Splitting or compressing a .mpg clip?
 

I have a 6.5gb project I rendered from Vegas 6.0d as a .mpg (mpeg2) video only. I also have the audio only .ac3 file. I want to make a DVD, but the file is too big.

How do I cut/split the .mpg file in half and the .ac3 file in the same spot, so that I can fit it onto two DVDs?

Or alternatively (althought not preferred because I don't want to lose video quality), how do I compress the file down to around 4gb so I can fit it onto one DVD?

Are there any programs to split or compress .mpg and .ac3 files?

Programs like Womble will split MPEG2.

How long is the program? For programs over about 90 minutes, the bitrate must be lowered to keep the file size within the size limit of a DVD. There are many bitrate calculators available and I have a chart in Vol 1 #7 of my newsletters.

Try DVD Shrink. It's excellent. It can use Nero or DVDDecrypter (discontinued, but still amazing) to burn the shrunken mpeg.

It's free and simple.

I can't use those DVD authoring softwares. I have to use DVD Studio Pro 4 ONLY as it the only computer I have access to with a DVD burner uses it.

Ideally, I want my program on two DVDs, so I don't have to shrink/make fewer bits/lower video quality. I simply want to split the video and audio in the exact same part (same frame) and end up with two sections.

My .mpg file right now is 6.5gb and 2.5 hours long.

Also, which Womble app? There seem to be three of them. And how do I use Womble to split the audio and video (two separate files) at the same frame?

Anyone?

I also simply imported into a new project my already rendered 6.5gb .mpg video only file. Then I split it into two parts to try to render two separate files. The first part worked (though obviously lower quality because it's another generation), but whenever I try to render the second part, around 20% an unexpected, unidentified error ALWAYS occurs and stops the rendering. What is going on?

Can't you just go back to the original project and render properly?

No, because the whole deal is we don't have the time left. It takes 14 hours to re-render. Only if it is the LAST resort, then we will re-render from original.

In the 33 hours from the original post to now, it could have been done.

No, it couldn't have. It's not simply how much time is needed to render, it's also a matter of how long the computer is available. Also you should realize that as time goes by, that means even less time is available so saying just re-render from original isn't good advice. In fact, it's just the opposite as more time has been lost since then. So as more time goes by, the more urgent a quick solution becomes.

Can't you open the Mpeg into a new timeline, split it, and render out a new mpeg 4? This will recompress, yes. But rendering an mpeg from an mpeg should result in real time/2x time rendering. Not 14 hours in any case.

Mpeg4 won't work. I need .mpeg2. Yes, if I take my already rendered .mpg (mpeg2) file (6.5gb - 2.5 hours) and just drop it onto a new project timeline to re-render into .mpg (mpeg2) again, the time will be much shorter, although at some quality loss.

That's what I did with part I. It only took an hour. I split the 6.5gb file and rendered part I fine, but part II just won't render correctly at all for unknown reasons. Any ideas why? Part II supposedly should only take 2-2.5 hours to render, but it keeps running into the unknown error around 20% and just quits.

Ideally, shouldn't there be a quick, easy way to simply split the .mpg (mpeg2) file into two separate .mpg (mpeg2) files?

Womble MPEG Video Wizard.

Put the video in one track. Put the audio in the other track.

Set the in-point to the beginning. Set the out-point to where you want to split. Export the file, setting selection to "workspace". Move the in-point to the previous out-point. Set the out-point to the end. Export the second half.

You now have (very quickly, about 5-10 minutes) two MPEG2 files with the audio already multiplexed in. (Womble can also render the audio as a separate file if you want. Since you cut the video and audio at the same time and same place, it will sync.)