Compressing MPEG File

[Killing2Live]

I have recently just started using GB-PVR (using BlueMCEII) and I love it thank you Sub. Anyways I recorded around a 2.5 hour long show (movie) and it turns out that the file is 5.80 Gb since I recorded it in High Quality. So I'm like well thats not gonna work since its too big for a DVD so I "googled" MPEG compression and come across TMPG Enc Xpress 3.0 so I started up loaded up the MPEG file and it was AWSOME, with its quick video edits (cut out the little pre recording of the show and then the end where it actually stopped) then also had some really cool features such as Filters and one that I selected was Noise Reduction and made it look significantely better. So Im like sweet that was so easy and then I set that I want it to fit on a DVD-5 and how its gonna shrink to 4.7 Gbs then I hit Go (or start output or whatever)...................................................................25 hours later its finally done.

Is that normal? All I wanted was to shrink the MPEG file from 5.80 gbs to 4.7 to fit a DVD lol and it took 25 hours to do it. Is it suppose to take 25 hours to compress an mpeg like that? Or what other tools can I use to easily compress an MPEG?

[kayleigh]

What's the CPU and memory on the computer you used? On my editing machine, I run an AMD 2600+ (about 2.04GHz) with 768MB memory and it generally takes about an hour per GB of output when I reencode files with TMPG. Otherwise, just author for DVD and try DVDShrink (http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=155) to reduce it to 4.7GB - it sems to go faster and the quality is actually pretty good.

[gEd]

you proably have an old cpu however filters can add a lot of time to the encoding process.

Like kayleigh says, use dvdshrink to convert to dvd.

I use womble MPEG editor to remove fluff from start and end of file. It saves new file without recoding it and is therefore very quick.

[Pioneer4x4]

TMPGenc works wonderfully for me. If you turn on all of the extras, it will take forever.

By far the easiest way to do what you want is.
1) make the dvd folder structure on your HD. (let it be 5.x gig or whatever)
2) run dvdshrink on the files (make sure you use the advanced quality settings) it will make it 4.35GB with no thought involved. Plus it is pretty quick when it doesn't need to shrink it much. On my 2.8Ghz, I'd estimate about 45 min for 5.5GB source.

[A_Brass]

By far the easiest way to do what you want is.
1) make the dvd folder structure on your HD. (let it be 5.x gig or whatever)
2) run dvdshrink on the files (make sure you use the advanced quality settings) it will make it 4.35GB with no thought involved. Plus it is pretty quick when it doesn't need to shrink it much. On my 2.8Ghz, I'd estimate about 45 min for 5.5GB source.

I was thinking about this myself. Did you find that creating the DVD and then recompressing with DVD shrink delivered the best quality? It seems like an extra step. What application did you use to create the orgianl DVD structure, TMPGenc? Or another application?.

[replaytv]

I use the Ulead Movie Factory 2 to author mpeg2 into iso image. This process should not re-encode the mpeg2 if it is DVD compliance. I found sometimes it does re-encode because there is a break in the timeline or so. Check the video property to see it is compliance. This whole process normally takes about 30-40 minutes to make the iso image. For any image that is greatter than 4.5 gig, I then use DVDshrink to reduce it down the DVD size so it can burn.

Dan L.

[Killing2Live]

I have a AMD Athlon XP 2800+ and 1 Gb Kinston HyperX Ram so I do not think that it should of took 25 hours like it did, but I am going to take up your suggestions and try DVD Shrink. (I also have CloneDVD2, would that work as well?) I will also try Womble and see if i get any faster speeds but what I am thinking is that the filter made the encoding take forever. I am fine with 1 hour per gb but 5 hours per gb is not good lol

[A_Brass]

I use the Ulead Movie Factory 2 to author mpeg2 into iso image. This process should not re-encode the mpeg2 if it is DVD compliance. I found sometimes it does re-encode because there is a break in the timeline or so. Check the video property to see it is compliance. This whole process normally takes about 30-40 minutes to make the iso image. For any image that is greatter than 4.5 gig, I then use DVDshrink to reduce it down the DVD size so it can burn.

Dan L.

I have used Movie Factory, It works but if you forget to set the "do not re-encoode complient mpegs" it does reencode.

I have a AMD Athlon XP 2800+ and 1 Gb Kinston HyperX Ram so I do not think that it should of took 25 hours like it did, but I am going to take up your suggestions and try DVD Shrink. (I also have CloneDVD2, would that work as well?) I will also try Womble and see if i get any faster speeds but what I am thinking is that the filter made the encoding take forever. I am fine with 1 hour per gb but 5 hours per gb is not good lol

As I understand it, if you added filters or other effects to a MPEG it must be re-encoded. Your results seem a little long but if it was a two-pass encode It might be about right. I know when I use MovieFactory and do allow it to re-encode it takes all night. at least 9-10 hours. That's just a few small edits and re-encode to fit the disk, about 4 hours of TV squished on to a 4.7 DVD, No filters.

[Pioneer4x4]

I was thinking about this myself. Did you find that creating the DVD and then recompressing with DVD shrink delivered the best quality? It seems like an extra step. What application did you use to create the orgianl DVD structure, TMPGenc? Or another application?.

Yes, I typically use TMPGenc DVD Author. It doesn't touch source files as long as they are DVD compliant. I think it is kind of odd overall, but it does exactly what I need for putting TV episodes to disk.

I use 4000KB bitrate, and after cutting commercials (while laying out the DVD) I can easily fit 3 1-hr shows. If I try 4, it is about 5.3 GB, and then I use DVDShrink to shrink the completed compilation to fit. I have started using motion menus with audio, and this way you don';t have to calculate what size you want each of the shows to be. TMPGenc DVD Author also accepts the 704x480 files and doesn't mess with them either. (My old WinTVPVR PCI card is that format)

changing button looks/location and backgrounds is kludgy, but once you learn it is is OK. I create a theme for each series of shows, and modify them as I go.

[kayleigh]

I also use TMPGenc DVD author. It's pretty basic (I'm gonna start playing with Adobe Encore for menus - SCARY!), but it works very well. I just leave it as IFO and ISO files on the hard drive and write to DVD using Nero's DVD Video writing - Nero doesn't seem to write well for me from an ISO image.