I'm recording series for my mom which are .rmvb files. How many can I burn on 1 single 4.7gb disc and if I used DVD-RW how many times can I re-burn it to save money? And what's the difference between DVD-RW and DVD+RW? Also, I'm using CovertX to DVD atm and this movie I downloaded has been split into 2 parts. Do I have to merge it together or can I just browse and leave it and just burn? Thank you!!
If you have more then 1 movie it will create a menu for you, so you can go back to the menu after the first part and select the second. Just use DVD-R. You get better burn speeds and its less hassle. RW's are a bit more pricey and they are slow as crap.
i use WinAVI and it depends on the quality you want, i see some ppl fitting 10x 45min RMVB files in one but quality is like VCD, i like to fit 5 eps a discs myself, after you convert it, if is slightly larger than a 4.3GB in size, you can always use DVD Shrink to compress it a little... for the dvd menu, u can choose any background you like, as long as u save the file in PNG format and rename the file to default...
It really comes down to quality. If you want real good quality keep the bitrate high with standard resolution of 720x480 (assuming you have a NTSC TV), but you won't be able to put a lot of episodes on there. You can have medium quality by keeping the bitrates at 4000+ and changing the resolution to 352x480 (Half D1 specification). You probably can fit 3-4 hours of content and make it look pretty good. Half D1 can look pretty good if you do it right. As for me, I go full resolution for 2:30 - 3 hours with a bitrate of around 4000+ on 1 DVD. Your question about the difference between - and + dvd's: 1) The DVD-R (pronounced "DVD dash R") and -RW media formats are officially approved by the standards group DVD Forum. The DVD Forum was founded by Mitsubishi, Sony, Hitachi, and Time Warner, so it has tremendous industry support for its technical standards. 2) DVD+R ("DVD plus” R) and +RW formats are not approved by the DVD Forum standards group, but are instead supported by the DVD+RW Alliance. The DVD+RW Alliance is supported by Sony, Yamaha, Philips, Dell, and JP, so it also has tremendous industry support for its technical standards. Note that Sony supports both organizations. It pretty much means different companies that have different standards. You have a choice to choose which ones. You have to remember if you are buying one or the other that you have the correct burner to go with it. Example: if you buy DVD-R make sure you have a DVD-R burner. If you buy DVD+R and have a DVD-R burner.....it's not gonna work. Unless you have a + and - burner which you have the best of both worlds.
Just drop both parts into ConvertX and make sure "Play titles one after another" is checked. (Settings > DVD menus) ConvertX 3 will tell you if the quality is Excellent, Good or Low quality as you keep adding files.
i believe you can only use 1 disc one time. if you used 1 disc for 5 episodes, you would have to use a new disc for another 5 episodes. so i don't think the discs are reusable.
You can wipe the RW's. Anyways, burning and wiping the disk will be insanely slow, so I would strongly urge you to just use DVD-R's. There isn't a set number of time in which you can rewrite the dvd but I'm sure it might not work so well after a few times.
^ oh yeah, i forgot about the wiping option. haven't burned anything for ages. since you seem like a DVD burning expert, i'll leave the talking to you from now on
if u do a full format thats about 10 mins but if u are just wiping the data on it, it will only take 1 min or less DVD rewrites are usually 4x and i burn my stuff with 4x anyway so it doesn't matter! plus burning it slowing will give a more precise reading on the laser, if your drive doesn't last the way it should be, that means you must have it read thru "on-the-fly" burning in the past ... also a single DVD is about 20 cents, and a dvd rw is about $1-$1.5, in the long run (if u don't want to keep all the episodes) then dvd rewrites are a better deal, a dvd rewrite can re-write more than 7 times =)
