Typically a standard 4.7 GB DVD will hold about 1 hour of video using the DVD HQ preset. In previous PD did not do a very good job of estimating the size of the finished video so what you are describing is not surprising. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT

Hi2dontgo,

Smartfit isn't always the best way to go to maintain quality although it will do what it has to do to fit your video onto the DVD, it doesn't maximize the available space on the DVD. It basically lowers the resolution in predetermined steps to make it fit. The resulting file size may cause it to be far from filling the DVD. I don't know the exact circumstances that cause it to drop the resolution and bitrate.....but Power Director will actually reduce the resolution of the video to MAKE it fit onto the single DVD. You will see a dramatic drop in quality. Huge drop in quality!

I just did a test burn to confirm it still happens using Power Director 9...and it still does. I used a number of previously made videos that were in 1920X1080 resolution with a bitrate of 17,000 bps which is the native resolution of my video camera.

I added as many videos as was possible to maximize the total content on the DVD. I was using Smartfit....and everytime I added another video it would recalculate what the total usage on the disc was going to be. Eventually I couldn't add anymore content.

Power Director reduced my 1920x1080 video to 352x240 and dropped the original bitrate to 3,500bps. Boy does it look bad.....but it did all fit on the disc.

So bottom line....if you want excellent quality don't rely on Smartfit to keep it....It may make a decision that you won't like. I keep my total length to about an hour if burning to DVD....just like what James suggested. At any time during your project you can select the CREATE DISC tab and see what the estimated size of your project is going to be.

I just thought you might be interested in some of the details around Smartfit.

Regards,

Kevin
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Guys thanks for the quick response

I tried again last night, choose the 8.5gb dvd and high quality pd9 guessed at 7gb, I told it to burn to disk (4.7gb) and a folder - I got 4.2gb in the folder and 3.5gb on the disk - now that just doesn't make any sense to me

I don't understand why they can not get the basics right.

Cyberlink (if you are looking) forget your fancy effects - get the basic stuff working correctly first.

J

I agree with you 100%!

So I suppose it would make sense to burn to a folder and then Burn to disc with more accuracy.

Just an observation:I have seen the predicted size be off target before.....but I have never seen it off that far as in your example.

Kevin
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I use ConvertXtoDVD and can take a 700 meg avi of a movie download and burn that to DVD in like 15 minutes
and it fits to a 4.7 dvd. with great quality.
I just loaded a 700 meg movie into pd9 and tried buring , wont fit on a 4.7 so used smartfit and it took like a hour to burn.

PD really needs work on fixing the burning. IMHO.

FYI - you may also have video quality problems with burning to 8.5 Gb disc (4.5 Gb seems OK). Use a third party package such as DVDImage burn. It affords you the ability to VERIFY the disc after burning to ensure accuracy. Win 10, i7

Since Smart-Fit does not work and it is a lot o work to re-encode all the clips , how can I create multi-volume DVD instead?

I gotta add - this really Burns my a%%. Yes, I'm hoppin' angry over this issue. This is the exact issue I've tried to get help with on at least two different threads.

I've used two other video editing programs before PD9, and they were both able to calculate to pinpoint accuracy what the size of a project is when you go to burn to folder. This is basic stuff - HOW in the world can Cyberlink make this software which forces people to put up with low quality results because it says "Um, this is going to fill up your disc"--but it simply doesn't!

Every time now, I'm told I can't use a higher quality of burn because it won't fit, Smart Fit says it's going to fill the disc, and the result is like 2 or 3 gigs?

This is total BS!

So the solution is to say you're using an 8.5 folder even when you're not? Or you're forced to use 3rd party software to do the BASIC job this software is failing at?

It's just--unbelievable. Maddening.

EDIT: AND what is the cr@p about only 1 hour fitting on a DVD? They hold 2 hours of video--certainly did in every other program I've used. AND those programs had an incremental quality slider so you could inch up the size of your quality/size until it safely filled a DVD, guaranteeing the best possible quality out of your source material.

rbowser

Quote: ...In previous PD did not do a very good job of estimating the size of the finished video so what you are describing is not surprising.

