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How to convert AVI to DVD files?

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Hello there!

I d/l a film last night which took about 24hrs. What a film!!..What a copy of a film

It's in AVI, so how do I go about converting it, so I can watch it on my DVD player.

I d/l WinAVI video converter, but don't really want to pay $29.99 for it unless I have to.

Is this a good program, and does it work? Also is it a piece of piss to use??

Cheers!

http://www.facebook.com/DirtyWookie

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Check out www.videohelp.com. They have tips for lots of programs, some of which are free.
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I find WinAVI to be a pretty efficient tool to use. It doesn't have as many options as some other programs do and sometimes the files come out much smaller or larger than what you intended. But it's a very easy to use tool and I'd still recommend it.
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The easiest way (not necessarily the highest quality way) is to drop the AVI into Nero Vision Express. Nero is not free however. A higher quality but more time consuming and complicated method of doing it is to use VirtualDub[Mod] (free) to demux the AVI to an AVI video stream and a WAV audio stream; TMPGenc (free) to re-encode the AVI to a DVD compliant MPEG-2 video stream and (optionally) BeSweet (free) to turn the audio into AC3 if you want to save space over the WAV/LPCM (some AVI's already have an AC3 stream). Then you can use a DVD authoring program such as Muxman (free) or DVD Author [GUI] (free) to make the DVD, i.e. the VOB's and IFO's contained in a VIDEO_TS folder. Then you burn with your choice of DVD burning software, which can also be done for free; for example, use DVD-Shrink (free) to make an ISO of your DVD files and DVD Decrypter (free) to burn the ISO (that is my preferred method of burning all DVD files, even though I have Nero).
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Videohelp.com has a tool under their download section called AVI2DVD. Does video, sound and subs. You'll want to look up their guide for it since you will still need a separate MPG encoder.

Dr. M

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Why do I need an mpeg encoder?

Sorry, but I've not done this sort of thing before!!


When I converted the AVI to DVD files, it made an mpeg too.

My DVD player also plays mpegs...so I'm a little confused.
Haven't tried playing the film on the dvd player yet though, so it probably won't work.

Nothing is ever simple!!

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Why do I need an mpeg encoder?

When I converted the AVI to DVD files, it made an mpeg too.
What did you use to convert the AVI to "DVD files"? You need an MPEG encoder if you use "AVI2DVD" as mentioned by Doctor M, because that program does not have its own, apparently (judging from what Doctor M said; I have never used it before).
My DVD player also plays mpegs...so I'm a little confused.
Haven't tried playing the film on the dvd player yet though, so it probably won't work.

If you have an MPEG now, all you need to do is author the DVD in order to burn a DVD that will play in a regular DVD player. The only way a simple MPG file burned to a DVD in regular "data disc" mode will play in a DVD player is if it is a special one with a built in file browser, usually advertised as being able to play DivX files. All ordinary DVD players can play MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files, but the discs have to be in a specific format. This is what the DVD authoring software is for; to take the MPEG-1/2 file and wrap it in a VOB container and create the IFO files all within a VIDEO_TS folder; the IFO files being the instructions that the DVD player reads so it knows what to do with itself.

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Ok I'm aa little lost here..

This is what I've done

D/L the torrent

The file was an AVI

I d/l win converter

I converted the AVI to a DVD file....it also created an mpeg file...i think.

So all I was gonna do was burn the mpg onto a DVD disc, and hoped it would play in my DVD player!!

But this won't work??..

If not, what programs would I need??..

Please be a simple as poss, coz you guys are confusing me big time here

Oh and I've looked on the vidoehelp website, and that's just as confusing

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If you want to play the film on your DVD player, don't download the AVI version.

There, can't get much simpler than that.

(Although these days it's not that simple, because there are players around which are MPEG-4 compatible and will happily play AVIs.)

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I've used this program forever, but I never see anybody else mention it. It's free, for now, so grab it quick. All you do is choose the avi or divx file, tell it the output location, and in about an hour you have a VIDEO_TS folder ready for burning without any visible quality drop that I have ever noticed. I have a 52" DLP HD and I have no complaints on the quality whatsoever.

Once you have your VIDEO_TS foled, burn it to dvd, and add any DVD-ROM content you'd like.

Here's the link:

Direct Download

Detailed program Info
"I don't know where we're goin, but we're makin good time!"
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Originally posted by: eliasbboy
I've used this program forever, but I never see anybody else mention it. It's free, for now, so grab it quick. All you do is choose the avi or divx file, tell it the output location, and in about an hour you have a VIDEO_TS folder ready for burning without any visible quality drop that I have ever noticed. I have a 52" DLP HD and I have no complaints on the quality whatsoever.

Once you have your VIDEO_TS foled, burn it to dvd, and add any DVD-ROM content you'd like.

