How much can I put on a DVD? at DVinfo.net

Tyler Smith · July 25th, 2006, 11:05 PM

Hi,

I'm not sure if this fits in this forum, or should be in the Premiere 6.5 forum...but

I've used a PD170 to cover a conference, which resulted in a three hour long timeline in Premiere 6.5

My attempts to get this on DVD were hopeless, so I tried to output to VHS.

I've recorded the timeline onto MiniDV, however, I've run into difficulty on recording from camera to VCR.

Are there any particular settings on the camera I need to be aware of? I thought it would just be a matter of plugging the AV cables into the camera and VCR in, and then pressing record on the VCR and Play on the camera.

Am I missing anything here?

Tyler

Craig Seeman · July 26th, 2006, 08:24 AM

Put camera in VCR mode. Check outputs by patching S-Video (or RCA) and RCA cables directly into TV set. If you've got that then you have to make sure your VCR is set to the correct inputs.

I've put close to 3 hours of video on a DVD. You just need to compress at very low data rate. I did this with a conference I shot with PD-170 also BTW. Given there's not much action at a typical conference and do cuts instead of dissolves, it might encode without serious pixalation. You could also make a two DVD set putting about 90 minutes on each.

Richard Zlamany · July 26th, 2006, 09:22 AM

You can get 3 hrs of a conference on DVD easily bu using the TMPG Pro software.

It makes DVD compression settings a snap and the quality is great.

Mike Rehmus · July 26th, 2006, 11:49 AM

If belongs in the DVD or Premiere Forum.

Christopher Lefchik · July 26th, 2006, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Zlam

You can get 3 hrs of a conference on DVD easily bu using the TMPG Pro software.

It makes DVD compression settings a snap and the quality is great.

While you could put three hours on a single layer 4.7 GB DVD, I highly doubt the quality would be "great" with the high compression required to fit that much video in the space available.

Simon Antoniou · August 8th, 2006, 06:35 AM

ok, so im doing a wedding dvd set soon.

How much should I put on one dvd wanting to keep the quality at its highest?

Thanks
Si

Bennis Hahn · August 8th, 2006, 07:53 AM

I just put 6.5 hours on a single DVD for a client. It was talking head presentations. Granted, they went in knowing that that much on a DVD would look like crap, so they weren't surprised. But using two pass-VBR I was able to fit it all on with a bit rate average of 1.3 kbps.

If your client knows the limitations of putting that much on a single DVD, then I think you should be fine. The only time the compression really rears its ugly head is during a fade out or extreme motion.

Mike Teutsch · August 8th, 2006, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bennis Hahn

I just put 6.5 hours on a single DVD for a client. It was talking head presentations. Granted, they went in knowing that that much on a DVD would look like crap, so they weren't surprised. But using two pass-VBR I was able to fit it all on with a bit rate average of 1.3 kbps.

If your client knows the limitations of putting that much on a single DVD, then I think you should be fine. The only time the compression really rears its ugly head is during a fade out or extreme motion.

Please explain something to me. Are you talking about putting a DVD into a set-top player and playing 6.5 hours of video, or are you talking about puting 6.5 hours of video on one DVD that has to be downloaded to a computer and played at low resolution?

I believe this discussion is talking about a normal set-top DVD, right?

Confused

Ervin Farkas · August 8th, 2006, 10:40 AM

Here's the link to a simple to use online bitrate calculator: http://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm

FYI: 4 mbps is considered low quality, 6 mbps is medium, while 8 mbps is considered high quality. Hollywood DVDs are usually encoded somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 mbps. Bitrate is only one of the factors that determine quality - the other big factor is the encoder software.

Paulo Teixeira · August 12th, 2006, 09:52 AM

It’s best to use the highest quality setting when making a DVD and that can top out to about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

George Ellis · August 12th, 2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo Teixeira

It’s best to use the highest quality setting when making a DVD and that can top out to about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

That is based on CBR. A good encoder using VBR dual pass and Dolby Digital can be highest quality up to about 1.5 hrs using 8500kbps peak. Content also matters and low motion video can go longer.

Folks that make the DVDs that get glassmaster for Hollywood analyze the material can create a custom compression of the material.

July 25th, 2006, 11:05 PM	#1
Tyler Smith New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Sydney, NSW Australia Posts: 24	Outputting a large project to vhs Hi, I'm not sure if this fits in this forum, or should be in the Premiere 6.5 forum...but I've used a PD170 to cover a conference, which resulted in a three hour long timeline in Premiere 6.5 My attempts to get this on DVD were hopeless, so I tried to output to VHS. I've recorded the timeline onto MiniDV, however, I've run into difficulty on recording from camera to VCR. Are there any particular settings on the camera I need to be aware of? I thought it would just be a matter of plugging the AV cables into the camera and VCR in, and then pressing record on the VCR and Play on the camera. Am I missing anything here? Tyler __________________ www.free-range.tv

July 26th, 2006, 11:49 AM	#4
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	If belongs in the DVD or Premiere Forum. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

August 8th, 2006, 10:40 AM	#9
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	Bitrate calculator Here's the link to a simple to use online bitrate calculator: http://www.videohelp.com/calc.htm FYI: 4 mbps is considered low quality, 6 mbps is medium, while 8 mbps is considered high quality. Hollywood DVDs are usually encoded somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 mbps. Bitrate is only one of the factors that determine quality - the other big factor is the encoder software. __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

July 26th, 2006, 08:24 AM	#2
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Put camera in VCR mode. Check outputs by patching S-Video (or RCA) and RCA cables directly into TV set. If you've got that then you have to make sure your VCR is set to the correct inputs. I've put close to 3 hours of video on a DVD. You just need to compress at very low data rate. I did this with a conference I shot with PD-170 also BTW. Given there's not much action at a typical conference and do cuts instead of dissolves, it might encode without serious pixalation. You could also make a two DVD set putting about 90 minutes on each.

July 26th, 2006, 09:22 AM	#3
Richard Zlamany Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hamden CT Posts: 470	You can get 3 hrs of a conference on DVD easily bu using the TMPG Pro software. It makes DVD compression settings a snap and the quality is great.

August 8th, 2006, 06:35 AM	#6
Simon Antoniou Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 73	ok, so im doing a wedding dvd set soon. How much should I put on one dvd wanting to keep the quality at its highest? Thanks Si

August 8th, 2006, 07:53 AM	#7
Bennis Hahn Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 221	I just put 6.5 hours on a single DVD for a client. It was talking head presentations. Granted, they went in knowing that that much on a DVD would look like crap, so they weren't surprised. But using two pass-VBR I was able to fit it all on with a bit rate average of 1.3 kbps. If your client knows the limitations of putting that much on a single DVD, then I think you should be fine. The only time the compression really rears its ugly head is during a fade out or extreme motion.

August 12th, 2006, 09:52 AM	#10
Paulo Teixeira Trustee Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,773	It’s best to use the highest quality setting when making a DVD and that can top out to about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.