Disc Space problems in DVD Studio Pro 4
 

Okay...I am having problems fitting content on to my DVD's and I hope there are some simple solutions. In the two latest cases in which I am having problems, the content appears to not be to big for the disc: 6.2 GB of content for a dual layer disc and 4.2 GB for a single layer disc (according to the disc meter). I have checked out the properties of both the video and audio content in the inspector to see if I could get a more accurate read of how big they were. Although it also listed encoding size as estimated, it did give me larger total sizes for the single layer content (4.7 GB) which would make it close to the limit for the DVD. Still, that content is only 1hr 31min long - I hope this isn't close to the limit for content I try to put on DVD.

In both cases, I am basically transferring camera masters to DVD. The content I am using is from MiniDV tapes, "edited" in FCP5 (only markers were added to the footage for DVD SP4 usage), and exported to a Quicktime movie. I used the "Calculating Disc Space Requirements" calculations from Appendix C of the DVD SP manual to set the bit rate for encoding (5.0 Mb/s for single layer, 6.0 for dual-layer), and arbitrarily set the max. bit rate about 1.5Mb/s higher than the basic bit rate. Two-pass VBR is used. The Quicktime movie is the only content on the dual layer project, and a text only menu with a "play" button was added to the single layer project.

The manual says the video bit rate setting is the single biggest factor in controlling the size of the project. But when I calculate it and adjust it for the PCM audio that it includes, things don't fit in either case. The manual also states that the calculated bit rate can be used regardless of which encoding method (one- pass VBR, two-pass VBR, etc.) is used.

Is there something I may be missing? Should I export as something other than a QT movie...set the bit rate at 4.0 in all cases...? It seems like 1hr 31min on a single layer DVD and 2hr 20min on a dual layer should not be causing problems.

There are presets in Compressor to convert the original to m2v that are designed to work with different length videos. I would try those first if you want to play the files as DVDs.

If you are just wanting to back up the camera originals - then you don't need to compress them as video for playback on DVD's, you just copy the original quicktime files across to the blank DVD using finder.

Another big factor for space is audio format, PCM vs. Dolby (ac3).

Okay, I will try Compressor...I have had problems with it in the past too, but I may have given up on it too quickly, thinking the QT movie export was the fastest and most high-quality option. If anyone has had any success creating DVD's without Compressor while exporting QT movies, let me know, and tell me your success secrets!

As far as PCM vs. ac3 audio, it does look like PCM assets are a lot bigger, and I take it that's another comversion that's done in Compressor...I'll take a look at it too, if for no other reason than to just be more knowledgable about my options.

Thax for the input, but keep more comin'!