Need to create a DVD from an MPEG-2 file

[s_layton]

I have an 8.99 GB .mpg file that I need to convert to be playable on DVD players. I have tried using a program that I have called Sonic MyDVD but it keeps telling me that I have went over the 9 GB limit. I don't exactly understand this because, as I said, the file is only 8.99 GB. I have a DVD Burner that will burn dual layer DVDs so I have 8.5 GB to work with. I also have the program DVD Shrink which I would use to get the DVD files down to that size. Can anyone recommend a free program that would do what I'm looking for?

[RJ]

I have a DVD Burner that will burn dual layer DVDs so I have 8.5 GB to work with.

Nope, the dual layer DVD holds 7.95 GB, so that is your limit.

I also have the program DVD Shrink which I would use to get the DVD files down to that size.

That's a good program, however it only works with DVD files.
What you need to do is to author your MPEG as it is. Yes, you well get slightly more than 9 GB of DVD files, so you have to ignore MyDVD's warning.
Once you have the DVD files, you can use DVD Shrink to shrink it down to 7.95 GB, and then burn it.

If MyDVD completely refuses to create such big DVD files, then you need to get another authoring program. Take a look at DVDLab, there is a free trial, that should be able to create DVD files despite they're too big.

RJ

[Byte 2.0]

One thing you may have to do, I had to do this once. I was working with a large file and I before burning it converted it to ISO, which was slightly to large. I then used daemon tools to mount the image to a virtual drive and then use dvd shrink to bring it down to size.

[s_layton]

I used my capture card to capture the entire 3 hour VHS tape onto my HDD using the correct DVD format. The file ended up being 8.99GB. I downloaded the trial version of DVD-lab PRO from their website to try and convert my MPEG file to the correct DVD files. When I import my video into DVD-lab PRO, it imports fine. I have to demultiplex the MPEG, resulting in two files, a .mpv and a .mpa. I insert both files into the movie correctly and I can preview my video (minus the audio) in DVD-lab PRO and it appears to be exactly what I need. I added 3 chapter points and then told it to complile the DVD. After it finished compiling, I loaded the DVD files using Cyberlink PowerDVD to see if the output looked correct before shrinking the DVD files with DVD Shrink and burning it to a DL DVD. When I view the DVD files, everything runs fine. I can view the entire DVD movie until the 2:45:50 mark, at which point the DVD stops as if it is the end of the file. I can see that Cyberlink apparently thinks that the DVD is 3 full hours long because the slidebar to move through the movie isn't all the way to the end. I thought this may have been just a one time problem, so I compiled the DVD again, same results. I think recaptured the video, adding 15 minutes of blank video onto the end of the MPEG so that it would delete this 15 minutes instead of 15 minutes of the actual video. This didn't work, it still stopped at 2:45:50. I have tried reading multiple tutorials and even tried emailing the support email for the software, but have received no reply.

[RJ]

recaptured the video

Well, if you recapture, why didn't you use the appropriate bitrate, then ? Always use the appropriate bitrate when capturing from tape, then you won't have a problem fitting it to DVD.
In your case that'd be about 6000kbps, but I'd calculate it using the exact runtime just to be sure.

RJ

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by RJ Well, if you recapture, why didn't you use the appropriate bitrate, then ? Always use the appropriate bitrate when capturing from tape, then you won't have a problem fitting it to DVD. In your case that'd be about 6000kbps, but I'd calculate it using the exact runtime just to be sure. RJ

I'm using the correct bitrate. It doesn't give me any errors when compiling. I'm using the correct DVD format to capture. The capturing isn't the problem, it's the compiling.

[RJ]

Nope. If you used the correct bitrate, you wouldn't get a 9 GB MPEG.

RJ

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by RJ Nope. If you used the correct bitrate, you wouldn't get a 9 GB MPEG. RJ

For a 3 hour video?

[RJ]

Doesn't matter how long it is. 3 hours, or 5, or 8, or 1. Using the appropriate bitrate it won't be bigger as you want it to be.

RJ

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by RJ Doesn't matter how long it is. 3 hours, or 5, or 8, or 1. Using the appropriate bitrate it won't be bigger as you want it to be. RJ

Well, what bitrate would I need to record it at?? I planned on creating the DVD files fullsize and then shrinking them using DVDShrink.

[RJ]

How long is your video ? Is it exactly 180:00 minutes long ?
Do you use AC3 for audio ?

I planned on creating the DVD files fullsize and then shrinking them using DVDShrink.

If you record it at the correct size, you won't need to shrink. And what do you mean by "fullsize" ? Do you mean the resolution (720x480) ? The resolution won't be changed when shrinking.

RJ

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by RJ How long is your video ? Is it exactly 180:00 minutes long ? Do you use AC3 for audio ? If you record it at the correct size, you won't need to shrink. And what do you mean by "fullsize" ? Do you mean the resolution (720x480) ? The resolution won't be changed when shrinking. RJ

I was under the impression that you needed to capture at 720x480 with a bitrate of 6000. The video is exactly 179:51 minutes long.

[RJ]

I see.
Ok, well, the bitrate of 6000kbps is fine. Actually you could even use 6100kbps for the video itself. That is, however, assuming that you use AC3 audio, with a bitrate of 192kbps.
Now since you capture with 6000 kbps, the reason why your MPEG is so big, must be the audio. You don't use AC3, do you ?
I believe your audio is LPCM, uncompressed, which consumes very much space, and is the reason that your MPEG is so big. You only need to encode your audio to AC3, then your video will fit.
You can use TMPGEnc to separate video and audio (File -> MPEG Tools, Demultiplex), and then use a program like BeSweet to encode to AC3. A bitrate of 192kbps should be pretty good.