What do you mean, "previous versions"--we're talking about THIS current version of PD9. The basic task of burning to disc still doesn't work.

RB

Quote: I use ConvertXtoDVD and can take a 700 meg avi of a movie download and burn that to DVD in like 15 minutes
and it fits to a 4.7 dvd. with great quality.
I just loaded a 700 meg movie into pd9 and tried buring , wont fit on a 4.7 so used smartfit and it took like a hour to burn.

PD really needs work on fixing the burning. IMHO.

But what do you do about menus, using that 3rd party program? And does "ConvertXtoDVD" let you burn to folder? I would never go straight to disc.

RB

One thing I've learned from reading over this forum after purchasing PowerDirector for the first time 18 months ago is this...

Many problems being reported are specific to a specific individual's computer setup. Related to hardware configuration, software, anti-virus, firewall, or other installed utilities, etc..

Although PD9 calculates the DVD fit perfectly for me, my system was generating numerous burning errors. After months of being MAD at Cyberlink, I realized eventually (after learning that virtually noone was getting this error but me) that it was my SYSTEM that was at fault. Once I switched from DVD-R to DVD+R, the burn errors vanished completely. I still don't know why this computer has problems with DVD-R PD9 burns, but while working through this problem, I came to realize that almost no two computers are the same. Even though my neighbor and I both have HP e9220y computers, his hardware config is slightly different and we use totally different spyware, anti-virus, utlity programs, security settings, etc.. The combinations are endless and video editing software is not only complicated, but uses a ton of system resources.

-Allen

Quote: One thing I've learned from reading over this forum after purchasing PowerDirector for the first time 18 months ago is this...

Many problems being reported are specific to a specific individual's computer setup. Related to hardware configuration, software, anti-virus, firewall, or other installed utilities, etc..

Although PD9 calculates the DVD fit perfectly for me, my system was generating numerous burning errors. After months of being MAD at Cyberlink, I realized eventually (after learning that virtually noone was getting this error but me) that it was my SYSTEM that was at fault. Once I switched from DVD-R to DVD+R, the burn errors vanished completely. I still don't know why this computer has problems with DVD-R PD9 burns, but while working through this problem, I came to realize that almost no two computers are the same. Even though my neighbor and I both have HP e9220y computers, his hardware config is slightly different and we use totally different spyware, anti-virus, utlity programs, security settings, etc.. The combinations are endless and video editing software is not only complicated, but uses a ton of system resources.

-Allen

Hello, Allen

Being a moderator on a forum for software unrelated to PD, and being a member of other forums where I'm a frequent contributor, I know you're so right that the user experience has to be directly related to the computer that user has.

I do need to invite you to investigate my system specs attached, and to let me know in what way my computer is failing to allow PD9 to do basic things like inform me correctly about a simple thing like my project size.

The video programs I used previously to this were on a computer way less capable than this one, but without fail, those programs could tell me the size of my project so I could make intelligent decisions when it came time to burn to folder.

This thread is a good indication that users are having the same issue - being stuck with low quality DVDs simply because the software isn't guiding them correctly. This shouldn't be an issue dependent on all the intangibles you're talking about - what spyware people use etc.

Regarding the specs I'm attaching - This is The Best computer my budget would allow. Actually, it was beyond my budget - I took a loan out to buy it. I know it could be even more heavy weight, but this is the biggest, meanest machine I've ever had, and I dare say it's above the Average mark.

It simply can't be true that the only people that can have success with PD9 have spent even more money on their machines. If Cyberlink was making software for only the top 5% of computers made today, they wouldn't have many happy customers -- but I am wondering at this point how they can have very many at all. --I picture PD9 users across the world, thousands of them, wondering why their movies are looking so crappy--and you're saying the answer is they need to spend yet more money on a new computer they can't afford?--

RB

I agree with AllenChicago
90% of problems on this forum do not relate to the software. They are due to computer configurations.
I have no problems. PD9 always calculates the DVD burn size and the folder size the same for me.

