Compressing mpeg2 to allow copying to DVD

[MrMikey]

I am trying to record all of this years F1 grands prix on my hard drive via my tv card.What I then want to do is write each race to a DVD.My problem is that each recording (mpeg2 format) is approx. 14 gig in size and as such to large to fit on a dvd. Is there any software anybody could recommend(preferably free ) that could solve this problem for me. Thanks.

 

[Skeptik]

You can edit it and cut it into individual races. Also take out the ads. Use something like Tmpgenc DVD Author or DVR Studio Pro. Some people have recommended Adobe, but I don't know if it does MPEG2.

 

[PeterCH]

How long is each race? A decent MPEG2 compression should get you about 3-4GB per hour. Anything over, especially fast moving panning shots and cars will cause a lot of artefacts and will look ugly. You should try to use 2 pass VBR encoding - it will be slow though.

What's free? Look at SUPER by eRightsoft.

Adobe Premiere? Well Adobe Premiere Pro has a built in software encoder for MPEG2 - it has to be activated seperately over the internet. Other commerical products are by NERO and Roxio. NeroVision has an MPEG2 encoder. AFAIK virtually all MPEG2 encoders are commercial.

Once you encode something to an M2V file or MPEG2 file you can
burn it to DVD using Nero or Roxio DVD Creator or whatever 3rd part
DVD program you have, even OEM versions. OEM versions won't encode
MPEG2 though as that requires activation and extra $$$. SUPER may help
in this regard.

 

[PearlJam]

I just did a video that was 20.7gb after my editing. I used Adobe Encore to put it on a dvd (with menu, etc.) and it all fits. You can get 30 day trial of the adobe apps. Get everything ready and then download it and do your dvd with that. All for free (legally)

 

[MrMikey]

Thanks for all the info and advice, ill give the suggestions a bash. Much appreciated.