Encoder and use your Bit Rate calculator suggestion. I do have motion menus. That was a lot of work to have to start over tho! Anyway I can use a lower bitrate and have it automatically update my project? :-)

[Michael Bradshaw]

Art, why don't you use dynamic link to bring your sequence into encore and let it decide the proper bitrate?

[Jeff Pulera]

When using Encore CS6 with Premiere CC, there is no Dynamic Link available.

Bitrate calculators are fine, but motion menus complicate things. If you have 10 buttons, each playing a 60 second loop, that adds another 10 minutes of "video" that needs to be encoded, so you need to add that to the main video length when figuring bitrate.

A rule of thumb to figure bitrate is 560/minutes=bitrate, but a bitrate calculator may be a little more accurate, but the 560 rule works well for me (with standard non-motion menus and Dolby AC3).

How long is the video you want to encode?

Thanks

[Art White]

Michael,
I can't use dynamic link from premier CC to CS5. Doesn't give me the option however, I've been told on this forum I can download CS6 and install.

Jeff,
Thanks for the other post.
I bought some 8.5 Dual Layer DVD's just to try as a learning experience before I try my new bitrate to compare quality but I can't get it to work.

I get "ACCESS DENIED" just after ordering files and before building file system, sorting. Nothing actually burns on the DVD. Thank goodness since I payed a mint for it! I refreshed and lowered the burn speed. I went into custom and manually tried to set the layer break. Same error.

[Art White]

Got rid of the access denied thing. Burned the DL DVD just fine. I was told to change the Admin setting and that cured it. I can't tell the difference between the lower bit version and the DL DVD, so I'm happy with everything!

Thanks for the help
Art

[Nigel Barker]

I produce both a Blu-ray & DVD for each wedding video so this is my simple workflow. I export each sequence from Premiere Pro with H.264 Blu-ray preset then I import the video & audio file as a timeline into Encore then I get Encore to create the DVD using the automatic settings as it does such a great job of the conversion including calculating the bit rate such that there is only 30-50MB free on the disc.

Using the default settings for bit rate for the H.264 Blu-ray preset I get about 2-2.5 hours video onto a standard BD-R. A couple of times I have had to drop the bit rate & then used a DVD DL but I see little difference in quality between a DVD & DVD DL so have stopped supplying the DL discs. They have the good HD version on Blu-ray so I don't really care if the quality of the DVD isn't quite as good as it could be. Only using single layer DVDs I avoid the extra time taken in burning & occasional problems with pal back of dual layer.