How do I know when dvd is full?

[levdr]

I have just bought and installed Toast 8.0.1. I'm trying to burn some avi files on a dvd but don't quite understand how the space indicator works. I've searched the forum and learned that the amount of space I'm using should be visible in the bottom of the burn window. Well, it isn't. I can see the colour bar turn from green to orange/red but I need to know how much space exactly the files I have dragged into Toast are taking up. Only when I put my cursor on the coloured bar does the info after a few moments appear (like info appears about everything you put the cursor on), but that's hardly ideal. So, is something wrong? Or am I maybe doing something wrong? (I'm new at this) Thanks in advance for a reply.

[Atlantic]

It is particularly frustrating when you are using video files that do not need encoding but Toast still overestimates the space required. If you have to go through a burn to disc image and then check, with files that do need encoding, then the time to check space usage is not fun. Toast seems to include subtitle files (that it can't even use - such as on European standard subtitle files from standard TV broadcasts, including digital broadcasts) and multiple language tracks that it will automatically discard as part of the space requirement, which seems a little daft. I can put, in some cases, 6GB of data onto a video DVD (according to Toast) and still get a disc image that fits on a single layer.

[batmandela]

i agree with the initial poster... it would be really useful to give a numeric indication of the total size of the files you are attempting to burn. the green indicator has been inaccurate three times in a row now - meaning i have to sit through 3 multiplexings of a dvd, only to be told 15 minutes later that i have 4.4GB needed and only 4.38GB available.

 

perhaps a rough calculation of available/needed space could take place sooner in the process?

 

i understand that with file conversion there may be some discrepancies...

 

it is annoying, though...

[theoldarchiver]

Green = below the limit

Orange = a bit over the limit

Red = over the limit

For data, you should stay in the green.

For DVD-Video, you could save as disc image first. Then you'll see how much space is actually used by the encoder, instead of a guesstimate. If still too large, then you could do a Fit-to-DVD, well, to make it fit rather precise.

[levdr]

Well, yes, obviously the colours mean that! But knowing that a certain amount of data is 'a bit over the limit' isn't really helpful. I would expect that information to be visible at the bottom of the window (like when you're burning directly from within Finder). And I have looked for the Fit-to-DVD option, but it seems only available for Video-TS files.

 

So, since I understand that the information ought to be at the bottom of the burn window, why isn't it in mine? Is this a bug in TT8 maybe? Or was this the case in previous versions and no longer in 8?

And -in DVD-video mode- if a selection of files is just a little too large for a dvd, how can one make it fit nevertheless? Anyone?

[tsantee]

Well, yes, obviously the colours mean that! But knowing that a certain amount of data is 'a bit over the limit' isn't really helpful. I would expect that information to be visible at the bottom of the window (like when you're burning directly from within Finder). And I have looked for the Fit-to-DVD option, but it seems only available for Video-TS files.

 

So, since I understand that the information ought to be at the bottom of the burn window, why isn't it in mine? Is this a bug in TT8 maybe? Or was this the case in previous versions and no longer in 8?

And -in DVD-video mode- if a selection of files is just a little too large for a dvd, how can one make it fit nevertheless? Anyone?

You mention AVIs so I'm presuming you're want to Toast to encode, author and burn a video DVD from those files. If so, the file size of your AVIs is irrelevant because they must be encoded to MPEG 2 which will be a different file size. What matters, then, is how long in time your videos are in total. Toast can fit about 3 hours of video to a DVD at the automatic setting.

 

theoldarchiver gave you a very good tip about choosing Save as Disc Image instead of clicking the burn button. The disc image is then burned to disc using the Image File setting in the Copy window. If the disc image is larger than the 4.38 GB that will fit a DVD then Toast's Fit-to-DVD feature will do additional compression before starting to burn the disc. The Fit-to-DVD works with disc images in the Copy window as well as with VIDEO_TS folders in the Video window.

[levdr]

I stand corrected and I apologise to theoldarchiver. It's just that I'm new to this and as such have looked in the wrong places and misunderstood directions. Your respons I actually understood ( ) and made me realise I had been wrong (and not to mention unjust) in my previous post. Anyway, I realize I need to know more about the movie formats and what they mean. So before I do anything I will do some homework first. Thank you.