iMovie - Big Files No Luck w/ DVD!

[ncmason]

I'm working on making a compiled DVD that contains all of our old VHS tapes. I converted them from VHS to DVD. Then I converted them to MP4 for iMovie. That project files are now so big, that I would need a DVD capable of 80GB storage or more. When I shared the project over to iDVD, and was about to burn, I'm told the content won't fit on the DVD. Any suggestions for making this project work? Ideally I'd like to have all of it fit on 2 DVD's or a DL DVD.

Thanks,
Mason

 

[superleccy]

Which version of iMovie are you using?

 

[ncmason]

iMovie HD ('06)

Any suggestions? Please

 

[superleccy]

Good... I know about '06!

Sorry... more questions...

Are you trying to make a Video DVD (like wot you would play in your domestic DVD player), or a DVD Rom?

Are you doing lots of editing on the source video... or do you just want to so a straight dump from VHS to DVD?

Finally... how did you import the clips into your Mac?

SL

 

[ncmason]

I used a VHS to DVD converter. Then using Handbrake I converted the DVD's to MP4. What I want to do now is compress the 10 or so different DVD's into 1 (or 2 if needed) DVD.

Thanks!

 

[superleccy]

Okay... I'll assume you want to make Video DVDs, and you don't want to do any extra editing.

The only way you can fit more video onto a Video DVD is to reduce the encoding quality (and therefore the picture/sound quality). You can't do that with iDVD.

Also, converting to MP4 was a bad idea, since the videos on your original DVD would have been MPEG2, and the burning process will convert them back to MPEG2. All that re-encoding is going to loose you quality.

For this sort if thing, I use Toast 8 Titanium. Assuming your VHS to DVD converter isn't giving you encrypted DVDs, you can use Toast to rip the MPEG2 off the DVD and then re-burn it at a bit-rate of your choosing. You don't need to go near iMovie or iDVD, and your videos stay in MPEG2 throughout, which is best for quality.

Although... by fiddling around with the encoding settings in Toast, I don't know how much more video you'll be able to squeeze onto a DVD, or how much quality you'd sacrifice. You'd have to experiment.

Finally, personally I stay away from DL-DVDs. They're more expensive, less compatible and less reliable that SL-DVDs (apparently).

HTH
SL

 

[ncmason]

What do I do with the MP4 files then? Can't I just use 'em. It takes forever to import all the DVD's again

 

[superleccy]

Sure... you should be able to burn them using Toast, and if you're happy with the final quality then you're home and dry.

But you'll find that importing to MPEG2 using Toast is much, much quicker than importing as MPEG4 using handbrake. It's probably quicker to burn MPEG2 than MPEG4 with Toast too.

SL

 

[ncmason]

Now the only problem is Toast is taking forever to burn. It only will fit 2 videos per disc. Stinks!

 

[superleccy]

Now the only problem is Toast is taking forever to burn.

Possibly because you're trying to burn MPEG4, and it has to un-encode it and then re-encode it to MPEG2. That's a helluva lot of work for any computer, regardless of what software you're using.

It only will fit 2 videos per disc. Stinks!

How long are your videos?

Roxio had (and maybe still do) a product called Popcorn that would compress more video into a DVD by reducing the quality. I thought that functionality was now integrated into Toast but I could be mistaken. Maybe there's some other software out there that can do that sort of compression - but I bet the resulting quality will be pretty crap.

Or you could burn DivX DVDs. I think Toast supports this.

SL

 

[ncmason]

DivX won't play on a DVD player will it?

 

[superleccy]

Dunno much about this. But it is possible to burn a thing called a DivX DVD, where the movie files are stored on the DVD as DivX, not MPEG2. This should give a better compromise of Quality/Duration. I think you can make one in Toast, but you may need to buy the full DivX codec.

Some domestic DVD players can play DivX DVDs. Mine says it can, but I've never tried it.

SL

 

[ncmason]

Thanks man. I'm usin' VisualHub right now to convert all the MP4's to MPEG-2. I'll let you know how it goes when I try it all again one more time in Toast.

Thanks,
Mason

 

[ncmason]

I got them all converted to MPEG-2. Now I'll let Toast do its magic. It does seem to take an awful lot of time to burn. I was thinking way over my head about the compression, I'd rather have good quality, ya know? So I'm stickin' to having 2 videos per disc and minimizing all 10 discs to about 5. Thanks again!

- Mason

 

[UndertheRadar]

Try mpeg streamclip. it's free and it'll give you all the options you would ever need.

 

[ncmason]

MPEG Streamclip is great. I've used it before, but sadly it doesn't convert to MPEG-2 for some weird reason. That's why VisualHub is so much better.

 

[UndertheRadar]

yeah but in the future if you're starting on dvd you'll want the best quality and thats where streamclip comes in. you can extract the vob file and use toast to burn your final dvd. mp4 to mpg2 is a lot of compression.

 

[superleccy]

MPEG Streamclip will export to MPEG2 if you have the Apple MPEG2 Plugin for Quicktime.

Or, just use visual hub.

However... when I do this I just use Toast alone. Toast will extract video off an unencrypted DVD (such as produced by a home DVD recorder), and burn back to DVD-R or whatever. The video file stays in MPEG2 which minimises the amount of re-encoding... and thus maximises the quality.

You can even use Toast to burn MPEG4 video - or anything - to Video DVD. It does the MPEG2 conversion on the fly. Obviously this is much slower.

SL