Large Quicktime movie to fit i-DVD

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Level 1

29 points

Large Quicktime movie to fit i-DVD

Hi people,

I have a very quick, and slightly embarassing question...

I have a movie that is approx 85 minutes in length, shot on DV PAL. When I export it as a Quicktime movie, ready to burn on i-DVD, the overall file size is 18.05GB

i-DVD then compresses it down to 5.75GB, which is way too big for a 4.7GB DVD, which is what I need to burn it onto.

What I need to do is reduce the file size by a few GB. I've used the Custom setting and reduced the quality to approx 15% but the file size is still coming out at between 17.5GB and 18.05GB.

I've tried so many settings - adjusted frame rate, sound, quality etc and still I'm not able to reduce the file in order for it to be accepted on a 4.7GB disk.

Can someone please help and advise how I can reduce the file size.

Thanks
Alps

Quad, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Jun 9, 2006 7:29 AM

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Answer 1

mishmumken

Level 5

4,000 points

Jun 9, 2006 8:00 AM in response to A1ps

Hello Alps,

your iMovie is well within the parameters of a Video DVD which can hold up to 120 min. of compressed mpeg2 video. iDVD is actually not interested in the file size (GB) of your uncompressed movie, so don't try to "tweak" your iMovie into something smaller.

What are your encoder settings? do you maybe have a large movie in your menu as well?
try setting your encoder settings from "best performance" to "best quality", then import your assets. now check in the Customize panel, what iDVD says in the Status tab

see also Matti Haveri's explanation on encoding/bitrates here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1018171&#1018171

hope this helps

mish

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Answer 2

A1ps Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 9, 2006 8:07 AM in response to mishmumken

Hi Mish, thanks for the reply.

Sorry. I didnt explain fully. The actual film was edited on Final Cut Pro 5. I exported it from there as a Quicktime movie. This QT file is a total of 18.05GB. Once i-DVD works its compression on it the file size is reduced to 5.75GB, which obviously won't fit a 4.7GB disk.

What do you mean by "do you have a large movie in your menu as well"??? All I'm importing into i-DVD is my 85 minute FCP movie via Quicktime export. Sorry for sounding a little silly. I'm just in the process of getting to grips with all the technical aspects of FCP, i-DVD etc

Thanks again for the help Mish

Alps

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Answer 3

mishmumken

Level 5

4,000 points

Jun 9, 2006 11:22 AM in response to A1ps

Hello Alps,

no problem. It's actually not important if your movie is created in iM or FCP, the converter/compressor is always QT.

"What do you mean by "do you have a large movie in your menu as well"???"

the motion content is limited to 15 minutes and if you are working with best performance & background encoding, iDVD goes to work as soon as you import your main movie. if you then import another movie into the menu, iDVD might not make the necessary bitrate adjustment to fit everything into a SL DVD.

try to change the encoder settings and see how it works

mish

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Answer 4

A1ps Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 9, 2006 12:51 PM in response to mishmumken

Mish where do I change the encoder settings? I'm assuming I change these in i-DVD?

Could you give me an idiots guide of how to make my movie fit please - I'm almost to the point of pulling out my hair 😟

I dont know if I mentioned this, but... I also made a Quicktime movie, which I managed to compress down to about 2.9GB. BUT when I import this file into i-DVD the total amount goes to the usual size of 5.75GB... which is exactly the same size that i-DVD compresses the 18.05GB file (this is the file I compressed direct from FCP)

Thanks

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Answer 5

mishmumken

Level 5

4,000 points

Jun 9, 2006 1:26 PM in response to A1ps

Hello Alps,

no hair pulling, please ... the stuff might end up in your DVD burner and then you're back to square one... 🙂

as i said, leave the movie as it is - iDVD is only interested in LENGTH (min)

i would recommend starting a new project. set the encoder settings first.
you'll find the encoder settings in your iDVD preferences under general. set them to best quality, this will automatically uncheck background encoding.
next import your movie and set up the menu. then go to the customize panel and click the status tab. iDVD will show you how much space each component is taking up on your disc. if everything is fine, choose file > save as disc image from the menu and get some coffee...

post back if there are problems (sure hope not)

mish

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Answer 6

A1ps Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 9, 2006 1:43 PM in response to mishmumken

Thanks Mish. If it works I owe you big time... No. I owe you big time no matter what. In fact I owe a lot of people on here.

Where abouts are you in the world Mish?

I'll have to try it tomorrow and will let you know how it went.

Thanks a million dude

Alps

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Answer 7

mishmumken

Level 5

4,000 points

Jun 9, 2006 2:27 PM in response to A1ps

"If it works I owe you big time..."

so send me a barrel of guinness ... if not possible, don't worry ... glad to help

"Where abouts are you in the world Mish?"

indiscreet, aren't we ....? 🙂
70 yards from the beach, pina colada & sunset included

hope you post back with positive results

mish

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Answer 8

A1ps Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 10, 2006 5:18 PM in response to mishmumken

Well Mishm guess what??? I owe you big time. My hair is all still in place - your susggestion worked a treat :-D (although I recently got married so no doubt the hair that was saved from your suggestion will soon fall out from the stress of marriage!!)

The file size on i-DVD came out at a total of approx 2.5GB... a massive difference from before, which was coming out at 5.75GB

All I have to do now is check the quality. Would this was of compressing FCP files affect quality?

Thanks again Mish.
Alps

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Answer 9

mishmumken

Level 5

4,000 points

Jun 10, 2006 6:49 PM in response to A1ps

Hello Alps,

glad you made it.

exporting from FCP should affect the quality of your DVD as long as you export to DV & best quality. If you compress your movie further you'll lose some quality depending on your settings. But always remember: IDVD looks at the length, not the size.

congrats for your marriage

mish

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Answer 10

A1ps Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 12, 2006 1:56 PM in response to mishmumken

Hi Mish.

Do you mean exporting from FCP SHOULD or SHOLDN'T affect the quality?

As for i-DVD - when you say it looks at the length and not the size does this mean that it will try its best to fit a movie onto a 4.7 GB disk no matter what the length of it is - whether it's 1 hour or 3 hours???

Hopefully I'll soon have the money to buy DVD studio and will not need i-DVD.

Thanks for the congrats by the way 🙂 My friends who are married have passed me their comiserations 😉

Alps

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Answer 11

mishmumken

Level 5

4,000 points

Jun 12, 2006 8:07 PM in response to A1ps

Hello Alps,

sorry about the typo: read SHOULDN'T

iDVD looks at the length but can't burn anything over 120 min.
check a DVD: it says 4.7 GB/120 min (4.7 GB data/120 min video)

DVD Studio Pro is a great piece of software, but unless your doing video professionally, i would think about it twice (not trying to persuade, just my opinion). it works in adifferent manner and the learning curve is steep. I produce DVDs for a living and am still working with iDVD and think it does a great job (....i do work with DVDSP occasionally)

"My friends who are married have passed me their comiseration"

always depends who they're married to... 🙂

hope this helps

mish

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Answer 12

A1ps Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 13, 2006 3:16 AM in response to mishmumken

Thanks Mish again for the help.

I do like i-DVD in terms of ease of use. The only thing that's slightly off putting is the fact that it does not have a "blank" template. Plus, I'd like to learn some pro software as soon as possible. I'm currently juggling a full time (non video related) job and doing some video work on the side. But I'm looking to get into freelancing as the work is there, so will need to be able to use DVD Studio, no doubt!

As for the person Im married to... the first time I met her she kicked me in the shin. Then, as I was bent down holding the kicked shin in pain she saw the opportunity to cause further pain and pushed me into the bushes behind! It's been true love ever since!!

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