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
VM Windows Professional XP
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM DDR3
Card name: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
Chip type: ATI display adapter 0x68B8
Motherboard ASUS P7P55D-E
1TG Hardrive

Cheers
Des

90% of problems on this forum do not relate to the software. They are due to computer configurations.

Then I will ask;

Should companies making software give information to the buyer
not only how powerful computer you should have,
but also the configurations you should use?

Would that solve the 90%- or at least 50% of the problems?

Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com

Hi Nina,

While Cyberlink tell us the minimum specs in regards to how powerfull our computers should be I don't think that it would be commercially possible for them tell us what cofigurations we should be using. I also think that as AllenChicargo wrote different software,utilities etc can have a bearing on how PD operates.
I was fortunate in that a friend of mine is a computer consultant to a local video production house and he built my computer for me. I have very few problems. I use my computer for video editing and for very little else. I also do not have it overloaded with software.

Cheers
Des

I have had these same types of issues when trying to produce or burn files since May of this year when I bought the software with a brand new HP computer that has plenty of power and video capabilites. I have a string of responses from the Indian "Help Desk" and if I had a dime for every request for my DXDiag file I could have bought some software that actually worked.

Mine locks up anywhere from 10-50% of the way into a burn or a produce with no error message. I have tried decreasing the file size to less that one hour of video time and it still locks up.

After 5 months of trying to get this work I am ready to throw in the towel as I agree with others that this softare can't get the basics right. I am only using video, pictures and a few of the canned effects with very little success.

I tried the forum back in July and had a few ideas provided but nothing that works

I can't imagine what on my system would be making PD9 miscalculate project size. The program seems to work pretty smoothly in other regards.

Please inform me what tweaks I could make to my far-from-under-powered computer to make the program happy - tweaks that won't interfere with other major CPU using programs I use for composing and recording music.

Frankly, I'm having a hard time believing anyone is getting accurate size calculations. Have you really looked at the size figure, written it down, and then compared it to the burned folder size?--- I'd have to see it to believe it.

rbowser

rbowser,

There are no tweaks to your system that would help as far as I know. It is just how the program estimates the size of the finished project. These estimates can vary a vast amount.

I very seldom ever look at the size estimate when burning a disk. I know I can get close to 1 hour on a standard single layer DVD and plan/edit my projects accordingly. I use DVD HQ for all DVD burns. If I am working on a large project (more than one hour expected) I will either plan on a dual layer DVD or plan on a two disk set.(part 1 and part 2)

Hal

OS - Win11 Pro, Alienware R13, CPU - Intel Core I7-12700KF 12 CPUs), 16g DDR5 4400 RAM, Video - Geeforce RTX 3080ti 12g, PD11 & PD365
My YouTube

Quote: rbowser,

There are no tweaks to your system that would help as far as I know. It is just how the program estimates the size of the finished project. These estimates can vary a vast amount.

I very seldom ever look at the size estimate when burning a disk. I know I can get close to 1 hour on a standard single layer DVD and plan/edit my projects accordingly. I use DVD HQ for all DVD burns. If I am working on a large project (more than one hour expected) I will either plan on a dual layer DVD or plan on a two disk set.(part 1 and part 2)

Hal

Thanks for the reply Hal, and for being the voice of reason. I know from you and other major contributors to the forum that it's a known issue that PD simply cannot calculate file size correctly.

But the real issue is that PD says a project will be over 4 gigs, but then burns it to a much smaller size. That's nuts.

I want videos longer than an hour on a disc. My vacation video is 1 1/2 hours. It's only 3.38 gigs in size. WHY is that?--because PD shrunk it, reduced the quality - but in a stupid way. Intelligent video programs make a project of that length fit the disc with as little degradation as possible.

A 2 1/2 hour movie I transferred from tape - that's also under 4 gigs!-- As has been said on this thread - PD is squashing the life out of files, much more than it needs to in order to use the available DVD size.

rbowser