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DVD Burning


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#1
runmaster

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Up untill recently, I have been burning .avi files to dvd using nero vision and it's fine of course untill I came across a dvd with no less than 5 movies on it and they were all, well, really clear and showed very little sign of compression. I guess I should have realised it earlier that the size of a movie .avi averages at about 700mb and a single layer dvd (which this one was) holds 4.7Gb of data but I have no idea what software they used as nerovision will expand a 700Mb movie to fill the whole disc up. I have in the past managed to get 2 movies on one disc but the quality dropped very sharply and didn't seem to retain the original quality of the 700Mb .avi files like on the dvd I had seen. I asked the person who had the dvd and she said one of her ex's was an IT guy but was no longer on speaking terms so that avenue of information was gone.
Anybody have a clue ?
Maybe a link ?
Thankyou very much for your time and consideration.
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#2
makai

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I read your post several times, and for the life of me can't really make out your main question... so let me clarify.

Are you simply asking how to burn multiple .avi files onto a 4.7gb DVD using Nerovision... and still keep them in .avi format? Or, are you trying to burn .avis and convert them to compliant DVD format so it can be watched on a home DVD player?

I burn multiple .avi files, all in the range of 500 to 700 mbs, to a single DVD using Nero all the time. Granted, I use Nero 7 and not Nerovision, however Nero shouldn't stretch one 700mb .avi file across an entire 4.7gb DVD disc unless it's being told to convert.

Edited by makai, 17 August 2009 - 09:27 PM.

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#3
runmaster

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Yes, I am also using nero 7 but nero 7 uses nerovision to convert and burn video files to dvd that can be played on any dvd player. It lets you put in a title and submenu etc. Now, let's say you have a 700Mb video file (any format) and you are going to convert it to dvd with a title menu. Nero uses nerovision to do this and when it does this, it has this nasty, dirty habit of stretching out that 700Mb file to fill the entire DVD. Now, it is possible to add more than one 700Mb video file of course but the more you add, the more you lose quality and you get signs of compression, this is normal of course as there is only a limited space available on the disc. Now, I can get two full length movies on one DVD with some quality loss but it does work albeit badly.
Now here is the bit that relates to my question ... I have seen DVDs with five or six full length movies on them and they are all high quality with no sign of compression at all. I want to know how is it possible, what software is being used to make a DVD with six full length movies on it. It isn't just a DVD with the files on it, This is a properly mastered single layerd disc with a title menu that lets you pick which movie you want to watch and it works on any dvd player or playstation 2 or any other device that will play a dvd. Nero 7 is not capable of making such a dvd nor DVD shrink nor DVD flick or DVD fab 6. I have them all and have tried them all. All I want to know is how is this done that 6 movies can fit on one dvd with no sign of compression or obvious loss in quality.
Thankyou again.
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#4
hawklord

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what sort of movies are these ?

do you know what codec is used ?
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#5
runmaster

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*sigh*
Once more for the road.
have you never downloaded a movie torrent or made a legal backup of an existing DVD?
They can be in .avi or mkv or mp4 whatever ... it makes no difference what format they start off as... most full length movies files average at about 700Mb.
You can then take those movie files and convert them to a dvd compliant format using nero or DVDFab or whatever you have and you can add a title screen, background music if tyou like - again, this is not related to my question in any way.
The thing is that you can only add one or at the most, two movie files to one dvd because you are trading space at the expense of video quality.
If you add more than two full length movies to a single layered dvd, it becomes almost unwatchable if it works at all.
But I have seen home burned DVDs with 5 or 6 full length movies on it on a single layered dvd using a program that allows you to do this without sacrificing the video quality. Sadly, the person that owns these home burned dvds is no longer dating or seeing the IT guy that did it for her. these are proper movies like shrek 1- 3 with shark tales and the polar express for her kids on one single layered dvd.
He didn't buy it - he made it and there is no loss in quality from the original 700Mb files, every movie is really high quality, not quite proper dvd quality but still, very high quality.
I want to know if anyone knows how this was done - it's beyond me.
The DVD has a title screen where you can select what movie you want to watch ... it has its own background music and picture.
Can anyone at all help ?
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#6
chamber

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If you're buring movies that you downloaded from illegal torrent sites then....no. :)
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#7
runmaster

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I am using torrent sites as an example only.
The laws in australia are quite specific that you can make backup copies of movies that you own and it's 100% legal.
The point that I was trying to get across with the whole torrent thing was that the average movie file is around 700Mb in size so in theory, it is possible to fit 5 or 6 movies to one dvd but it is beyond the abilities of nero and such without sever loss of video quality.
But it's getting kind of obvious that what ever method was employed by this guy to fit so many movies onto one disc is also unheard of by your team.
I apologise for wasting your time and will look elsewhere for an answer.
Thankyou again for all of your time and considerations.
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#8
chamber

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Thats ok,

But I hope that you can understand why I was making the point. I'll bow out of this thread now.

