Burning Large Files to DVD

[Rick1486]

Hi - just bought and installed a Philips DVDRW824 and have successfully flashed the firmware to the latest version.
I've never burnt DVD's before though and have some files recorded using the nebula digitv card - notably Angels in America which are both over 5gb in size.
How can I burn these files to DVD as the disks are only 4.7gb each - I know that my son can record directly on his grundig standalone dvd recorder simply by selecting long play or extended play and on the back of the dvd media it gives different recording lengths according to lp/ep/slp etc. but unfortunately as far as I know this cannot be done on the p.c. - is it something which is selectable with the right authoring software and if so what software do you recommend? Or, is it selectable elsewhere or is it just not possible or is it a case of burning multiple disks and if so how do I go about that?
Hope you can help.
Many thanks
Rick
p.s. the drive comes with trial version of Sonic MyDVD and Nero 5.

 

[bugster]

I see two possible solutions.

1) author with the file as it currently is, create the VIDEO_TS .vob, ifo and bup files on your HD the use DVDshrink to bring it down to the size of a single DVD before burning.

2) re-encode the mpeg at a lower bitrate then author and burn.

 

[Rick1486]

thanks bugster but you' ve totally lost me i'm afraid lol!
ref. 1 - what software would i use?
ref. 2 - how and with what software?
cheers
Rick

 

[bugster]

OK, For 1) your best best is TmpGenc DVD Author. You can download a 30-day trial version http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tda.html.
With this you can create on oversized (for DVDr) video title set (VIDEO_TS directory with .vob, bup and ifo files) on your HD using your mpeg file as the source. You can also add menus and chapters if you wish.
You can then use DvdShrink to reduce this to the size of a DVDr. This is freeware and can be downloaded from http://www.dvdshrink.org/.

Then use your favourite burning app to burn your DVD (I use Nero but thats just my choice).


Going the route of option 2 is a little more compliacted. You would need an mpeg-2 encoder that will accept mpeg-2 as input. TmpGenc plus (from the same developer as TmpGenc DVD Author!) is good for this and a 15 day trial version is available at http://www.tmpgenc.net/. Other options include Mainconcept and cinemaraft encoder. Use the encoder to re-encode at a lower bitrate. To find what bitrate you need use a bitrate calculator such as the jaca one at http://www.dvdrhelp.com/calc. Then when the encoding is finished (be patient, it takes a while!), author an burn as above.

Option 2 is the route for best quality, option 1 is the simpler. Take your pick.

If you need more help with this kind of thing I reccomend a visit or two to www.dvdrhelp.com.