Why is the exported file size so small?

Question

Hello!
I just spent the last few days watching about three hours of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 tutorials and almost all five hours of the Adobe Encore CS3 tutorials on Lynda.com with the awesome 30-day trial that I received for purchasing these two programs. I pretty much got to the end of authoring my first DVD with Encore, but the file size is so small that it doesn't even take up the full size of a single-layer DVD and I was expecting to be using double-layer DVDs.
Here's why I didn't post this in the Encore discussion: My two file sizes are 10GB and 8GB. I have them both as single timelines in Premiere Pro and exported them each to Encore. But why does the file size decrease to just over 1GB for each of the files in the Export to Encore option in Premiere Pro CS3?
I begin a brand new project in Premiere Pro, import the 10GB .avi, and then do the Export to Encore with "DVD Double Layer", "Author with Menus", "Entire Sequence", "NTSC High Quality" with the quality level switched from 4 to 5, Video Codec = "MainConcept MPEG Video", 720x480, 29.97 drop frame, Lower, Standard 4:3, VBR, 2 Pass, the default bitrate settings of Minimum Bit Rate = 1.5, Target Bit Rate = 4, Maximum Bit Rate = 7, and then whatever GOP Settings are set to M Frames = 3 and N Frames = 15. Without any video editing at all, it estimates the file size at 1.7GB.
If my goal is to get the file sizes closer to 4GB and 3.5GB, can I fiddle with any of these settings without screwing up the ability for all DVD players to read my disc? I thought it would probably be ideal to have them closer to 7GB and 6GB, and then let Encore downgrade the quality to fit all of the content on the DVD with very little room to spare. But why is there no default to keep the video resolution at the absolute best possible?
Should I be exporting to a Movie instead of exporting to Encore?
Thanks!
Matt

Answer 1

Patrick,
After I installed and registered my software, I received this email twice for both Premiere Pro and Encore, and I would imagine that it would only make sense to receive this same type of bonus for Production Premium:
"Thanks for registering - claim your benefit today.
Adobe Systems Incorporated [[email protected]]
Thank you for purchasing and registering your copy of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3. You now have a wealth of creative tools at your disposal. While taking advantage of online and printed resources we also encourage you to select a complimentary benefit. At Adobe we want you to get the most out of your software it's our commitment to you.
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Thanks for the tip, Steven! I will try that now.
- Matt