Why is 119 minutes (2 hrs) of video too long to burn?

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Level 1

53 points

Why is 119 minutes (2 hrs) of video too long to burn?

Why is 119 minutes (2 hrs) of video too long to burn? Isn't that what is on DVD movie that you get via rental and stores?

So I had 2 DVmini tapes from a Australia trip in 2002. Great that should fit on one DVD-R. Right now it is a 34GB file on a external drive. It wont burn until I free up space on that drive (where free space equals space of file). But something tells me its not going to work no matter what I do. I mean DVD SL or DL, there is no way 34GB is going to be pushed down to fit . . . right? Why/How did the tapes become so big?

DL are expensive and I have SL already. I have been told that SL should be enough. I am going to clear that space on the drive and see what happens.

Cheers,

Linc

356 mm ibook 1.42 ghz g4 1.5g ram with turbo ball, Mac OS X (10.4.8), its the white laptop model, dress it up with stickers and your personal touch using a sharpie . . .

Posted on Jan 29, 2007 7:42 AM

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Answer 1

SDIllini

Level 6

16,675 points

Jan 29, 2007 7:50 AM in response to lynxster

A DVD-R disc can hold about 4.7 GB. This allows up to 120 minutes of high-quality video to fit on an SL DVD using iDVD.

Choose Best Quality option if using iMovie.

iDVD doesn't care about the file size, it cares about how many minutes it runs. You need to take into consideration that you have themes, transitions perhaps, etc. I try to keep my DVDs under 100 minutes to be safe.

Sue

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Answer 2

Jan 29, 2007 8:50 AM in response to lynxster

Isn't that what is on DVD movie that you get via rental and stores?

no.
commercial dvds are double-layered.
plus, they are "printed" (mechanical pits), we are using -r media...
".. changing the reflection behavior of a polymer dye concerning laser light"..

I'm happy it does work anyhow.. 😉

..
to get serious:
there's no technical limit, how long a project on a dvd-r could be.. lowering the socalled bitrate allows hours and hours onto 4.7GB disk.. but to the price of losing more and more quality...
make a test with iTunes, set the importing smaple rate to 32.. compare to a 128/190 file ... more compression=smaller files=less quality ...

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Answer 3

lynxster Author

Level 1

53 points

Jan 29, 2007 12:47 PM in response to lynxster

Thanks all for the in-put.

Back to the original issue. Idvd will not burn what I currently have. Not on to a SL, DL, or disk image. SL DVDs and DL DVDs are limited in size. But not a disk image. In Idvd help, I have learned that I need twice the amount of free disk space as the original file. I have check this and it is not the 32GB I first stated. It is around 23GB. So I need 50-60GB to burn it? Really.

I was going to make available that space on this drive, but that is not smart either. See, it backs up my user and I can use it to boot my computer, etc. I was thinking about getting an additional external HD, and this may be my only alternative at this point. And now I know why I never tried this before. To make a 120 min DVD, I need 250GB????!!!!

But your discussions have raised an interesting topic which I would like to hear more . . . Compression. I have looked at Idvd and Imovie and have not found anyway to compress what I have (23GB). Please tell more . . . does it require that I import it as a different format? Or can I salvage the file I have?

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Answer 4

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Jan 29, 2007 1:21 PM in response to lynxster

lynxster,

DV video (as from your tapes) runs about 13 GB per hour.

The video on DVDs is MPG-2 compressed. iDVD does this MPG-2 compression for you. iDVD limits you to a maximum of ABOUT 120 minutes of MPG-2 content on a single layer disc and ABOUT 240 minutes on a double layer disc IF YOU HAVE A BURNER THAT SUPPORTS double layer discs.

I say 'ABOUT' because a DVD created by iDVD contains menu theme content that takes up some of the available space on a DVD.

To make a 120 min DVD, I need 250GB????!!!!

No - 20 to 30 GB should be plenty.

