AVI to DVD, bit rate question.

[davidmoore]

I have an AVI encoded with Mpeg-4 at ~1000kbps. I want to burn it as a DVD-Video which is Mpeg-2. I don't want to up encode the video because I want to fit as many videos as possible on a single dvd as I can. What bit-rate should I encode the AVI to when putting it on the DVD? Mpeg-4 at ~1000kbps the same as Mpeg-2 at ~1000kbps?

[Inspector.Gadget]

No. MPEG-4 ASP is more efficient than MPEG-2. You will need to increase the bitrate to achieve acceptable quality. What that entails is up to you: test and find out. What MPEG-2 encoder are you using?

[CWR03]

I don't want to up encode the video because I want to fit as many videos as possible on a single dvd as I can.
As Inspector.Gadget mentioned, you have to "up encode." The only way to determine what bitrate will work for you is to do a few tests at several fixed bitrates and see with what loss of quality you will be satisfied. Typical DVD is 4500-6500kbps, roughly two hours to a standard single-layer disk. Four hours will look bad; 8 hours will look horrible.

[detmek]

I managed to put 4 1/2 hours video on single layer DVD with acceptable quality but I had to reduce resolution of video to 1/2 DVD, 352x576.

[Ghitulescu]

VCD is a perfect valid choice for DVD (the GOP for VCD is larger than what the DVD specifications allow, but this pose no real problems in practice). It's the most space-oriented format for DVD ;) since you can pack some 5 movies in about VHS quality on 1 DVDR.

[r0lZ]

Hum, the VCD format uses MPEG1, and that means constant bit rate. The rapidly moving scenes, the parts with abrupt lighting changes and the fades do not compress well at all in MPEG1, and the result is usually horrible. I prefer to use the DVD-Video Half D1 resolution, compressed in MPEG2, as detmek has suggested.

[Ghitulescu]

That's true - however the OP wanted to have as many movies on one DVDR in DVD-Video format. You can't beat VCD in terms of space and compatibility.

[Blue_MiSfit]

I'd imagine half D1 MPEG-2 would look a lot better... but I never bother, since DVD-Rs are so cheap anyway...

~MiSfit