which format 3 hours on dvd-r

[disastermaster]

I`ve got 6 half hour video clips captured on my pc. They are all captured at full res (dvd size) avi`s with the huffy codec. I have got to put all six episodes on to dvd-r with a basic menu. I want to keep the quality as good as I can get.What would be the best to do, re-encode them to mpeg2 at a lower bitrate or re-encode them to mpeg1 at a higher bitrate and make a xdvd?
Ps what total size should the files be before they are authored, to make most use of all available space on the dvd-r, is there a simple bitrate calculater for this?

Cheers Disastermaster.

[Brian Ellis]

IMHO, DVD MPEG-2 VBR, try 3.8 - 4 kbit/s average, with average movement.

http://forums.murc.ws/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37177&highlight=bitrate+calculator

[keithm]

I got three hours on a DVD-r at mpeg2 with a bitrate of 3000kps, quality was ok. Personally I would split the files over two disks and use a bitrate of 5000, quality is much better. Unless the footage has a lot of movement you might get better quality with constant bitrate, although it depends on what you use to convert the files to mpeg2. Make sure your converter can produce mpeg audio (not pcm) or the file size will be much bigger. You can also reduce the file size by using a lower audio bitrate (must be 48khz though) or mono sound-depends on the audio quality of the source.