F Shippey

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Answer 5

lynxster Author

Level 1

53 points

Jan 29, 2007 5:12 PM in response to F Shippey

Well that is reassuring to hear that this will all come together at some point.

I have a DL burner (Pioneer), however I imagine i-dvd doesn't recognize this until I place a DL blank into it. It should at least let me create a DL disk image? Of course it is limiting it's self to the SL burner that Apple limited the i-book product to.

actually . . .

23mb(my movie) + (23mb + 23mb)(double the free space needed) = 69mb

to be exact. I am lacking only 20gb of free space on my current project drive. Or in other words, I have over 30gb free, but not the 46gb needed for the ideal set up. I can't imagine this as the reason why I am not able to continue, but who really knows?

Now Apple is funny. In their help literature they don't talk of any project greater than 8gb. Your description of the DVD MPG-2 compression is the best I've seen to date. Its almost like Apple is intentionally shying away from talking about the subject like the Bush household and drug-use or the Clinton household and sex. There is a great parallel here. HD space is addictive and size dose matter.

I keep writing like this, I'm going to have a fan club . . .

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Answer 6

Jan 30, 2007 1:49 AM in response to lynxster

Just FYI, one of my movies was 100GB.....yes, that is correct....I had MANY clips. I did export it as Full QuickTime movie and then put that into a new iMovie, miraculously came down to only 8GB and it burned easily. You could try that...
But, as stated in other posts, iDVD compresses the movies into its limit of 4.7GB per SL disk. It is limited by the length of the movie, not the size.

However, most of my movies end up being between 25-40GB, and are just under 2 hrs. I don't yet have a DL burner. I do the editing and saving onto my external drive.

You didn't specify if you have audio and video on a DVD menu, but obviously you need to allow for that as it will consume some of the 120minutes and if you are cutting it so close, your menus should be silent and still.

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Answer 7

lynxster Author

Level 1

53 points

Jan 31, 2007 2:32 PM in response to Beverly Maneatis

I-dvd is not really giving me minutes. It is 119 minutes in I-movie. In i-dvd, I have four menus (title, ch 1-6, ch 7-12, slide show). But that isn't killing it. Every time I open i-dvd, it tells me its too big. And it been saying it well before the sub menus.

I-dvd does have a info pane that folds from the side. It is as follows:

DVD capacity: 4.1GB of 4.0GB
Motion Menus: 3:30 of 15:00
Tracks: 2 of 99
Menus: 3 of 99

So I am doing ok in everything but the movie size. Well my DL burner turns out to be a SL after all. I got it a while back.

This is silly. I should at lease be able to make a DL disk image for future use.

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Answer 8

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Jan 31, 2007 4:32 PM in response to lynxster

This is silly. I should at lease be able to make a DL disk image for future use.

Disk images of double-layer dics can be problematic because of issues with the layer break point.

A 119 minute movie in iMovie just won't work - as you have found out.

You could use Roxio's Toast to fit your movie on a DVD (of course, without iDVD menus).

F Shippey

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Answer 9

lynxster Author

Level 1

53 points

Feb 1, 2007 8:44 AM in response to lynxster

Well, I guess i-dvd 5 does not right to DL DVD'Rs. It looks like I will need i-dvd 6. Is this the case?

Thank you all for all the insightful comments and in taking the time reply to this discussion. A gold star to everyone who submitted comments 😉

I have to focus on other things and intend to leave the project archived on my external drive. Its going to have to wait. I don't just upgrade. I'll get dvd 6 with my next machine. or 7 or 8 or what ever they are making. It off sets the cost of the machine, which would be one of those hot new dual intel numbers. And if I time it right, will also have the next Apple OS on it.

Peace Out

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Answer 10

lynxster Author

Level 1

53 points

May 26, 2008 12:48 PM in response to lynxster

Thats a good question. I wonder if 4mb of ram and a twin intel cpu will fix it . . .

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