What am I doing wrong? AVI to DVD with srt subtitles.

[du2vye]

I have an .avi file (695MB) that I wanted to add subtitles .srt (80KB) and burn to DVD.
I really don't care if subtitles are selectable or hard encoded. I usually use Popcorn but it doesn't do subtitles.

1. Added .avi
2. Set to DVD ffmpeg
3. Added .srt under filters
4. Checked preview (under filters tab) looked good
5. Encode
6. Finished

What I ended up with was;

A. TDBATB.avi.ff.mpg - size 2.98GB
B. TDBATB. avi.ff.mpg.s.mpg - size 663.3MB
C. TDBATB.avi.ff.mpg.xml - size 4KB (I assume this is the log)

I ran out of disc space because the files were so large - but I couldn't have burned them to DVD anyway.
So what did I do wrong?

(I edited the log because it was so big)

Encoding started on Sat Oct 17 19:05:46 MST 2009
FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
Input #0, avi, from '/Volumes/OWC Mercury Elite/0 Seen/TDBATB.avi':
Duration: 01:47:14.8, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 906 kb/s
Stream #0.0, 25.00 fps(r): Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 640x336
Stream #0.1: Audio: mp3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 112 kb/s
Output #0, dvd, to '/Volumes/OWC Mercury Elite/0 Seen/TDBATB.avi.ff.mpg':
Stream #0.0, 25.00 fps(c): Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 720x576, q=2-20, pass 1, 4000 kb/s
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5:1, 448 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Stream #0.1 -> #0.1
video:2688598kB audio:351874kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 2.603145%
bench: utime=7637.469s
FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
Input #0, avi, from '/Volumes/OWC Mercury Elite/0 Seen/DBATB.avi':
Duration: 01:47:14.8, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 906 kb/s
Stream #0.0, 25.00 fps(r): Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 640x336
Stream #0.1: Audio: mp3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 112 kb/s
Output #0, dvd, to '/Volumes/OWC Mercury Elite/0 Seen/TDBATB.avi.ff.mpg':
Stream #0.0, 25.00 fps(c): Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 720x576, q=2-20, pass 2, 4000 kb/s
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5:1, 448 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Stream #0.1 -> #0.1
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[dvd @ 0x4701fc]buffer underflow
[mpeg2video @ 0x45a630]rc buffer underflow

(edited)

video:2694681kB audio:351874kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 2.600200%
bench: utime=7612.918s
INFO: Locale=C
INFO: Converting filenames to US-ASCII
INFO: Detected subtitle file format: subviewer
INFO: Opened iconv descriptor. *UTF-8* *ISO-8859-1*
INFO: Read 1052 subtitles
INFO: Adjusted 65 subtitle(s).
INFO: Unicode font: 242 glyphs.
STAT: 0:00:29.940
STAT: 0:02:15.120
STAT: 0:02:18.480
STAT: 0:02:20.560
STAT: 0:02:25.200
STAT: 0:02:28.920
STAT: 0:02:33.080
STAT: 0:02:38.280
STAT: 0:02:43.240
STAT: 0:02:45.920
STAT: 0:02:51.000
STAT: 0:02:53.560
STAT: 0:03:03.880
STAT: 0:03:06.920
STAT: 0:03:12.000
STAT: 0:03:17.240
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ERR: Write error No space left on device

[Case]

What ffmpegX does when converting an AVI to DVD:
1. Convert video to MPEG-2 at Standard Definition frame size. For most AVIs, this means upscaling. Also, XviD video is much more compressed than DVD (about 4x: ~1000 kbps vs. ~4000 kbps).
2. Convert the audio to AC3 (aka Dolby Digital). Again the converted material will be bigger than the original.
3. Mux these two streams to one .mpg file (and delete the intermediate files, if configured that way).
4. Convert the .srt file to DVD-compatible subtitle stream (in MPEG-2 format). The converted material will be much bigger than the original, as subtitles will now be pictures instead of text.
5. Create an XML file with instructions for authoring (making the DVD structure).
6. Author a DVD folder, according to the XML file. This output will be about as large as the parts combined (little overhead).

You'll need lots of free disk space. At least 8 GB for the files alone, and then some which apps and the system use temporarily. Better be safe and have 3 DVDs worth of free disk space (3 x 4.4 = 13.2 GB). For file fragmentation reasons and a generally happy System, experts claim that it is good to keep at least 10% of your boot disk free!

[Case]

For best results, it is good to know the framerate of your source file, and the desired framerate of the target format. ffmpegX defaults to keeping these two the same, which may or may not suit your needs. Many North American DVD players will not play PAL DVD discs, and some that do play PAL discs, will send a PAL signal to the tv, and the tv likely will only work with NTSC signals. However, some DVD players will convert the signal on the fly.

- Is your source AVI 25 fps (PAL), 23.976 fps (NTSC Film) or 29.97 fps (NTSC)?
- Do you want/need an NTSC DVD disc?

The answers would determine what settings to use in ffmpegX for DVD conversions.

[du2vye]

(update)

The source is 30 fps, 640x336, MPEG layer 3 and I need NTSC for a stand alone dvd player to watch on a small std definition tv (old).

Thx again for your help.

[Nelson37]

You ran out of disk space. You got as far as converting the AVI to DVD-ready mpg, then the mux process began and ran out of space before ready-to-author VOB files were created. You need more disk space if you want the process to complete successfully.

[Case]

The source is 30 fps, 640x336, MPEG layer 3 and I need NTSC for a stand alone dvd player.

Load the source file. Set the target preset. In the Video tab, make sure the framerate is set to "NTSC (29.97)". Set the Autosize to "DVD 16:9" to create an anamorphic widescreen DVD. (Screengrab) In the audio tab, you may optionally set Channels to "Stereo" and lower the bitrate (from 448 to 224), as the source file is stereo and won't need the full 448 kbps and can't fill the 6 discrete channels. In the Filters tab, load the .srt file. Encode.

[Baldrick]

I changed the topic subject so it better describes your topic.

[du2vye]

Wow. Thx. This has been a really helpful thread. I never knew what the software had to do before. That's good to know about the audio. But now I have a few of more questions;

Is there a reason for changing to a widescreen when I have an old std tv? Or is that just matching the original file (fine too)?

Why is it that programs like Popcorn can burn movies without taking up more than 4.5 GB, but ffmpegX needs to take up so much more space? Is that due to adding subtitles alone (txt to image)?

All I want to do is watch a movies on tv from the couch - not so simple, I guess.

[Case]

Is there a reason for changing to a widescreen when I have an old std tv? Or is that just matching the original file (fine too)?

1. Standard definition can be either 4:3 or 16:9. There were widescreen tvs before HDTV.
2. An anamorphic widescreen DVD can be played on either 4:3 or 16:9, but has more picture information to use on 16:9, and will look sharper there (contains 33% more resolution).
3. An anamorphic widescreen DVD has more picture information to use on computer monitors, and will look sharper.
You simply get more/better playback options with widescreen, with the same amount of effort, if the source file is wider than 4:3. If you only watch it on a 4:3 tv, then the difference won't be apparent.

Why is it that programs like Popcorn can burn movies without taking up more than 4.5 GB?

Not sure, but I think it it does some steps in one go that ffmpegX does in two steps, and perhaps it does authoring in memory/on the fly.

All I want to do is watch a movies on tv from the couch - not so simple, I guess.

Consider a player that supports (DivX/XviD) AVIs. No encoding needed at all.