How much video in terms of time are you trying to put on the AVCHD disc? The usual rule of thumb is around 40 minutes. .
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BoilerPlate: To posters who ask for help -- it is nice to thank the volunteers who try to answer your questions !
Anything I post unless stated with a reference is my personal opinion.

It is well known that Powerdirector's estimate of the amount of space needed on a DVD is often high.

There are work arounds.
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Thank for the response.
stevek,Time really does not come into play when I create AVCHD with Roxio. I go by the size of the project, and then leave about 300MB free that it needs when the DVD is burned.

Carl, You mention work arounds. Other than having to figure the size of each clip and slideshow what else is there? Seems strange to me it would be off by so much. A pretty basic thing for the app to figure out.

I assume you mean Bluray and DVD as the size shows the same for either.

Of course because PD show 5997MB in the project and it is really only 3723MB the burn fails. Works in Roxio. So even though PD is wrong is thinks it is correct.

I would be interested to hear how much space others use on DVD/BR as compared to the actual files used in the project.

Jeff

Quote: Carl, You mention work arounds. Other than having to figure the size of each clip and slideshow what else is there? Seems strange to me it would be off by so much. A pretty basic thing for the app to figure out.

One work around is to select 2D > DVD 8.5 GB. Burn a folder only. once the folder is created, you can check the actual size of the folder to choose which disk to use.

Once you have the folder you can use disk burning software to burn the actual disk.
There is plenty of disk burning software, some is free.
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote: I have been using Roxio Creator 2011 for a couple of years and it does not burn BlueRay discs and Roxio does not offer the BR plugin anymore. I figured now is a good time to evaluate other products again. I am currently on a trial version of PD12.

In Roxio the size to be used on a DVD is shown when attempting to create an AVCHD is correct. I used this to determine when my project was considered "full." In PD12 when I am on the create disc screen attempting to burn BR or AVCHD the space to be used is not correct. It is off anywhere from 700MB to 1GB. The create disc showed the size to be 4200MB and it was actually 3500MB on disc and DVD.

I actually burned the project to hard drive and then to AVCHD. The space used matches the RAW file plus a little for menus. I don't want to go through adding the size of my raw files and slideshows. Too much work compared to it just showing correctly.

The last project I tested showed 5997/4700MB (5997MB is supposed to be the size of the project and 4700MB is the blank DVD size). The burn failed. The size of the files (which are mt2s HD) total 3723MB. I used 5 chapters and one of the default menus so I doubt the overhead if 1GB. I put the same files in a Roxio project and it shows the size to be 3962MB.

Create Disc Settings:
Video Format=AVCHD Widescreen 16:9
Video encoding=H.264 HD 1920x1080/60i
Audio Dolby Digital 2 Channels.


Has anyone seen this problem?

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

Leveraging that I'm working on a project with videos in FullHD which was finalized on DVD.
I checked the AVCHD option PD12, actually has few quality options to choose from, and worse the only option that changed the file size is 720 x 480/60i SD, (ta I missing something there) so I used the option (SMART FIT) and I created a folder on HD, spent 57 minutes. 1920x1080 video, file size 8,362,362 rendered with SVRT in Produce in (create disc) did not work SVRT think to use option, Smart Fit.
I thought the result in less than the original one, but still good.
I tried to do the same in Nero Video, also do the render was providing over 120 minutes.
The curious that in both cases, was only using 4 of the 8 core of my CPU. AMD-FX 8350 / 8GB DDR3
SSD SUV400S37240G / 2-HD WD 1TB
AMD Radeon R9 270 / AOC M2470SWD
Windows 7-64 / PD16 Ultimate

Yeah, seems like a lot of work when I have a product that works in that area. I do like several things about PD12 over Roxio so I'll see if I can figure out why. I've entered a support case, so I guess I will see how well they respond on support.

My next test was to see if it will really burn an "oversized project." I created a PD12 project exactly like one in Roxio where I have burned a DVD-SL (4GB) AVCHD (Project size is 3474MB in Roxio and shows 5507MB in PD12). In PD the AVCHD DVD (4GB) failed to burn. Roxio no problems burning.