RJ

[reboot]

Besweet (and belight and other GUI's for it) still has problems outputting compliant AC3 for DVD.
Use FFMpeggui instead

[s_layton]

Since I'm using DVD-lab PRO and the video and audio are already split, can I just use the audio file the DVD-lab PRO created to convert it?? The extension is .mpa

[reboot]

Definitely! (Another nice bonus of DVDLab Pro)
If you have the tmpgenc AC3 plugin, DVDLab will even transcode the audio for you, but if not, ffmpeggui will do the mp2 to AC3 nicely.
Keep bitrate below 384kbps, and make sure it's 48khz.

[s_layton]

When I look at the properties of the file now, it says 48.0 Khz and 224 Kbps. Isn't that what it needs to be?

[RJ]

And yet the file is 9 GB ? With 6000kbps for video and 224 kbps for MP2 it can't be. Something's phoney.

Get Bitrate Viewer and load your .mpv file. What does BitrateViewer say about the bitrate (you can see it in the list at the bottom right, and also in the upper half: Bitrate: Current, Peak, Average. What's the Peak, what's the Average) ?

RJ

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by RJ And yet the file is 9 GB ? With 6000kbps for video and 224 kbps for MP2 it can't be. Something's phoney. Get Bitrate Viewer and load your .mpv file. What does BitrateViewer say about the bitrate (you can see it in the list at the bottom right, and also in the upper half: Bitrate: Current, Peak, Average. What's the Peak, what's the Average) ? RJ

Will do as soon as I get home.

[reboot]

What's the problem here?
The video is 179 minutes, 51 seconds long.
At 6000kbps, that's about 8.8gig plus audio.
For that length of movie to fit on one DVDR5, with 224kbps AC3 audio, it needs to have an average bitrate of 3160kbps.

[RJ]

The problem is, that at 6000kbps the video shouldn't exceed the capacity of a DL, but it does.

RJ

[reboot]

Then it's NOT a DL disk, or the burning app doesn't recognize it as a DL disk, or the burner is not a DL burner.

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by reboot What's the problem here? The video is 179 minutes, 51 seconds long. At 6000kbps, that's about 8.8gig plus audio. For that length of movie to fit on one DVDR5, with 224kbps AC3 audio, it needs to have an average bitrate of 3160kbps.

I am putting this on a DL DVD. I still haven't burned it yet. I can't bet it to play correctly on my computer so I'm not going to try and burn it yet.

I ran the bitrate viewer

Peak is 8355
Average is 6132

What can I do to check what kind of audio file I have on my hands?

[reboot]

Open the file in virtualdubmod, click file, file info, or get Gspot and open the file. Either one will tell you quite a bit about what's in it.
PowerDVD should play it properly, if it was encoded properly to begin with.
Sounds like an "out of bounds" GOP. Something well over DVD spec.
Did you edit the mpeg after encoding in some other software?

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by reboot Open the file in virtualdubmod, click file, file info, or get Gspot and open the file. Either one will tell you quite a bit about what's in it. PowerDVD should play it properly, if it was encoded properly to begin with. Sounds like an "out of bounds" GOP. Something well over DVD spec. Did you edit the mpeg after encoding in some other software?

I haven't edited the mpeg at all since I captured it. Would the audio be causing it to mess up? What is an "out of bounds" GOP?

[s_layton]

I have gotten it to play by running the "reduce MPEG size" through DVD-lab PRO and it will play the entire file now, but now the audio is out of sync. Any ideas?

[RJ]

Then it's NOT a DL disk, or the burning app doesn't recognize it as a DL disk, or the burner is not a DL burner.

Sure it is. The capacity of a DL is 7.95 GB, and 9 GB is more than that.

Peak is 8355 Average is 6132

The Peak is too high. When you capture the video, 6000 should be the max. bitrate, then you'll get an MPEG file that fits a DL. 8355 is too high.

What can I do to check what kind of audio file I have on my hands?

You have MPEG-1 Layer 2 (MP2) audio. The extension .mpa revealed that.

Say, how did you capture your MPEG ? What hard- and software did you use ?
The audio-out-of-sync reminds me of my old WinTV PVR, it had some issues of that nature.

RJ

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by RJ Sure it is. The capacity of a DL is 7.95 GB, and 9 GB is more than that. The Peak is too high. When you capture the video, 6000 should be the max. bitrate, then you'll get an MPEG file that fits a DL. 8355 is too high. You have MPEG-1 Layer 2 (MP2) audio. The extension .mpa revealed that. Say, how did you capture your MPEG ? What hard- and software did you use ? The audio-out-of-sync reminds me of my old WinTV PVR, it had some issues of that nature. RJ

I ran a reduce mpeg utility from inside DVD-lab PRO that was recommended to me by their support. This got the peak out of that file. I am using a WinFast PVR, but the audio and video was in sync before I reduced the MPEG to remove the peak. Any ideas on how to fix this?

[reboot]

I know what a DL disk is. I was saying that maybe HIS disk wasn't actually a DL, or his burner isn't a DL burner, or his software doesn't know that it's a DL disk in a DL burner. Moot point now anyhow.

You can use a few different programs to resync audio.
Virtualdubmod, VideoReDo, Goldwave, Soundforge...It's not easy though.

[s_layton]

Originally Posted by reboot You can use a few different programs to resync audio. Virtualdubmod, VideoReDo, Goldwave, Soundforge...It's not easy though.

But it is possible? Are any of the programs you mentioned free and would it be better if I just recaptured the video and told it to do constant bitrate instead of variable bitrate? I don't know the difference so I just left it at the default, which was variable.