DeVeDe bitrate calculation for DVD iso is incorrect

[Uri Stamonov]

Binary package hint: devede

Ubuntu Studio 8.10 x86_64

Linux xxx 2.6.27-14-generic #1 SMP Fri Mar 13 19:54:51 UTC 2009 x86_64
GNU/Linux

gregor@mymachine:~$ apt-cache policy devede
devede:
  Installed: 3.11-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 3.11-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 3.11-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/multiverse Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Expected:

When creating a Video DVD and clicking "adjust disk usage" the video and audio rates are adjusted up to the maximum possible to create a 4.7GB DVD image

Actual Result

When creating a Video DVD and clicking "adjust disk usage", the video and audio rates are reduced and an image smaller than 4.7GB is created, usually around 2GB

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open DeVeDe
2. Select "Video DVD", click ok
3. Add Files / Titles at maximum video and audio rates
4. Click "adjust disk usage"
5. Click "forward" and create the image

I suspect that the mechanism which works out the size of the resulting image is broken, as it is also possible to add titles and files way in excess of the size reported in DeVeDe, and the actual iso file created is still smaller than 4.7GB.

For example: 4x30 min avi clips at max bitrates show an "estimated length" of 3486 MB, and the output is reported in the Disc Usage bar as 130% of a 4.7 GB DVD. Both these figures are way too high.

Hope this info helps

Uri

[Jason Straight (jason-jeetkunedomaster)]

Same here

[nandhp (nandhp)]

I can also confirm this problem.

[Andrew (keen101)]

I can also confirm this error/bug. I have created a couple discs that are almost 100% according to the disc usage bar, but in reality after making the disc it's usually around 2GB. Other times I have made a disc that is around 60% according to the disc usage bar, but these also come out ~2GB also. Not sure where the bug is, but i think the usage bar only partially works. Perhaps when it is selected as 4.7GB DVD it is actually reporting the usage of 2.7GB disc??

[ZelinskiyIS (ivze)]

The bug is confirmed! When using an "Optimise size" option, Devede produces a 2.4 Gib .iso file, while
something about 4.7 Gib is expected.

[David (phoned-gmail)]

Also an issue in 3.12c-0ubuntu1 (from Jaunty)

[Alessio Treglia (quadrispro)]

Can you confirm this bug with the latest release available for Karmic?

[Uri Stamonov (greg-moxham)]

Hi

I'm running 3.13.1 from the devede site, and the problem is still there.

Creating a disc and "adjusting disk usage" creates an iso about 1.7-2.5GB, and not in the best quality.

[Alessio Treglia (quadrispro)]

Are you sure that this bug is still reproducible on Karmic?

In Karmic the current available version is 3.14.0-0ubuntu1

[David (phoned-gmail)]

It *seems* to be adjusting the bitrate in the Karmic version properly, but due to other issues I have yet to confirm it by doing a full encode.

[Uri Stamonov (greg-moxham)]

Hey David

I was wondering, where can I get the Karmic version? I'm happy to run some
tests myself, but am not familiar with using dev repositories, etc...

Greg

2009/8/8 David <email address hidden>

> It *seems* to be adjusting the bitrate in the Karmic version properly,
> but due to other issues I have yet to confirm it by doing a full encode.
>
> --
> DeVeDe bitrate calculation for DVD iso is incorrect
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/349011
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “devede” package in Ubuntu: Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: devede
>
> Ubuntu Studio 8.10 x86_64
>
> Linux xxx 2.6.27-14-generic #1 SMP Fri Mar 13 19:54:51 UTC 2009 x86_64
> GNU/Linux
>
> gregor@mymachine:~$ apt-cache policy devede
> devede:
> Installed: 3.11-0ubuntu1
> Candidate: 3.11-0ubuntu1
> Version table:
> *** 3.11-0ubuntu1 0
> 500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/multiverse Packages
> 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
>
> Expected:
>
> When creating a Video DVD and clicking "adjust disk usage" the video and
> audio rates are adjusted up to the maximum possible to create a 4.7GB DVD
> image
>
> Actual Result
>
> When creating a Video DVD and clicking "adjust disk usage", the video and
> audio rates are reduced and an image smaller than 4.7GB is created, usually
> around 2GB
>
> Steps to reproduce:
>
> 1. Open DeVeDe
> 2. Select "Video DVD", click ok
> 3. Add Files / Titles at maximum video and audio rates
> 4. Click "adjust disk usage"
> 5. Click "forward" and create the image
>
> I suspect that the mechanism which works out the size of the resulting
> image is broken, as it is also possible to add titles and files way in
> excess of the size reported in DeVeDe, and the actual iso file created is
> still smaller than 4.7GB.
>
> For example: 4x30 min avi clips at max bitrates show an "estimated length"
> of 3486 MB, and the output is reported in the Disc Usage bar as 130% of a
> 4.7 GB DVD. Both these figures are way too high.
>
> Hope this info helps
>
> Uri
>