Tried to burn the same project above to folders and get "The size of the imported files exceed the amount of available disk space" in the Create Disc section, strange. I have 388GB free on the HD, see screen shot attached.

I find it hard to belive everyone who uses PD12 has a vapor 2GB that cannot use on a DVD or BR. I'd be curious to hear from you all on what you see. Seems like a very obvious bug and would think an easy fix.

One last interesting thing with my tests. Removed a 5MB video and project shrank from 5977MB to 5943MB (34MB less), removed 733MB and it went from 5943MB to 4842MB (1101MB less). Thats just bad.

Jeff

O curioso que, em ambos os casos, foi apenas com 4 dos 8 núcleo do meu CPU.

Today I did the test and confirmed the reason Enable Video Encoder is active by default, disabled the process runs much faster, uses 100% of the 8 core CPU. at the beginning and the sequence was alternating between 50 and 60%
doing the same project, stopped rm with 46% total time estimated at 43 minutes (AVCHD 8.5 GB) using Smart fit, quality AMD-FX 8350 / 8GB DDR3
SSD SUV400S37240G / 2-HD WD 1TB
AMD Radeon R9 270 / AOC M2470SWD
Windows 7-64 / PD16 Ultimate

Quote: Tried to burn the same project above to folders and get "The size of the imported files exceed the amount of available disk space" in the Create Disc section, strange. I have 388GB free on the HD, see screen shot attached.

PD still looks at the size of disc media you have selected in the dropdown, it probably does this so the end product conforms to requirements and could be burned. In your particular case you could select the 8.5GB from the drop down and write to HD, then, based on the size, burn the folder structure with a utility to either a 4.7 or 8.5GB disc. The msg is in reference to the size of the media you have selected, not the current space on your HD.

Quote: One last interesting thing with my tests. Removed a 5MB video and project shrank from 5977MB to 5943MB (34MB less), removed 733MB and it went from 5943MB to 4842MB (1101MB less). Thats just bad.

You don't provide enough info to really understand if this makes sense. I don't know if your video is from the same source or different, or the quality of it. Say one has a lower resolution/bitrate video in the timeline, with the AVCHD setting you have, 1920x1080, PD will create a 16Mbps video stream. If the file you removed is lower quality than this, the amount removed will be significantly larger as PD is basing the adjustment on the finished product 1920x1080, 16Mbps. During the burn processes, PD would re-encode your lower resolution/bitrate file to the 1920x1080 specs and the size would change. Conversely, if you have a 24Mbps bitrate file in the timeline, the opposite would occur.

The Disc Size2.pdf document near the bottom of this link below may provide some insight for you. It discusses standard DVD but the issues and results are the same for DVD, AVCHD, and BD.
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/19654.page

Jeff

I read the pdf and I believe that is the exact same problem I am encountering, which in my opinion is a bug/bad code in PD. Roxio has no problems whatsoever providing a valid estimate of project size and is accurate. Even from Create Disc, if I have AVCHD selected with 4.7GB DVD, it will not even let me burn to hard drive because it says not enough space (388GB free). I change to 8.5GB DVD and it writes to hard drive. Not sure why it thinks selecting media has anything to do with writing to the hard drive.... How can a product have this many obvious bugs?

Well unless I hear something better from support, guess I'll end my trial and look elsewhere for a product. Don't know how it received so many top product awards with these obvious flaws for issues that will throw most people off. Otherwise a good product.

Thanks for the suggestions. If you have others, send along.

Jeff

Quote:
Well unless I hear something better from support, guess I'll end my trial and look elsewhere for a product. Don't know how it received so many top product awards with these obvious flaws for issues that will throw most people off. Otherwise a good product.

Thanks for the suggestions. If you have others, send along.

Jeff

The reviews on Powerdirector are mostly about its editing ability. The Disk burning is and mostly always been an add-on to the primary function of editing Videos.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2424347,00.asp
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

This program is very good as is the Roxio program. Why don't you make your project in PowerDirector and export it as a folder set. Use the Roxio product to burn the folder set to a disk.

You could also use Power2Go to burn the folder set.

I still say time is the overriding control in making a disc UNLESS you want to reduce the quality of the video. .
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BoilerPlate: To posters who ask for help -- it is nice to thank the volunteers who try to answer your questions !
Anything I post unless stated with a reference is my personal opinion.