Sorry if I was a bit blunt.
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#9
runmaster

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Hmm, let me rephrase that so that there are no confusions.
As an australian citizen, I am allowed by law to make backup copies of the movies that I own with the understanding that said movies cannot be shown for public display or sold or traded.
I am in no way a pirate or user of torrent sites to gain illegal materials and I pay for my music on itunes which is also legal.
My computer and all of its programs are legal and validated offical programs which have been purchased through licenced retail merchants.
Again, thankyou for your time.
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#10
makai

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Yes, Nero will convert just as you say and it’s the reason I don't use it for converting video.

However, what you're asking for can't be done... well, not in the manner you think, anyways. There is no such thing as lossless compression or conversion. Software available to "home" users aren't as good as what studio's use, although if you have enough money, you could buy the same software. Not a realistic choice though. Still you couldn't do it lossless. You'd be surprised at how good some home software is with creating decent video DVD’s and truth be told, some are decent enough that you can't tell the difference, or there's not that much difference to make a difference while viewing on a TV screen.

Before I go on, I want to let you know that I also mess with video. Not professionally, but as a hobby. My main "thing" is converting Japanese dramas (.avi format) to DVDs with subtitles. In fact my desktop was built specifically for doing dramas. Most Japanese DVDs I buy don't come with english subtitiles, so I had to learn to convert just so I could watch them! I've used all the apps you’ve listed, and many more you haven't. I've even tried professional applications costing thousands of $$$. Luckily I didn't have to pay for them just to try them as I have friends in the "business".

What I ended up sticking with was Tmpgenc 2.5. Tmpgenc takes an .avi, for instance 700mb, and converts it to a DVD compliant mpeg of about 1.3gbs... almost double the size of the avi file if you use 100% Constant quality, which is single-pass. If you use double-pass, the file is even larger. Tmpgenc also reads subtitles, so I normally add those via srt, sub, or ssa files supplied by kind fansubbers on the net.

Anyways, once converted, the mpeg is imported into Tmpgenc Authoring Works 4 where menus/editing takes place. In Works 4, you can add as many mpegs as you want depending on what kind of compression you're willing to live with in the final DVD. I normally go with 4 or 5 episodes and then compress until they fit on a 4.7gb DVD disc. Most Japanese dramas contain about 11 episodes depending on how they're converted from the vob files. Each episodes run anywhere between 500 to 700mb average. Add everything up... vobs, avis, and mpegs after conversion, and you end up working with a total of about 35gbs per drama!

HERE’s (link expired) what I consider a "highly" compressed wma file that was converted for a guy on this forum who thought he had problems playing video on his computer. I made this wma by first running the original .avi through Virtualdub using the text filter for the subs. I then set Virtualdub to clip the avi to the length I wanted and then saved the clip to my desktop in avi format. Because I just wanted a sample and didn't really care about compression, I ran the avi through Windows Movie Maker to create the wma file. The wma is only 5.6megs, and although it has relatively poor brightness/contrast compared to the original file, it really isn't that bad of a sample. Play the file full-screen on your computer and tell me if it looks as bad as what Nero puts out.

There’s a ton of different things to learn about video conversion/editing, and truthfully, this is not the forum to be visiting to learn what you want to learn. I just happened to come across your thread and replied to it but you would have better luck learning at places like afterdawn.com, doom9.org, and several other forums. However, if you have more questions for me, ask away!

Edited by makai, 18 August 2009 - 12:07 PM.

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#11
runmaster

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*sniff*
I think I love you.
Then again, I really could have made it easier by saying I wanted to stuff as much as I could onto a dvd without losing too much by way of quality.
Thanks for the lead and the tips.
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#12
makai

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Now don't go running out and buying Tmpgenc software without learning about them on the forums I noted. Both softwares have a learning curve... although not that hard. I don't want you to be displeased with anything without first investigating what's out there. Good luck!
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