After I capture one big AVI (about 2 hours worth of footage) - what is the quickest way to get it to DVD (not worrying about menu or anything - just straight play when it is inserted)?

Goto FILE NEW set as Single play movie-and when you go to make the DVD Prepare-Render-Burn it will tell you that the AVI is too big. Use the Fit to Disc button and then go get lunch and a cup of coffee while it renders the AVI to MPG and the audio to AC3 -then Burns the DVD. For 2 hours of footage it will take a while.
Sit back and watch TV :-)
Don

Ok, that sucks about the amount of time. Is there a quicker way of doing it - making the DVD that won't take so much time?

quickest to go to DVD ... buy/borrow a DVD recorder that has a 1394 input and record directly to DVD disc ... i have a LiteOn ( $89) and it works !!

Really! That is great. $89.00 is a small price to pay and it runs directly from the firewire to the burner huh? Maybe next time I will go that route, but for now I have to come up with a quick way for the time being...and suggestions?

...for now I have to come up with a quick way for the time being...and suggestions?

Since you don't want to spend the money, Don Bloom's suggestion is as quick as it gets.
If you have a reasonably fast computer and your video has very little in the way of FX, the render should be real time or faster.
BTW, had you started rendering when he posted his suggestion this morning, you'd be done by now:-)

True, but I had to recapture all the footage because it was in 100's of avi's. So right now ,I am trying again...

True, but I had to recapture all the footage because it was in 100's of avi's. So right now ,I am trying again...

Gotcha. This is another reason I (almost) always do things like this as a batch capture and save the vidcap file with the project name.
Makes recapturing MUCH easier :-)

<snip> Maybe next time I will go that route, but for now I have to come up with a quick way for the time being...and suggestions?

well, the file does need to get rendered, either by software on the PC (mac) or in real time such as by a dvd recorder (or mpeg board or piece of hardware).

if you're looking to cut time out to deliver, how about if you render to windows media or quicktime and post a small version of the file somewhere on the net for viewing (not sure if there are any copyright issues you would have). you still have to render, but perhaps rendering to a windows media and then just uploading would save you some time to show your product?

if you don't have a site, there are sites which can host your file (mpeg nation, are they still around, or other similar, for a very nominal cost).

just a thought..not sure if it will help you in this case...

good luck...!

edit: if you are in a rush, the other thing you might explore, esp. if you have to recapture, is use mpeg vcr (or similar, do a google search), to capture and do a software encode in real time. it may not be the highest quality, but if you pick the right codec (like the one from pegasys, motion jpeg I think), it might get you a decent encoded stream (again, you'd have to put it somewhere where your viewer can decode with the same codec), but it is quick (real time).

Ok, I am trying it now and it gives me an error when I go to MAKE DVD (DVD Arch 3) :

The estimated project size is larger then the default space of the media.

It also tells me it is going to compress the video and audio, but that is normal.

The video is 20 gigs in size and 90 minutes (1 hour and a half long).
I started a new project, picked single movie and selected the file. From there, I have just tried to MAKE DVD...so where is the FIT TO DISK button? I guess I have to hit optimize first?
Any other suggestions?

Render to MPG and AC3 in Vegas-more control same amount of time. Render while you sleep. ;-)

Don

Pinnacle Studio 10 has a direct to disk burning utility as a separate program.

...so where is the FIT TO DISK button? I guess I have to hit optimize first?

That's correct. After you select "Optimize", another menu comes up and you'll see "Fit to Disc" on the bottom left corner.

Render to MPG and AC3 in Vegas-more control same amount of time. Render while you sleep. ;-)

My preferred method as well.
For a 90 min. video (assuming AC3 audio), the MPEG stream should be either a CBR of 6,400 or VBR of 8,000, 6,400, 3,800.