I have a set of 16 gig video files that I want to put to DVD. should I put each one individually on DVD or can I put a couple on one DVD with compression?
I am going to be using Vegas architect..

I'm a little confused. You can't put a 16 gig file on a conventional red laser DVD disk. Dual layer disks are only 8.5 gigs. What format are your video files in now? Are they compressed at all?

Sorry, I should have been more specific - I am going to need to compress them. I was wondering what the best compression is going to be to try and get as many of these 16gig files on a single 4.7 DVD WITH compression. Should I use something like DVD shrink?

While using the files for putting togethor your final video product, I would advise against any compression. If at all possible, use the orginial video files to build your project. If you must compress the files, be sure not to compress them below the setting you will be using for your final product.

I asked a question on here a few weeks ago regarding what everyone else does with their original video files once a project is complete, I didnt see it effective to keep 100 gigs of files that are no longer in use, but didnt really want to delete them. I have began compressing them down to a small file size (20GB file down to about 1GB), but the are far to compressed to ever use them for editing. I'll keep the smaller file and use it as a reference if I ever need the footage again I can find the clip and capture it again from tape.

I understand. These are from hi8 tapes - just digitizing them right now. I have about 20 of them and don't want to buy a drive just for storing the 16gig files on them. I know the compression is going to be a lot, but a least I will still have them when the hi8 tapes fail (which won't be long by the state of them). That is why I was thinking DVD shrink first and then to DVD - or should I let the DVD authoring program do the compression?

David,
Why don't you do 2 copies. Use normal DVD compression and put 1 tape per DVD. You can't get nice quality video at about 2 hours per DVD. That way you have a copy that is very near the original. Then try doing an mpeg4 or h.264 compression. That way you can put more in a single DVD, it will be a good quality and will give you another option for the future.

Another option would be to keep it as a DV file and export it out 4 gigs at a time or 8.5 if you're using dual layer. DVDs are cheap and then you would have them at the best quality for future use.

Of the three options, I think I would go with the first 2. I took a lot of 8mm footage from my old camera and went straight to DVD with it. 1 DVD per tape. Looks the same as the original. Again these were my personal tapes.

I understand. These are from hi8 tapes - just digitizing them right now. I have about 20 of them and don't want to buy a drive just for storing the 16gig files on them. I know the compression is going to be a lot, but a least I will still have them when the hi8 tapes fail (which won't be long by the state of them). That is why I was thinking DVD shrink first and then to DVD - or should I let the DVD authoring program do the compression?

How are you "digitizing" the video from the Hi8 tapes? To answer you questions well, it is critical to know. I'm guessing that you are capturing them with a digital 8 camcorder, to DV, over the firewire (the file size sounds about right - should be closer to 14 gigs though, I think).

Do you want to save the video for editing sometime in the future, or just for casual viewing in the future?

Should I use something like DVD shrink?
With DVD Shrink you can only shrink an already authored DVD, it is not an mpeg2 compressor.

Yes, I am using the analog to digital pass through, so roughly 80 minutes is about 14-16 gigs.

Do you want to save the video for possible future editing, or simply for viewing?

One thing you may want to take into account when using DvD writable media for storage, is the fact that brands can vary dramatically in their stability over time. One brand may hold your data without errors for many years while another cheap one may become unreadable after only 1 or 2.

I recently went to play some Sony DvD-R discs(they were pretty inexpensive) that had been in storage for about 3 years and every one of them was unreadable. They were stored in a dark closet and never exposed to extreme temperatures to the best of my knowledge.

One thing you may want to take into account when using DvD writable media for storage, is the fact that brands can vary dramatically in their stability over time. One brand may hold your data without errors for many years while another cheap one may become unreadable after only 1 or 2.

I recently went to play some Sony DvD-R discs(they were pretty inexpensive) that had been in storage for about 3 years and every one of them was unreadable. They were stored in a dark closet and never exposed to extreme temperatures to the best of my knowledge.

Did you write on the disks, with a Sharpie (or something similar)?

Actually no, they were blank, I wrote on the cases not the discs. I did notice some discoloration towards the outer edge on the top layer of the discs themselves though. I have done some research on this subject and found that I'm not alone with this problem. Now I'm in no way saying it's a common occurrence, I have had good luck overall with disc storage. Most of the horror stories I've heard have related to very cheap products, so the sony failure was unexpected. I may have just had a bad box of them to start with.

With hard drive prices falling like rocks, I would rather go that route.

Do the math: a 500 GB external USB drive can hold (500:13) almost 40 hours of DV. You can buy this hard drive for about $100 now...

Is it worth 2.5 dollars per hour? Heck yea, it's cheaper than a tape! In five years that drive will be still fully operational - by that time a 5 TB drive will cost you about the same, so transfer 10 of these drives to a new one and so on... save your memories for ever!

And if you want to be fail proof, buy two drives and copy to a second one... keep them in different places, like your bank's safe deposit