Friends, how can I do that?
I have 24 hours of a workshop that I want to distribute on Create Space. Can you help me figure out the best workflow to compress it in no more than 5 dvds for distribution on Create Space. Thanks!

Robert,

I must not understand your question... My simple answer would be: break it apart into five pieces of roughly equal length, convert each to MPEG2 and put it on its own DVD. But that's probably not what you were looking for.

Each DVD will be on its own. If you split up long material and spread it over multiple discs, there is nothing on each DVD that is aware of the fact that it is part of a series. A dual-layer disc is a little different, of course, but if you have Volume I through Volume V of your workshop, it's just like five individual, completely independent discs.

Please tell me if I completely misunderstood your question...

- Martin

I think you understand, but I have been told that I cannot put more than 2 hours of MPEG2 per dick? To follow your suggestion mean 5 hours of MPEG2 per single layer-disc. Are you sure it would work?

Robert... You can put more than 2 hours of video on a single DVD, but you may sacrifice quality. There is a roughly inverse relationship between video length and video quality. You could put six hours on a DVD but I certainly wouldn't want to watch it.

Since your subject matter is a workshop, I'll assume there's not a ton of action in the video footage. This is a good candidate for more highly compressed video since there's not as much changing from frame to frame.

Using VBR transcode settings should help the quality since a relatively smart (compared to CBR) compression method will allow higher bit rates only when needed. Single pass VBR will be fine for your needs.

Without seeing the source material, I'd guess you could get away with 2.5 hours per disk without much degradation. You may want to experiment with transcode settings on a small piece of representative video and see what works for you.

There are things you can do to mitigate artifacts in more highly compressed video. First and always, start with the cleanest video you can get.

Martin and Tripp, thanks a lot! I will do some testing.
This is a really great Forum!!!

I have been told that I cannot put more than 2 hours of MPEG2 per dick?That limitation exists within iDVD, but it is not a generic limitation of the DVD specification. With more flexible authoring software and MPEG encoders (such as DVD Studio Pro and Compressor), you can specify the average bitrate to be used for your material, and thus shrink any length of video into a file of any size. But, as Tripp explained, if you overdo it, you probably won't like the resulting image quality.

What software are you using to create the DVD?

- Martin

Final Cut Studio 2. I need to put 5 hours per DVD for sale on Create Space.

Five hours is a lot of compression for one DVD - unless as others have stated, its pretty much all a 'talking head' - in which case you might be able to do it and not have it look too bad.

Can you SPLIT the marketing series? SERIES ONE - Five DVDs of 2.5 hours each SERIES TWO the same thing? Make it an issue of marketing?

The problem is the cost for the user, since we are distributing through Create Space there is a minimum cost per dvd, this is why we are trying to keep it on as few dvd as possible.
The goal is not to make money (its a non-profit organization). We will also make it downloadable; but many people still want DVDs.

Well, since you've listed cost over quality as a priority, you have your answer! Simply compress untill it all fits, quality will be whatever it takes to make it fit and keep the cost down.

We'll do some test. Fortunatly, the future seems to be heading toward downloaded media. Thanks for your help.

dual layer dvd has twice the capacity of a normal dvd thus 2.5 hrs compressed video = 5 hrs.

Pete, I don't think Create Space will issue dual layers - so that's a non-starter if I understand their marketing.

Pete, I don't think Create Space will issue dual layers - so that's a non-starter if I understand their marketing.
I didn't know what Create Space was, ok I looked it up, yeah they wouldn't support dual layer, so it only work if he decided to do it himself. I agree high compression would be the only option but that's a lot of hrs of video.

You are right. The whole strategy is based on distribution through Create Space, that's why dual layers is not an option.

Dual layer DVD-R discs have a high probability of causing playback problems in many standard DVD players, that's why they are not an option for duplication. With replication, of course, that's not a problem, but then that's not how CreateSpace works.

- Martin