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I know I can make a back up of a scene using the OPT button and exporting said scene out to a USB stick or disc. So I have 2 questions on my recent attempt to do this. I was trying to output a previously backed up scene that I had restored. I don't remember what file format it was in originally. But the file is in SD 16 x 9 and 66min long. I have render booster so when I select the format my first choice was the last one .MP4 and I went with the quality at max. My plan was to output the scene to a DVD. I thought it might fit on a single layer DVD. Once I put the disc in, the machine told me there was not enough space to fit the back up onto it so I put in a Dual layer DVD. And then it made and burned me my .mp4 file. SO I took out the disc and put it in my Windows PC and checked the properties. The .MP4 file and max quality was 1.2 GB in size and had a total bit rate of 2500kbps. First off, 1.2GB will easily fit on a single layer DVD, and secondly 2500kbps is the max quality? I've created .mp4s in Media Manager that are 4 times that (maybe those were HD files I can't remember) But standard DVDs have a better bit rate than 2500kbps. So I wasn't satisfied with that result so I made a max quality .avi instead. Same warning came up that not enough space on a single layer DVD to fit the file so I again put in the Dual layer disc and it made me a .avi at 10,000kbps (much better) with a file size of 1.7 GB. Still small enough to fit on a single layer DVD. And at 66min that's about half the capacity of a standard MPEG 2 DVD which normally would have a bit rate of around 4500kbps. I made standard DVDs for this client months ago and I know that being a DVD has 4.7 GB of capacity with 2hours of footage that means his 66 min video would take up a little more that half or 2.35 GB, and yet this better quality .avi only takes up 1.7GB? And why does the Cassie tell me there is not enough space on a single layer DVD? Many questions here. If any of you technical whizzes out there can give me a simple explanation on this it would appreciated. It seems like the minute I think I understand how compression works I run into something like this. Thanks for any help.

Hi Chris
Only about 20 minutes of SD .avi will fit on a std 4.7 GB DVD. 120 min of MP4 (Std SD DVD format)
Bob F., GVP

I knew that AVIs were big files, but did not know you could only put 20 mins (avi) on a dvd. Thanks for the info, Bob.
Beth Klinger

Hi Beth,
Transferring an .avi file to DVD is the same thing as using "Disk Transfer" with the same limitations.
Bob F

Good to know as I haven't had to do it yet. TY

SD=13gb=60 minutes.....so 20 minutes sounds awful close...

About Disk-Transfer
Disk-Transfer it the ideal software for the longterm
archiving of individual scenes onto DVD
without losses in quality. In conjunction with
DVD Arabesk, you can burn as many scenes as
you like from various projects onto a DVD. The
maximum total length possible is up to approx.
20 minutes on a single-layer DVD (4.7 GBytes)
and up to 40 minutes on a double-layer DVD (9.6
GBytes).
Since the data are written onto DVD in DV format
(i.e. they are not altered), you can import scenes
back onto the Casablanca with no loss in quality.
“Disk-Transfer” is therefore not just the perfect
solution for archiving, it is also suitable for data
exchange between other Casablanca devices or
computers. So, for instance, you can edit scenes
using PC programs and then import them back
into the Casablanca via DVD. Disk-Transfer there
-
fore allows you to combine all the advantages
and possibilities provided by the Casablanca with
various types of computer software

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Some good reminders in there. However I just made another copy of what I posted originally, and it made the same thing. 1.7GB file, at 10mbps 66min .avi. If a 4.7 GB DVD can only hold 20 minutes of SD material in .avi format, then 4 DVDs totaling 18.8GB with maybe around 15GB used, would be needed to transfer the whole file. My settings for saving the file are for .avi at MAX quality. And I'm fitting it on a dual layer DVD (8.5 GB). Looking at the "Burn" on the back of the disc it is about 1/3 of the way out to the edge from the center. Which also doesn't make sense. A 4.7 GB file would show the burn all the way to the edge. And a 1.7 GB file would look about the way it does on my disc. This is a Dual layer disc. I've read the information on a dual layer DVD is read from center out to the edge, on the first layer, and out to center in, on the second layer. Can anyone explain this? The file is good, the client is happy but I'm trying to learn something. Is Windows reading the properties wrong? Does Disk transfer have a higher quality than making the .avi from the "OPT" button? Could it be because the file is in Widescreen? I remember hearing once that widescreen format was really just the 4x3 format with black bars on the top and bottom, so that widescreen videos actually take up less space than 4 X 3 videos, data wise. But that was a long time ago.

See you have Render Booster. Using OPT, open and export a TS file. This is lossless. Export to a stick....make sure thumb drive is NFTS....NOT. Fat32.

Lou, yes I use Render Booster. Made an M-PEG 2 TS file. Output to USB. FIle @ 5.67 GB, total bit rate 15,192 kbps. Plays great using Windows Media Player. SO what does this tell me? One other time I backed up to H.264 TS file just to see what it would do and the file was not readable (other than its properties) by anything on my PC.