Make AVI file fit onto 1 DVD. (Please dont get pissed off)

[Racer300zx]

I have been searching this website as many other websites on how I can burn AVI files to DVDR. I know there are a lot of guides out there but here is the problem:

I want to burn a 1 hour 55 minute independent film that a friend made so that it can play on my standalone dvd player. I used Roxio EZ CD Creator 6 because it has a DVD builder software built in. When I try to create a DVD, it says that the movie will not fit because it is too big.

I want to know if there is any software that I can use to make it so that this 2 hour movie fit onto a single DVDR and is able to play in my standalone.

When I use Roxio 6, its takes a damn long time to encode. Is there any other software that I can just that I just drag and drop and burn to DVD without making any menus and it is faster than Roxio 6.

Any help answering my question would greatly be apprecaited. Sorry if I pissed off any of you because my question is so elementary.

-Denny

[deckard8]

Just download TMPGenc and use the project wizard to create a DVD Compliant mpeg2 file. (You have 30 days trial for mpeg2 with the free version.)

[daamon]

Hi Racer300zx,

1. You need to get your AVI to DVD compliant MPEG2.

As deckard8 mentioned, you can use TMPGEnc to do the encode. If you use that tool, this guide:

https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=303#303

...is pretty comprehensive. Don't forget to rate it after you've used it.

You'll also need to use the DVDRHelp Bitrate Calculator to identify what bitrate to use for 1h 55m of footage. When encoding (because of the length of the footage), I'd recommend 2 Pass VBR - in which case the bitrate you get will be the to use as the average. (Min = 2,000, Max = 8,500).

Other tools for encoding? Well, there's:

Canopus Procoder
Mainconcept MPEG Encoder
Cinema Craft Encoder

I use TMPGEnc, and haven't used the others so can't comment on comparisons.

2. To help have a higher bitrate on the video (hence, better quality) you'll need to use compressed audio as opposed to PCM (WAV). AC3 is universally OK (i.e. both NTSC and PAL lands). MP2 is OK for PAL, and probably OK in NTSC (though not part of the formal DVD spec for NTSC).

Load your AVI in ffmpeggui and extract the audio to AC3 or MP2 (your choice) @ 48KHz and 192 - 256 kbps. This latter number will need to be plugged in to the bitrate calculator in the audio bit.

3. You'll now have a video only file video.m2v and an audio only file audio.ac3/mp2.

You'll now need to create the VOBs, IFOs and BUP files from the 2 files - this is known as authoring. The software you have may be able to do it.

Alternatively, there are many other authoring tools. ifoedit might be one to look into (I don't know it myself) as I suspect it can take your 2 files and create the outputs you need without bothering with menus etc.

4. You'll then need to burn the VOBs, IFOs and BUPs (having put them into a VIDEO_TS folder - MUST be in caps) to DVD. I'd recommend burning an empty AUDIO_TS folder too, as some players look for this when identifying a DVD disc.

It all sounds hairy, but it's OK once you get your head around it. Feel free to come back with any questions having tried things out.

Hope that helps. Good luck...

[ZippyP.]

When I use Roxio 6, its takes a damn long time to encode.

That's pretty relative, and since you didn't fill in your PC specs we can't say if that could be your problem.

Tips: Conversion is very CPU intensive, some encoders are faster than others. 2-pass VBR will take twice as long, roxio is shite, use nero for burning only, the guides have all the instructions you need.

[RabidDog]

If you goona use the trial version of tmpgenc then you might as well use the trial(?) of tmpg dvd author. It is quite easy to use and should accept output from tmpgenc program.

[Racer300zx]

Thank you all of you very much for your help. Some people ask about my specs of my computer:

soyo dragon ultra pt kt333 motherboard
xp 2400+ athlon cpu
1gb memory
80gb 8mb cache hard drive
geforce mx400 video card.
Liteon 811S DVDRW
Pioneer 106s Slot DVD drive

When I use the DVD tool for roxio 6, it takes about 3 hours to complete a 2 hour movie. Is this right or do i have some problems?

[8trackkid]

Hey Racer,

Its called DVDShrink!

Don't forget that the final MPEGII probably will not fit on 1 DVD-R (unless its converted to 1/2 MPEG II (352x240). So after you convert from AVI to MPEG (use TMPGEnc), then author with TMPGEnc DVD Author (my personal choice), then shrink that badboy with DVDShrink!!! Gives perfect results everytime.

I have the Roxio 6 Video Editor Movie Maker whatever its called and it sucks bigtime. Only has like three quality options available, POS in my opinion plus terrible AVI to MPEG converter. Use TMPGEnc to author it and save yourself the headache.

I only use Roxio to burn because it was free after MIR.

[presto]

There is no need to use DVD Shrink if you get the right settings when making the mpg. DVD shrink is a good fall back plan if you goof and your mpg is a little too big.

If you goona use the trial version of tmpgenc then you might as well use the trial(?) of tmpg dvd author.

For that matter why not use the trial version of Tmpgenc DVD Source creator. It does all the calculation for you.

[solarfox]

Don't forget that the final MPEGII probably will not fit on 1 DVD-R (unless its converted to 1/2 MPEG II (352x240).

Wanna bet? I put 1.5 - 2 hours worth of 720x480 MPEG-2 onto single DVD-R's all the time. It's not the frame size, it's the bit rate that counts. (Granted, a smaller frame size can let you get away with a lower bit rate for the same perceived image quality, but that depends greatly on your source material.)

Racer -- Depending on what codec was used to make your original AVI files, yes, it can take that long to convert to DVD-compliant MPEG-2 even on a system as fast as that. My Athlon XP2000+ system can convert a DV-type-1 capture to DVD at a rate of about 2 hours for a 90-minute video (*), but feed it a DivX-5 file and it takes considerably longer.

(* results achieved using ULead Media Studio Pro's internal codec, and usually applying a "crop" filter to block out VHS head-switching noise)

Unfortunately, no, you can't really just "drag & drop & burn", because a "compliant" DVD (i.e. one that can be played in any generic set-top player) can only contain video in one format, and that's MPEG-2. If your source isn't DVD-compliant MPEG-2, then you have to transcode it from whatever codec it's in to MPEG-2, and there's just nothing you can do about that. The best you can do is try out some of the other suggested tools, most of which are considerably less incompetent at the task than Roxio.

[Supreme2k]

Any help answering my question would greatly be apprecaited. Sorry if I pissed off any of you because my question is so elementary.

-Denny

It might help if you read the guides and/or link to the guides you have read so that we can coach you where you need help. You obviously didn't take any time to really study the matter, since you expect people to be pissed.

If you haven't read any guides, I would start here.

[CaseyComb]

Hey Uhhh...8trackKid the guy said it was 1 hour and 55 minutes why the hell would he need to use that resolution?

[8trackkid]

Umm, you're right CaseyComb

I just shot him off an answer without thinking about what he was doing.
I figured that if it didn't fit, he could just use DVDShrink to fix it, but your right that its better to do something right the first time.

Especially if you use TMPGEnc, you can adjust bitrate easily. Roxio makes it near impossible, with only 3 settings offered I believe. Good, better & best, whatever those mean.

Hope this clears it up...

[presto]

8trackkid and caseycomb,

Didn't either of you guys notice that I made that same observation 3 or 4 posts ago?