Ultimately my issue is the incorrect size PD displays. Why would I have to write to folders on the HD to then only find out that it is too big for 4GB DVD or 25GB BR. Then I would need to redit, remove a video file then recreate the video folders.

Pretty much all of my videos are same quality taken with HD camcorder 1920x1080, Video BR 12435kbps, frame rate 29 fps, Audio BR 256kps. Seems the files PD create on the folder changes video BR to 16,904kbps. That is the only difference in properties on the video clip. That one change does increase the m2ts file size in the folder as compared to what I imported from the HD camera.

My conclusions about AVCHD (DVD)
If the original file has time and size that fits on the disc, and connect SVRT, should generate a perfect disc, like I did here.
Ja to file that will require recoding, I still have doubts.
I did the same project to BluRay, called SVRT made ​​fast and was perfect. AMD-FX 8350 / 8GB DDR3
SSD SUV400S37240G / 2-HD WD 1TB
AMD Radeon R9 270 / AOC M2470SWD
Windows 7-64 / PD16 Ultimate

Quote:
I still say time is the overriding control in making a disc UNLESS you want to reduce the quality of the video.

My experience is rather different, but if time suits your needs that's great. From what I can tell, it's just not applicable for everyone's variable timeline content and is not the overriding control. Time is only a good measure of actual project size for DVD's if PD encodes the video of the entire timeline at ~8Mbps CBR. However, PD appears to encode with a CVBR so the actual bitrate can depend heavily on content in the timeline vs any real user control. Take the following two timeline scenarios

Scenario 1 (DVD-HQ Best Quality)
20 minutes 1920x1080 24Mbps video in timeline
1480MB estimate, 1430MB actual

Scenario 2 (DVD-HQ Best Quality)
Now take the first 10 min of the footage followed by 10 min black colorboard with a title effect of scrolling credits (20 minutes total)
1480MB estimate, 745MB actual

As shown, the actual file size difference is nearly 2 times for the same 20 minute project. Therefore, if my timeline was like scenario 2, I could fit ~120 minutes on a single 4.7GB disc vs ~60 minutes for scenario 1.

Project time is also a poor overriding control for those users that create pictorial slideshows set to music. To show the issue I used the standard sample pic in a variety of slideshows in the timeline, the attached pic shows the end of the timeline, 1:56:07 worth. The other attached pic shows this nearly two hour timeline fits on a single layer 4.7GB disc with DVD-HQ Best Quality setting from PD. The size of the Nearly_2hours video folder created by PD is shown as 4.34GB and can be burned to a 4.7GB disc using your preferred burn utility.

It's been suggested previously and would be a nice addition if PD provided more sophisticated user accessible controls in the Create Disc area to accommodate these timeline scenarios easier for many formats but it appears they opt for minimal controls for more of a burn for dummies approach. Maybe with the great changes about, PD13 will provide hope. They could leave the burn for dummies interface controls they now have and add an option to open controls for the more professional video creator as they market to.

Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks for your response as that is exactly my point and problem. What what it is worth here is supports response as of today. This response is a follow up from the 2nd level escalation. At least them appear to acknowledge the problem.

"Thank you for writing back.

We really appreciate you for providing us with information. We've made the summary and passed it to our QA team.

They are trying to reproduce the issue in lab and our R&D checking out for resolution.

It may take some time to check and as soon as we receive the update, we'll revert you back."

Jeff

I also have a problem with smart fit. When I used PD11 I was able to create a disc using smart fit the contents of which exceeded 4.7 GB.
Now I have upgraded to PD 12 and use smart fit to create a disc it crashes before all my videos are loaded in the content section.

My issue is not the smart fit but PD size estimation plus it's bitrate cannot be controlled so you end up with a much larger video than with other products.

Jeff

Is there anyone there able to help me ? When I export the imported files to a disk, the final result on disk exceeds the project. How can I avoid that ? The length of the project stored in my computer is allright, on the contrary..

If you are doing an avchd disc then output to a removable disc. If you are doing a standard DVD disc then follow the answers already discussed like Jeff’s for the best answer.