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Data DVD Bitrate – HD file too big for disc
I have an h.264 HD video that is 1h12m. I exported from Premiere Pro using the Vimeo 720p preset, which gave me a resulting file that is 8.81GB. I delivered to the client using DropBox, but now they want me to deliver a physical copy on a DVD (as a data DVD, not a playable DVD).
It seems like the only way I can reduce the file size is to reduce the bitrate, but beyond the presets (which is what I usually use), I don’t know how to determine the sweet spot between file size and quality. The video was a live luncheon, and consists solely of people walking up to a podium and speaking. There are no cuts and very little movement.
When I slide the target bitrate down to 7Mbps, it estimates a file size that will fit on the disc, but I wasn’t sure if this is too low for HD video, since the preset defaults to 16Mbps.
Is there an acceptable minimum for HD video? Does it differ between 1080p and 720p? I figure I’ll export as 1080p if I can.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!
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6 Replies
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Hey JohnBen,
If you’re happy with the quality of your 720p compression (8.81GB), you could try “zipping” the file. That should make it a smaller file size that you could then save to a data disc. Standard DVDs are only 4.7GB, but you can get dual-layer discs that are 8.5GB. Once zipped, I bet your file will fit on one of those.
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Jono,
For the record, zipping video files does not reduce the file size. Video is already compreseed and as such zipping will further compress them. This is why LTO tapes which advertise double data capacities when using compression algorithms simply cannot deliver any increased capacity over an uncompressed LTO tape.
Don’t believe me? Go try it yourself… it’ll only take you a minute…
Still don’t believe me? Read this: https://kb.winzip.com/kb/entry/104/
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist & Workflow Consultant
David Weiss Productions
Los AngelesDavid is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.
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Unfortunately I don’t have a blu-ray burner, but I think you’re probably right about the easiest solution being to deliver on a thumb drive.
That said, do you have any ideas on what a minimum acceptable bitrate for HD video might be, should something like this arise in the future? Or does it just depend on the video?
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Thanks Jono. I did try zipping, but it only reduced the file size by a few hundred MB, which wasn’t enough for my needs.
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For the type of content you describe and are exporting, I’ve had quite serviceable results at 1280×720 with a 3 meg data rate. That would reduce your file size by quite a bit.
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So let’s ask a different question too: have you been paid for this? or is it a case of a grinder asking for one more thing before they approve the invoice? I ask because a data dvd in 2016 is actually a ridiculous ask — and it’s even more ridiculous when THEY ALREADY HAVE THE FILE and could burn the data disk themselves. Kindly tell them how a DVD won’t work because of the file size limitations.
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