Here's the link:

Direct Download

Detailed program Info

I have never heard of that program before so I tried it out, as I am always game for basic freeware that can do stuff that normally costs money. A lot of the time, the freeware becomes my preferred software for certain applications, even if expensive stuff is available (IrfanView, Media Player Classic, and VirtualDub come to mind).

I've done a few short tests with this DivxToDVD program and I am very impressed. I cut out a 1 minute clip from a good quality PAL 700MBx2 2.38:1 (608x256) XviD AVI with AC3 audio to try it out. I left the settings at default (automatic) and the results were amazing, as good as can be done manually with demuxing + MPEG encoder + DVD authoring software. The results were better IMO, than with that other one-click-wonder that isn't free, namely NeroVision Express 3.

By default it kept the 5.1 448 kbps AC3 stream intact without touching it (a nice touch that NeroVision Express refuses to do; only offering the option of 2 channel 192 kbps AC3 encoding, and only if you start with something other than AC3, such as MP3 or WAV), kept the PAL frame rate and gave it an overall PAL aspect ratio, and made it anamorphic (16:9) and had excellent picture quality. I specifically wanted to test it with a PAL AVI so I could try its "force NTSC" function. This worked perfectly as well. The audio remained in sync and the picture quality was great with a smooth frame rate. I also tried the "force 4:3" function which also worked perfectly, giving me a 4:3 letterboxed DVD.

On top of that, when you open a file in this program, it automatically gives you a lot of detailed information about the file, along the lines of GSpot or VirtualDub's "file information" function.

Here are some [lossy JPEG] screenshots:

Original AVI:

http://maxim.skyphix.com/avi.jpg

Anamorphic DVD conversion at default settings:

http://maxim.skyphix.com/anamorphic.jpg

Resized to 16:9 (1.78:1) as viewed in a DVD player:

http://maxim.skyphix.com/anamorphic_resized.jpg

I haven't done a full test on a full length movie but so far, I like this program a lot. Thanks for the link.

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Excellent, nice work. Kinda blows my puny little description out of the proverbial water! lol

I'm glad it works. According to the site, they will be having a "pay" version with more options, but I highly suggest getting the free version, if for nothing else than to try it, or have it as an option. I also like the opportunity to easily convert PAL to NTSC, as my father's DVD player tends to get picky with PAL transfers, and I hate getting that phone call from him.
"I don't know where we're goin, but we're makin good time!"
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That program seems to work like a dream! I'll snag it and give it a try.
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So using this program, I should be able to take my AVI and transfer it easily for a DVD player??

I hope so, coz all this techno babble is giving me a big bloody headache!

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The audio remained in sync


How did it do that? Did the audio sound lower on the NTSC one (in which case I'd be surprised if it was still AC3), or does it cut out some frames to keep it in sync?

DE
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No sound? On your computer or stand alone DVD player? If the audio on the DVD is recorded in PCM, and your player is set to play audio out through "Bitstream", you wont get any audio. All you have to do in that case is go to settings on your player, find audio out, and choose "Bitstream". This is only relevant if you are using digital audio on your player, though.

My apologies for the problem, but I have only had the PCM issue myself. hopefully we can figure this out for you without too much hassle.
"I don't know where we're goin, but we're makin good time!"
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lol. No problem. I'm hard at work myself checking these forums...

"I don't know where we're goin, but we're makin good time!"
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Id I want to add a nice menu to my movie, is there any wasy to use DVD menu program you can recommend?
And how do I add the menu to the DVD?
Close the blast doors!.....
Open the blast doors, open the blast doors!
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Well for some reason there is no sound when playing on my player!
The picture is ok, just missing that vital thing!

One thing I did notice.
On my pc at home it converted the files to MPEG...At work I converted the same file and it turned into a VOB file.
Do you think this has anything to do with it??

I sound like an absolute noob...that's coz I am at this sort of shit.

I just want the best version of this film.

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Ulead DVD Factory is pretty easy. I just started playing around with that myself. You can import an existing DVD folder (VIDEO_TS) from your HD, and add a menu if one doesn't exist. I'm not 100% sure about editing an existing one, because I haven't looked into that myself. I'll check it out more later. also, Pinnacle has some pretty easy to use software as well.
"I don't know where we're goin, but we're makin good time!"
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I new somebody once that downloaded a REALLY good copy of a REALLY good film <<<cough....cough...>> and "he" simply did this to enjoy it on my, I mean HIS player.

Opened dixvtodvd, selected the .avi file.

Choose "Force 16:9" and "Force NTSC" (obviously choose Pal if needed)

Clicked convert.

This left a VIDEO_TS folder.

At this point, I use DVDSkrink to burn it. I use Shrink because it's free, and it allows you to see a preview of what is being converted, so you can check the aspect ratio. Also, unlike just burning the VIDEO_TS folder to a dvd, dvd shrink will alert you if there is a problem in the folder or video files.
"I don't know where we're goin, but we're makin good time!"