hi i need to get this done before Wednesday ------
Gigabyte X58a UD3r
i7 920 D0
Nvidia Geforce GTX480
Nvidia Geforce 9600 amp
Asus Xonar soundcard
6GB ram
Win 7 pro x64
(Director version 10 Ultra)

Hi,

PowerDirector uses an algorithm to GUESS the size of a final disc. Looking through earlier forum posts you will see the same situation has occurred previously. The content of your project, the compressed file format in the tracks is probably preventing a correct "guess" taking place.

Produce your project to an mpeg2. Bring the rendered mpegs back to your project and you will have a much more accurate "guess" in Create Disc.

that is ridiculous for a not so cheap product, should have got another app for the job i am thinking now. too late now ------
Gigabyte X58a UD3r
i7 920 D0
Nvidia Geforce GTX480
Nvidia Geforce 9600 amp
Asus Xonar soundcard
6GB ram
Win 7 pro x64
(Director version 10 Ultra)

just to add as i am stuck with PD10 now, if i produce the mpeg2 project, and reinsert it will i have to redo all the chapters. there are many. why does the software guess in the first place. i am pretty annoyed ------
Gigabyte X58a UD3r
i7 920 D0
Nvidia Geforce GTX480
Nvidia Geforce 9600 amp
Asus Xonar soundcard
6GB ram
Win 7 pro x64
(Director version 10 Ultra)

Quote: just to add as i am stuck with PD10 now, if i produce the mpeg2 project, and reinsert it will i have to redo all the chapters. there are many. why does the software guess in the first place. i am pretty annoyed

The software has to guess because it applies compression as it goes along through the rendering process.

This is going to be true of any compression algorithm, even if you're just compressing text into a zip file. You have two choices: go all the way through the compression process and then report the final size; or make an estimate by sampling the data. The former is useless, and the latter is always going to be a best guess.

If you weren't compressing the data, then the size would be known ahead of time. With compression, the results depend upon the data (and the algorithm, of course).

For example, suppose the compression algorithm started with an initial frame, then recorded only the changed pixels from one frame to the next. (That's actually how some video compression algorithms work, by the way.) If you had a video of a still life, there wouldn't be any changed pixels from one frame to the next; so the result would be tiny.

If, on the other hand, you had a video of a hockey game there would be a lot of pixels changing all of the time. The result might be close to the uncompressed size.

Since most video would show more motion at some times than at others, the results have to be somewhere in between. There are a variety of tricks you can play to get more accurate estimates, but they're always going to be guesstimates.

Think about this choice: would you rather have your rendered result smaller than the estimate, or larger? I know which I would choose. Jerry Schwartz

its still doesnt get past that its hugely off the estimate

------
Gigabyte X58a UD3r
i7 920 D0
Nvidia Geforce GTX480
Nvidia Geforce 9600 amp
Asus Xonar soundcard
6GB ram
Win 7 pro x64
(Director version 10 Ultra)

also its all images and transitions and 2 tiny AVI's. no large videos or HD files or even any audio at all ------
Gigabyte X58a UD3r
i7 920 D0
Nvidia Geforce GTX480
Nvidia Geforce 9600 amp
Asus Xonar soundcard
6GB ram
Win 7 pro x64
(Director version 10 Ultra)

Hi,
Regardless of what your content is (as that's not a changeable for you) here's a workaround.

1. Create the mpeg file
2. Add a new video and audio track ABOVE Track 1
3. Place the newly created mpeg2 file into the NEW Track 1
4. Disable all other tracks (uncheck them ALL)
5. Only have the new Track 1 enabled both video and audio
6. Create your disc

Why carry out the above? You wanted to retain the chapter marks and names. You should now have that available to you for Create Disc.

FYI: A DVD carries out a render process on a project which is NOT mpeg2. The vob file used by DVD's is an mpeg2 file by another extension. The vob files are split to fit/comply with D requirements.

I hope that helps.

Jerry has given you an excellent explanation on a project he neither has nor a dilemma he doesn't face. Thank you Jerry, from me.

Dafydd

Quote: Produce your project to an mpeg2. Bring the rendered mpegs back to your project and you will have a much more accurate "guess" in Create Disc.

Not been my experience.

Attached is a updated study on why I think the calculated size by PD differs from the actual size with a specific example to justify the differenece. Maybe it provides a little PD specific meat to jerrys comments and maybe some insight into the issue for others. Bottom line as I see it, with the current PD process, everyone will have differing experiences on value of the disc size calculation. I modified my workflow for standard DVD creation several years ago becuase I couldn't afford this calculated difference, now the size calculation is always very close for me.

Jeff

id love the software to allow the user to continue creating the disc/folder despite the warning. that would solve my issue with it ------
Gigabyte X58a UD3r
i7 920 D0
Nvidia Geforce GTX480
Nvidia Geforce 9600 amp
Asus Xonar soundcard
6GB ram
Win 7 pro x64
(Director version 10 Ultra)

Hi Jeff,

Now thats what I call an explanation.

Great job, really interesting reading and it all makes sense.

Thanks PatC