FAQ for recording before burning DVD? (ATI TV Wonder)

[Greg]

Hi folks,

I've got an ATI TV Wonder card, and I've used it successfully a couple times
now to burn some family vacation DVDs. But I can clearly only burn about an
hour's worth of footage to a DVD before it runs out of space.

As DVD movies have well over 2 hours on them, I guess they're using some
sort of compression method?

If so, is there an FAQ or other source of information on this? My ATI help
doc doesn't talk about this.

Thanks
Greg

 

[Bill Anderson]

Hi folks,

I've got an ATI TV Wonder card, and I've used it successfully a couple times
now to burn some family vacation DVDs. But I can clearly only burn about an
hour's worth of footage to a DVD before it runs out of space.

As DVD movies have well over 2 hours on them, I guess they're using some
sort of compression method?

If so, is there an FAQ or other source of information on this? My ATI help
doc doesn't talk about this.

Thanks
Greg

Here's how I do it, Greg. First I build a set of DVD files using
software like Ulead DVD Workshop or Roxio MyDVD to build my DVD with
menu and appropriate background and all that stuff *on my hard drive*.
The resulting DVD files will be much too big to fit on a single blank
DVD -- probably in the area of 6 to 7 gigabytes. Then I use DVD2One to
compress the DVD files to exactly the size that will fit on a DVD. Then
I use Nero to burn the compressed DVD. DVD2One does a fine job of
shrinking about 7 gigabytes down to about 4.3 gigabytes or so. The
resulting videos look just fine, even though they're compressed.

http://www.dvd2one.com/

I know software like DVD Workshop and MyDVD can compress too, at least I
think so, but I use DVD2One anyhow. Cuz I like to do it that way.

 

[Richard Amirault]

"Greg" wrote ...

I've got an ATI TV Wonder card, and I've used it successfully a couple
times now to burn some family vacation DVDs. But I can clearly only burn
about an hour's worth of footage to a DVD before it runs out of space.

As DVD movies have well over 2 hours on them, I guess they're using some
sort of compression method?

If so, is there an FAQ or other source of information on this? My ATI help
doc doesn't talk about this.

More info then you ever wanted to know at: http://www.videohelp.com/

Also, even at 1 hour .. the video is still 'compressed'. You say you are
burning "family vacation DVD's" How are you getting the video into the
computer?

 

[Matt Ion]

Actually, most are using dual-layer discs.

Here's how I do it, Greg. First I build a set of DVD files using
software like Ulead DVD Workshop or Roxio MyDVD to build my DVD with
menu and appropriate background and all that stuff *on my hard drive*.
The resulting DVD files will be much too big to fit on a single blank
DVD -- probably in the area of 6 to 7 gigabytes. Then I use DVD2One to
compress the DVD files to exactly the size that will fit on a DVD. Then
I use Nero to burn the compressed DVD. DVD2One does a fine job of
shrinking about 7 gigabytes down to about 4.3 gigabytes or so. The
resulting videos look just fine, even though they're compressed.

http://www.dvd2one.com/

I know software like DVD Workshop and MyDVD can compress too, at least I
think so, but I use DVD2One anyhow. Cuz I like to do it that way.

Or if you want an all-in-one solution, NeroVision Express will capture,
let you build menus complete with animations and backing music, and
recompress to DVD allowing up to about 6 hours on a standard disc, all
through a straightforward wizard interface. A free demo is available
from www.nero.com


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[abc]

"Greg" wrote ...


More info then you ever wanted to know at: http://www.videohelp.com/

Also, even at 1 hour .. the video is still 'compressed'. You say you are
burning "family vacation DVD's" How are you getting the video into the
computer?

The OP says "dvd", though he doesn't mention Mpeg2, which is what DVD videos
are using.

Whatever you use to capture your movies you still need to know about
resolution, sound compression etc, and what effect this will have on files
size.

 

[Mark Burns]

The following is for mpeg capture:

1) Make sure that audio is mpa, not pcm (much more space)

2) Check the capture bit rate. A bit rate of 7000 is almost
indistinguishable from 8000, imho. Noticable in 6000 vs. 7000 however.

3) Capture the video to hard drive. I strongly suggest using VideoRedo
at this stage to deal with any dropped frames. These will only become
apparent after demuxing and remuxing the mpeg.

4) Author into Video_TS folder.

4) Use DVD Shrink in Deep Analysis mode to shring the authored folder
to fit on a single layer disk.

5) Create .iso file with DvdShrink and burn to disk with DvdDecrypter
or ImgBurn.

This is my method, although I don't use an ATI. As a matter of fact,
most in the past haven't recommend the ATI for many reasons.
Hauppauge and ADS on the low end are often cited as good deals. I use
a Pinnacle Movie Box USB 2.0 that does a very good job.

For DV:

Capture the video to the computer. Most just use a firewire port.
Edit video in DV mode. Save edited DV back to a fresh tape in the
camera. At this point, either capture to mpeg in the above method or
use an encoder such as TmpgEnc or Cinemacraft to create the mpeg.

Home movies at two hours can be very tiresome. Better to split them up
I have found. Ten hours of video can often give me 10 minutes of stuff
that people will watch.

Cheers...