Any DVD experts here

Doomer

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 1999
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I swear, every time I try to work with video files I run into stupid problems. :(

I have a 1.4 gig AVI file that I convert to DVD using WinAVI. The resulting group of files has one that is larger than 2 gig. Nero refuses to burn it because it doesn't meet the ISO standards.

Question is, why did WinAVI create the file if it can't be burnt on a DVD ? I can find no option to limit file size so I'm stumped.

Anybody know what's going on here ?

Thanks :)

PS: Also, the resulting files total 6.55 gig and span 3 DVD's. Since the source file is only 1.4 gig this don't seem right. But what do I know, LOL.
 

mundane

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2002
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If the original AVI file was under some kind of compression (Xvid, etc), you can expect the DVD-compatible encoding to be a bit larger. I've heard great things about using TMPGEnc to encode the video files; there's a free 30 day trial available.

www.videohelp.com should be able to point you to the right set of 'standard' tools.
 

Doomer

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 1999
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Thanks, dunno if it's compressed or not. I'll give tmpgenc a try and see what happens.
 

mundane

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2002
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If you're not adverse to trying trial software, give TMPGenc and DVDLab-pro a go. Both have a trial period limiter on how long they can be run, but they do a hell of a job at (re)authoring DVDs. They allow you to control all aspects of the DVD, from menus to audio streams etc, from a very intuitive interface. The only catch is the price - 99 for the latter, 30 for the former, IIRC; was too steep for my casual use.
 

cthulhu

Golden Member
Feb 19, 2000
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Tmpgenc is the way to go. Rip the audio with something like virtualdub and then use tmpgenc.
 

Doomer

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 1999
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To show how dumb I am, I'm still trying to figure out how and why the sound needs to be done separately. I burned a DVD that worked great except there was no sound. Shouldn't the sound be an integral part of the DVD ? Why process it separately ?

 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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Sound is processed separately usually because it's in a format most MPEG-1/2 encoders can't handle, like mp3.

TMPGEnc is a good program to use for video conversion. BeSweet works for audio. I'd post more, but I have to run. I'll give you a full explanation later.
 

AnitaPeterson

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Apr 24, 2001
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It will be probably out of your ballpark, but Canopus ProCoder does the nicest job of converting video files from one format to another I've seen so far... and the interface is so great and intuitive, you will be up and running in no time.

I've seen people praise DVD Santa for .avi to .MPEG2 conversion, but I've never used it...
 

Doomer

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 1999
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Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
It will be probably out of your ballpark, but Canopus ProCoder does the nicest job of converting video files from one format to another I've seen so far... and the interface is so great and intuitive, you will be up and running in no time.

I've seen people praise DVD Santa for .avi to .MPEG2 conversion, but I've never used it...


Thanks anita, I'll check it out but judging by the name, it's probably out of my price range too.

I do have TMPGEnc and installed it but have to reboot to try it out. Can't do that just yet cause the puter is busy. :D
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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The "overlength" of your movie files leads me to believe you have a "stall frame" at the end of them. This is incredibly common with DivX 5 encoded material. The solution is to specify a source range that goes from the first frame of the movie to the second-to-last frame of the movie. This will prevent your encoder from encoding 3+ hours of the last frame of the file.

Anyway, more asplaination:

BeSweet is an audio encoding program. It can pretty much convert from any format to any format, period. The only major problem with it is that the AC3 files it creates -- actually done by Azid.exe -- aren't compatible with some DVD players. But meh, that aside, it's a good program. You can find it at doom9.org. 192 kbps AC3 is the most common audio format found on DVDs, though there are compatibility issues as I mentioned. You may want to create 160 ~ 224 kbps mp2s instead. Or 160 kbps AC3s. Whatever, your call. Keep in mind the number of players affected by this is low.

TMPGEnc is good if you know what you're doing. Or have a good guide. I recommend using it because it lets you use the Constant Quality rate control setting, which optimizes how much space your converted movie takes up. On top of that, you can use the KDVD standard, which beats the pants off normal DVD and is compliant with all DVD players. The KDVD link should have a number of guides on how to use it with TMPGEnc. As I mentioned, CQ rate control is your friend. A CQ value of 80+ will produce a visibly flawless video stream. The only problem with TMPGEnc, however, is that MPEG-2 encoding isn't free. Since all but the lowest of resolutions on a DVD requires MPEG-2 video you might find this solution not to your liking.

The other option, as mentioned by austin316, is DIKO. DIKO is set up to use the KDVD standard from the start. The only problem I have with it is that it won't let you use BeSweet to make AC3s with it; you must either choose to use a $500 program for AC3s, or use mp2 audio. However, it's free, completely free, and works well.

As far as burning the files goes... that's where it can get tricky. The problem is that the files need to be 1 gig in size, max, so longer movies have to be split. If Nero won't do it for you in DVD-Video mode, you can accomplish this with bbMPEG by setting the max filesize to 1023 megs when you mux the video and audio together. You'll have to rename the files "VTS_01_1.VOB", "VTS_01_2.VOB", etc. Then Nero shouldn't complain at you anymore.

I need sleep, but PM me if you need help with anything else.