Convert avi (encoded divX) movies to DVD?

[MyDingo21]

ok well i'm looking for the best program in which i can convert avi( encoded divX) movies to DVD(iso or vob) and make menu's and pack several movies onto one dvd and make perfect menus to select which movie to play. i need this for a huge school project ,i'm willing to pay no more than 60 dollars. i've heard of programs like ALL2DVD,AVI2DVD,VirtualDUBMOD, dvdsanta and ConvertXtoDVD,but i don't know if they make perfect customizable menus and good converting . any thoughts. i need an A on this project HELP!!!!

[redwudz]

Making customizable menus will cost more than $60US or take more than a few days to learn. Of the programs you mentioned, ConvertXToDVD would be the only one I would try.

To do customizable menus such as a commercial DVD uses takes a lot of work and a good authoring program. DVD-Lab Pro can do it, along with Photoshop, but for many $$$. Or if you have the time to learn, there are freeware authoring programs like GUI for DVDauthor or DVDAuthorgui. But you will still need a graphics program to create the layouts. But read a few guides. Look to the left for 'AUTHOR'.

And MyDingo21, please use a more descriptive title in your posts. 'Advice please' is not descriptive of the subject and makes future searching for your subject impossible. I will change it for you this time.

And welcome to our forums.

Moderator redwudz

[guns1inger]

DVD Santa : Crap
Virtualdub does not convert to mpeg-2
ConvertXtoDVD is reliable and fast, but has simple text based menus. You can change the background image and font.

No one-click-wonder solution will give the flexibility you get from a real authoring tool. If you want truly customisable menus, you need an authoring tool as well.

Quality comes down to how you encode, and how much you put on a disc.

You can produce much higher quality using completely free tools if you want.

[MyDingo21]

well by menus i mean simple titles not those pro titles that you see on dvd's today. lol. i'm looking for a program that's very user friendly and can make simple menu's(background,font,scenes,etc.)
take more programs into consideration than the ones i mentioned please. i also want to be able to put serveral movies on one dvd disc and have a menu pop up with the option of which movie to play.

[guns1inger]

ConvertXtoDVD will add chapters at regular intervals, but does not produce a scene selection menu. Other than that it does everything you need.

[offline]

Redwudz and guns1inger are right. ConvertXtoDVD will do most of what you asked for:

- multiple AVI converted to one DVD
- simple single page menu with font and background options
- easy to use
- under $60

Maybe grab a couple of short AVI's and test it for yourself? For a simple solution, it works very well indeed.

[theewizard]

I like convertX , i have it and use it a lot

but I also use ulead 'movie factory 5' . it will edit the mpeg video, add menus and titles, chapter the videos at any interval you set, will do transisitions, even use a clip for a lead into the menu, a full disc will take an overnight run about 6 hrs to author but thats the last step before burning, but you and check anything you want before you do the final authoring, the price is in your price range and you can try it for free for 30 days . it's not as fast a convertX or some of the others, and its NOT a 1 click solution, it's an editing & authoring suite, so it bigger and bulkier and slower, but it will do everything you want in program/pkg

you say movies, and school project, so i will assume you are not trying to put more than 3-4 hrs on the DVD ... 2 hrs would be best. I assume these are multiple short segments that are also part of the school project

everybody in the class participated in the filming, and now each person or group has to create a finished product, I would guess that this is a film class or some other 'creative class' NOT a technical class

convetX will let you select (1) photo for the background of the menu and chance the font , size, color of each menu line ( one line for each movie )

movie factory will do much more, but it takes more effort and more time to get the results

IF you have more than just a couple days, try movie factory, it will let you be more creative.

especially if this is an 'editing class'

[src2206]

AVI2DVD can make good quality menus, which can further be improved if you use GIMP [another free tool] along with it.

It also gives you a very good conversion result if you use HCEnc which comes bundled with it.

Amongst all the above i would surely go for AVI2DVD+HCEnc combo for a free, one click, with menu [scene selection] AVI to DVD converting tool.

There are some great guides available too.

[Artur6802]

Regarding your question I've been using a Virtualdub (with resize filter) and frameserving to Cinema Craft Encoder. Video is encoded without sound, with Constant bitrate or Variable bitrate- with at least 2 passes.
Audio is converted from mp3 file to mp2 or is extracted from avi file in case of ac3 sound.
The encoded video is pull - downed if necessary. All assets are prepared for dvd authoring in DVD Maestro. Bitmaps for menuare usually preapared in Adobe Photoshop.
I've done several movies that way, including recently downloaded series Prison Break Season 2 in HR AC3 format. The results are very good.

[MyDingo21]

i guess i'll go with convertxtoDVD thnnx everyone. i tried it out and i love it.

[redwudz]

ConvertX is a good tool to start with. When you have a little more time for study, look into the other options posted here. If you have good quality source videos, you may get better quality DVDs doing them the 'hard' way. If nothing else, you will certainly learn more about the processes involved. And good luck with your project.

[src2206]

Happy converting