• Adobe Encore DVD

  optimal file size for DVD guesswork

  Posted by Dave Fleming on December 14, 2013 at 10:54 pm

  Hello,

  First of all, I want to thank Jeff Pulera for his knowledge in issues related to getting HD source material to a reasonable looking Encore DVD output. There’s a boatload of information on this topic, and I trust his more than anyone else’s.

  A question regarding hitting that sweet spot in DVD file size when exporting from Adobe Media Encoder: I have a 1 hour 40 minute HD source that I’m making a MPEG-DVD movie from. Using bit rate calculators and Jeff’s math for CBR is great, but, as he points out, Encore compresses the .WAV audio to Dolby AC3, which ends up being quite a bit smaller in Encore. Is there a math that allows for that compression and gives you the optimal target bit rate setting for a 4.7GB DVD?

  I’m on my third encode…I keep bumping the target bit rate up, but I still have space available in Encore. My last encode for the 1h40m video was Min-3, Avg-5, Max 7, which approximated at 4.8GB. However, Encore knocks it back to 4GB after the audio compression. Any math available to shortcut this process?

  Thanks,

  Dave

  Jeff Pulera replied 12 years, 4 months ago 2 Members · 5 Replies
• 5 Replies

• 

  Jeff Pulera

  December 15, 2013 at 7:11 pm

  Hi Dave,

  Thank you for the kind remarks. I don’t know everything, and admit to getting a lot of good ideas from others on forums like these, and the rest comes from trial and error (heavy on the error part!).

  1 hour 40 minutes = 100 minutes, and 560/100 = 5.6 and that ought to work pretty well for you. This formula does figure using the standard Dolby AC3 already, and the various bitrate calculators ought to have a box into which to enter the audio bitrate, which is 192kbps for the Dolby.

  I do usually round down a touch to allow for menu overhead and would use 5.5 to be safe, but 5.6 will likely work as well.

  Hope this gets you on track

  Regards,

  Jeff Pulera
  Safe Harbor Computers
• 

  Dave Fleming

  December 17, 2013 at 2:36 pm

  Thanks Jeff,

  This definitely did get me on track. I stuck with 5.5 and was very close with menu room.

  You know, I now feel bad about all those one-off DVDs I did using dynamic link “send to Encore.” For all of the convenience that afforded, the final result looked like trash by comparison. Why can’t Adobe handle that downconvert better?

  Dave
• 

  Jeff Pulera

  December 17, 2013 at 2:44 pm

  Hi Dave,

  Good question – I’d always assumed that the encoding would be the same whether from AME or done in Encore (same engine under the hood?) but I’ve seen others posting recently that the quality does differ. Strange. I’ve never been a DL user, always took control manually so have no comparison points.

  I actually do my longer jobs now using the “HD2SD” method involving AVI Synth, VirtualDub, and HC Encoder. Longer process but I like the results. I still author results in Encore.

  Thank you

  Jeff Pulera
  Safe Harbor Computers
• 

  Dave Fleming

  December 17, 2013 at 3:07 pm

  I did read through that workflow but must admit to being a bit intimidated by all the steps involved.

  So, with these two workflows side by side, you see a noticeable quality jump with the longer workflow?

  df
• 

  Jeff Pulera

  December 17, 2013 at 3:25 pm

  HUGE difference. Each June, I shoot six dance recitals, 2.5 hours per, and that’s the only way to get good quality for each show on a single DVD.

  My cameras are 1080i and that does not usually translate well to DVD. Besides the downscale, fields go from Upper to Lower. Perhaps 1080p fares better in Adobe workflow?

  Thanks

  Jeff Pulera
  Safe Harbor Computers

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