I can't figure this out: when I used MyDvd to burn a dvd, I could fit an hour and a half of media. I upgraded to DvdIt and the longest dvd it will allow me to make is an hour and 13 minutes. Anything more than 1:13 and it gives me that negative number in red at the bottom left. What's going on? Why can I fit less? Nothing else has changed, not my system, not the dvds I'm using. Any answers?

-Nik

Hi Nik,

Is the data rate you're using in DvdIt different from the data rate you were using in MyDVD?

good luck,
Carl

 I don't remember what data rate I was using with MyDvd. Does data rate affect the quality of the dvd? I just want to put 1&1/2 hrs and not lose quality ( I can afford to lose a little, I am just archiving vhs tapes.) What is a safe data rate for that? I went into the project settings in DvdIt and under the transcoding tab the default setting is High Quality Cbr (8000 kbps video, dolby digital audio.) Is 8000 high and what's the lowest I can go? Thank you!

Nik:

Does data rate affect the quality of the dvd?

Hi,

Yes, it does.  Higher data rates look better but take up more space, so if you have a data rate of 8000, that's a lot higher than say 3000, but you won't be able to fit as much on the DVD.

If you search for "data rate" on the forums you'll get a lot of suggestions about what to use (I think data rates around 5000 are popular, but I haven't looked in a while) or you could just lower the rate until you can fit your entire movie on the disc.

good luck,
Carl

 Awesome~thanks!

 I have to change my data rate in order to fit 1 & 1/2 hours of video onto my dvd. Workflow:export to sorenson squeeze 4.5, then DVDIT. My question is where do I change the date rate? Is is in sorenson after I import my file, choose MPEG 1/2  then DVD_NTSC_Lg and double click to open the Audio/Video Compression Settings? My method when that window opens is 2-pass VBR (which can be changed) and 7800 kbps (which is  not hilighted and cannot be changed.) I am able to change the 3 boxes underneath Data Rate that say Max:7812, Avg:5859 and Min:3735. Do I change my data rate there? I don't want to waste time and squeeze and hour and a half and then find out that I had to do do this before hand. If I have to make the changes in DVDIT, please tell me how. Thank you!!

Nik:

I am able to change the 3 boxes underneath Data Rate that say Max:7812, Avg:5859 and Min:3735. Do I change my data rate there?

Hi,

Yes.  I'd change it in Sorensen because I think Sorensen does a better job of encoding than DVDit does. 

There may be a setting in DVDit to keep it from re-encoding your video, but I don't have it in front of me, so someone else will have to chime in about that.

good luck,
Carl

 Any advice on what to change it to? Do I change the box that says max and leave the avg and min boxes alone? Thanks!

Hi,

I've heard 5000 tossed around as a good starting point, so maybe make the average 5000 and the max 5500 and the min 4500.  Take a look at this Knowledge Base article for some details.

My best advice is to do a short test sequence using a DVD-RW disc.  If the sequence is short, it won't take much time to encode and burn, and if you use a DVD-RW you can reuse it a bunch of times trying out different rates to see what the results look like.  Once you've got something you like, you can burn your full 90 minutes to a standard DVD.

good luck,
Carl

 Great-I'll try that. Should I keep it a 2-pass Vbr or change that too? If so, to what?