How do I best compress a multi file project in Encore CS5 to fit a standard DVD?

Question

Hello,
I have created a series of small films in Final Cut Pro X, they have been exported as seperate audio and video tracks, ac3 audio and mpeg video from the presets in FCPX.
I want to use Encore CS5 to create DVDs out of them and I have used it before but only know the basics. The problem is that after I import all the media files, that I want on the first DVD, as assets and put them on the timeline it adds up to 7.23 GB, even though the time is just under 2 hours. I know that that might be pushing it a little bit in regards to the amount of time that I can fit on a regular 4.7 GB DVD, but it should't take up that much space. I removed a bunch of files from the timeline to see what I could fit and only got just under 1 hour. I can see that it is possible to decrease the file sizes, for instance by going to 'file'-'edit quality presets' and doing stuff there, but 'm not sure of the best way to do that.
In other posts I have seen mentions of encore compressing files to fit automatically, but what i want is a way to fit all the video files, not the audio i guess, to a dvd with minimum quality loss. does anyone know the best way to do this?
the only thing i can think off is either to use more DVDs than I feel that I should have to, or to burn a 7.23 GB image and then shrink that using soomething like DVD shrink, but that seems unecessary.
So I have a feeling that there is a smart way to do this and would appreciate any help.
Thanks. Nik

Answer 1

hello,
Firstly: John, if I export as a .mov and then import to Encore and transcode there will that mean that the file will be shrunk with minimum quality loss? because the .mov file i get using a simple movie export is massive.
below follows my findings and more questions. I suppose I should maybe be moving over to a FCPX & Compressor 4 forum. I think I need to do some studies on Bitrate here.
I tried the option of automatic transcoding in Encore to fit all files on a DVD and the results weren't terrible, in fact they are almost good enough, but not quite. it's sequences with fast movement that really are affected. So Stan, not much difference.
the problem is that the footage i am working with is pretty poor quality to start with. I am working with a bunch of Super 8 family films that have been scanned on to DVDs.
In FCPX a film that is 32 Min Pal SD 25p surround sound keeps coming out way to big. Below are some examples:
-When I export directly from FCPX as a movie (.mov) with the simple export settings and 'keep current settings' the file ends up being a massive 11.16 GB! With all other setting options the file is also expected to be very big ranging from something like 2.3 GB to 23GB.
-When I send it to Compressor 4 and choose the 'SD video sharing' option for uploading online it ends up at 1 GB. These are the settings and summary:
Name: SD Video Sharing
Description: SD for upload to web sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo
File Extension: mov
Estimated size: 783.36 MB/hour of source
Audio Encoder
    AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz
Video Encoder
    Width and Height: Up to 640 x 360
    Pixel aspect ratio: Default
    Crop: None
    Padding: None
    Frame rate: (100% of source)
    Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off
    Codec Type: H.264
    Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On
    Pixel depth: 24
    Spatial quality: 75
    Min. Spatial quality: 25
    Temporal quality: 50
    Min. temporal quality: 25
    Average data rate: 1.741 (Mbps)
-When I export the film under the standard DVD export settings I get two files and sizes, one for audio (.ac3) 108.4 mb and one for video .m2v 1.89 GB. The general video setting summary follows:
Name: MPEG-2 for DVD
Description: MPEG-2 elementary stream for DVD Authoring
File Extension: m2v
Estimated size: 1.89 GB
Type: MPEG-2 video elementary stream
    Usage:SD DVD
Video Encoder
    Width and Height: Automatic
        Selected: 720 x 576
    Pixel aspect ratio: PAL CCIR 601
    Crop: None
    Padding: None
    Frame rate: (100% of source)
        Selected: 25
    Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off
    Start timecode from source
    Aspect ratio: Automatic
        Selected 4:3
    Field dominance: Automatic:
         Selected Progressive
    Average bit rate automatic,
        selected: 7.826087 (Mbps)
    1 Pass VBR enabled
        Maximum bit rate: 9 (Mbps)
    High quality
    Best motion estimation
    Closed GOP Size: 12, Structure: IBBP
    DVD Studio Pro meta-data enabled
well thanks for the help both of you. it seems that outputting way too big files might be one of the many annoying bugs of FCPX.