Help burning Tivo file to DVD

[atomarchio]

My parents asked me to record Survivor so they can watch it at their house. I recorded season finally of Survivor and then transferred to my desktop via Tivo to go. However, the file is about 3GB as the show was 2 hours.

But when I open MyDvd and attempt to burn the file to DVD, it's telling me the file now is 9GB so I can't the show on a single DVD. This does'nt make sense to me as I am told a single DVD can store about 3 hours.

Am I missing a step? Can someone help me resolve this? I don't know much about video editing though. As I don't know much, I am hoping someone can explain in a very simple way.

Please let me know Thanks.

[2004raptor]

I had the same issue woth another program. I think MyDVD reencodes the audio/video which greatly increases the file size.
What kinda worked for me was to use DVDStyler to do the job. Unfortunately dvd's I burn with this method do not play on some of the dvd players that ones I burn with MyDVD do.

[l2bengtrek]

check this thread out. Lots of useful info!

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=300614

[dlfl]

MyDVD (and there are many varied versions of this program) has been a can of worms for a lot of people -- Search these forums for posts containing that name in the last 6 months.

I've used the version in Roxio EMC9 but only with limited success. The key to your problem is the "project settings" page. Uncheck "fit to disc" and select 720x480 resolution. Then adjust the bit rate slider to something in the 4 to 6 Mbit/sec range (depends on the bit rate of your TiVo content, which you didn't give). Select "Interlaced" and AC3 audio at 448 kbps.

At this point you should see an estimated total project size at the bottom of the window and hopefully it will be less than 4.2 GB (one single layer DVD). You may have to exit the 'project settings" panel to get the updated project size value.

Unfortunately there is no slam-dunk way to make DVD's from TiVo (or from anything for that matter). If you want to try another method that seems to work for many people, go to this thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=300614) and search on "VideoReDo" and "DVDStyler". VideoReDo costs $50 but I've never heard of anyone who didn't love it. All other software for this method is free and you can get help on this forum for using it.

Strong suggestion: Do NOT burn directly to disc from MyDVD. Burn to an ISO (.iso or "disk image") file on your hard drive, then burn the ISO to DVD. If you don't know how to burn the .iso, or your MyDVD software doesn't support that process, then go to VideoHelp.com and download (Free) program imgburn. (http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=ImgBurn)

[2004raptor]

I've used the version in Roxio EMC9 but only with limited success. The key to your problem is the "project settings" page. Uncheck "fit to disc" and select 720x480 resolution. Then adjust the bit rate slider to something in the 4 to 6 Mbit/sec range (depends on the bit rate of your TiVo content, which you didn't give). Select "Interlaced" and AC3 audio at 448 kbps.

At this point you should see an estimated total project size at the bottom of the window and hopefully it will be less than 4.2 GB (one single layer DVD). You may have to exit the 'project settings" panel to get the updated project size value.



Since I am having this problem I wanted to try your suggestions. Finally got a chance tonight. First let me say that the files I am attempting to put on DVD not .tivo files, they are .wmv's. Not sure if that makes a big difference.
I have 6 files with a total size of 242 MB. Creating a menu and adding the 6 files then trying your recommended settings gave me a 4275.8MB project (424.2MB free). Of course tivo says the destination dis does not have enough space.

The main reson I actually like MyDVD is that I can create a nice menu. I have tried and failed to make a nice menu with DVDStlyer. Also, at least one person I have given some discs to made with dvdstyler says their DVD player will not play them.

Any other tips?

[2004raptor]

Small update.

At first I tried to burn straight to DVD with MyDVD but then tried (As dlfl suggested) to burn to an ISO first and then to DVD w/imageburn. It worked fine then. I guess this method may add some time on to the process but at least it worked.

[dlfl]

Since I am having this problem I wanted to try your suggestions. Finally got a chance tonight. First let me say that the files I am attempting to put on DVD not .tivo files, they are .wmv's. Not sure if that makes a big difference.
I have 6 files with a total size of 242 MB. Creating a menu and adding the 6 files then trying your recommended settings gave me a 4275.8MB project (424.2MB free). Of course tivo says the destination dis does not have enough space.

The main reson I actually like MyDVD is that I can create a nice menu. I have tried and failed to make a nice menu with DVDStlyer. Also, at least one person I have given some discs to made with dvdstyler says their DVD player will not play them.

Any other tips?
Out of curiosity, what is the total duration of your six files? And what bit rate did you set in MyDVD? WMV is one of the MPEG4-class formats, easily 2 to 4 times more compressed than mpeg2 used on a DVD. Thus it is not surprising the size grows a lot. Anyway it appears from your next post that you had success. :)

I agree that MyDVD has better menu creation features than DVDStyler.

A likely reason some SAP's won't play DVDStyler projects is that it does not re-encode video to the most standard format (720x480 with AC3 audio). You are probably putting 480x480 or 352x480 format with Mpeg-layer2 audio on the DVD. Most recent SAP's will play this but some won't. But not re-encoding is also DVDStyler's main appeal -- that's why it is so fast!

Re-encoding takes so long that if you value your time you will buy your friend a SAP that will play all formats, unless the menu features of MyDVD are that important to you -- MyDVD will always re-encode unless the input is already 720x480 mpeg2 -- then it will re-encode just the audio, which is very quick. (My info applies to the EMC9 version -- can't be sure it is identical for other versions.)

[2004raptor]

dlfl
It's been a few days but I think I can remember most of the settings. The lowest bitrate it would let me do was 4.5. The files were:
3:26
16:51
4:57
10:31
5:08
7:31

Total is 48:40, if I added that right.



I have another one I will be working on today but the total for it is ~5GB. It was the 3.5 hour AMA Supercross on last night. I htought I saw in another thread there is a way to use DVD shrink to compress the final project. Gonna search now but hopefully I can get this all on one disc after I cut commercials..

[dlfl]

dlfl
It's been a few days but I think I can remember most of the settings. The lowest bitrate it would let me do was 4.5. The files were:
3:26
16:51
4:57
10:31
5:08
7:31

Total is 48:40, if I added that right.



I have another one I will be working on today but the total for it is ~5GB. It was the 3.5 hour AMA Supercross on last night. I htought I saw in another thread there is a way to use DVD shrink to compress the final project. Gonna search now but hopefully I can get this all on one disc after I cut commercials..
Using the simple bitrate formula of dividing file size in bits (8 bits/byte) by video duration in seconds says the project size should be 1.6 GB plus a little more for audio and menus. You are unchecking "fit to disc" in project settings, correct? Either that our you video duration is actually much more than 48 mins. Actually your wmv file size seems about right for a 48 min video. Even at best quality (bitrates of 8 Mbps or higher) a DVD will still hold over one hour of video.

[2004raptor]

Using the simple bitrate formula of dividing file size in bits (8 bits/byte) by video duration in seconds says the project size should be 1.6 GB plus a little more for audio and menus. You are unchecking "fit to disc" in project settings, correct? Either that our you video duration is actually much more than 48 mins. Actually your wmv file size seems about right for a 48 min video. Even at best quality (bitrates of 8 Mbps or higher) a DVD will still hold over one hour of video.

Definately unchecked Fit to disc or DVD. Duration is correct. It's some UFC fights so they are reasonably short.


I can do some screenshots if need be but as said before, buring to ISO and then using imageburn to burn worked fine. Not that I mind the extra step but I hate keeping the ISO on my drive just because they take up alot more space.