[slow (no1wantdthisname)]

Still getting this in Karmic. 3.14.0-0ubuntu5.

[Sergio Costas (rastersoft-gmail)]

Hi all:

I'm the creator of DeVeDe. I'll copy the question and answer 8 from the FAQ:

"#8 I adjust the bitrate to use the 100%, but the final size is smaller.

Unfortunately is impossible to accurately predict the disk's final size, because you specify a bitrate, but Mencoder can decide to use an smaller value in certain parts if it can compress it more without quality loss (like in very static scenes). That means that the final size can be smaller than the estimation made by DeVeDe, but never bigger."

Currently, DeVeDe estimates the final size with the formula:

        FinalSize = (Video_bitrate + Audio_bitrate) * lenght_in_seconds

Unfortunately, Mencoder sometimes uses less bitrate than the specified. I suspect that this happens mainly in already compressed sources (like ones in DivX or Xvid), because mencoder can keep the final quality without loosing more quality.

I asked Mencoder creators for another way of stimating the final size, but they answered that there is no alternative: the current method is the only one. You can't predict where Mencoder will be able to use less bits per second without already compressing the videos.

Sorry.

[Alessio Treglia (quadrispro)]

Setting as '"Won't fix"

[Gerry King (gerryking)]

I understand the reason for not fixing this. Personally just ignore the adjust disk usage button and guesstimate how many episodes of whatever will fit.
If 2 episodes of a hi-def WW2 blockbuster results in a 3.1GB ISO then 3 episodes (161%) might just about fit 4.7gb but do you know what, life's to short.
IME a 13 part series of standard res 'hour' long shows fits on to 4 DVDs. I only have images of one series to hand: the 3 episode images were 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5 Gb; the 4 episode image was only 3.7Gb.

[Peter Lemieux (seijisensei)]

I don't know if the developer will see this. The "official" Devede forum site at Google Groups just has a bunch of spam, so I don't know where else to post.

I had this problem with x264-encoded files as well. Devede told me the resulting ISO would nearly fill a DVD, but in fact it only was 1.5 GB in size.

I'm wondering whether it might be possible to use mencoder to determine the bitrate of each source file and use that to calculate the expected size of the output file.

Unfortunately, some containers don't include the bitrates; mplayer routinely reports these files as having a bit rate of zero. However,; they can be determined using mencoder like this:

mencoder file.mkv -ovc copy -nosound -o /dev/null -endpos 120

This command "plays" the first 120 seconds of the file into /dev/null then writes a summary like this:

Video stream: 1875.306 kbit/s (234413 B/s) size: 28139352 bytes 120.042 secs 2881 frames

Could this approach improve the size estimation process?

[anykey (freeride-pawel)]

I had almost the same problem with my devede on any distributives. After using Adjust disc usage the size bar showed 99%. After finishing encoding DVD i had a size ~3.6-3.8 Gb. Then i started to edit manually video bitrate to have 112-113%. But then i edited file:
sudo gedit /usr/lib/devede/devede_other.py

there you should edit this block to get the size you want:
if 0==active:
tamano=170.0
elif 1==active:
tamano=700.0
elif 2==active:
tamano=750.0
elif 3==active:
tamano=1100.0
elif 4==active:
tamano=4200.0 <<===== (i have 4600)
else:
tamano=8000.0
after that compile this file:
sudo python -m compileall /usr/lib/devede/devede_other.py

And after using Adjust disc usage button you will have full size dvd 4.2-4.4 gb. Have fun!

[Anthony LoRe (someitalian123)]

I tried it, I didn't covert the whole video, instead I only converted 10 percent and then looked at the file size, it was about 200 Mb, if you multiply that by ten to estimate your final file size it's about 2 Gb, meaning the bitrate is still too low. I could try waiting for it to finish but I'm pretty sure it will be a wast of time.