Compressing 3 hr movie - 4.7GB or 8.5GB DVDs?

[kufloyd]

Hello,

So, I have a 182 min long movie shot on SD. I'm weighing options for output. My first thought was to output it on a dual layer DVD. However, recently, I was told that it is indeed possible to compress it on a single layer DVD w/o any discernible change in quality (as compared to a dual layer)

I'm not sure about the hit that the quality will take when compressed to single layer (as opposed to DL). I'm sure it'll be impacted, but don't know how much of an impact...Has anyone done this before?

I'm tempted by the single layer option because DL DVDs are expensive (approximately a dollar more than single layer) and I'm also not sure about compatibility for DL DVDs (Most DL DVDs on supermediastore seem to be DVD+R and I'm not sure how that'll play out in terms of universal compatibility).

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Kunal.

 

[sebastian]

Depends what kind of video you have. If there's mostly slow movements, then 182 min to one DVD isn't so bad.
Try this:
http://dvd-hq.info/Calculator.html
...and transcode your audio approx. 192kb/sec.
Self-burned DL discs do have compatibility issues.

I've made calculations for your video:
Video: 2-pass VBR (better if your encoder is capable for 3-4 passes)
Video bitrate: Max 8000, Average 3050, Min 1200
I-frames 1, P-frames 3, B-frames 2
Audio: 192 kb/s

Encoding takes >6 hours, but worth to try