convert and author

[natty]

can anyone here recomend a good fast .mpg or .avi to vob converter and whats best program to put menus on dvd`s

[daamon]

Hi natty,

For MPG to VOB, the MPGs have to be DVD compliant. If not, you'll need to re-encode them to DVD compliant MPG2s. See "What Is... DVD" (top left of the page) for specs.

For AVI to VOB, the AVIs need to be encoded to DVD compliant MPG2 then authored. There are seperate tools for encoding and authoring, or all-in-one tools that do both.

There is no "best" - it all depends on what your needs and level of experience are. A Ferrari is a better car than a Mini, but not if you've just passed your test, your 70 years old and just want to drive to the shops and back. Same with video tools.

So, in short, figure out your needs and level of experience, and check out tools (link to the left, under "Lists") in these sections:

Video Encoders (MPG/DVD)
All-In-One DVD Converters
Authoring (DVD)

Then, when you've done some research, search in the forums for people's opinions and, finally, come back with more specific questions.

For me:

Encoding: TMPGEnc Plus
All-in-one: Don't use 'em, don't like 'em. Not as much control and quality can suffer but more knowledge is needed for seperate tools.
Authoring: TMPGEnc DVD Author (good as a starter), but I'm evaluating DVDLab Pro (more complex).

[natty]

ok many thanks i will take note of what you have suggested.

[daamon]

No problem. Now, get some kip - it's well gone midnight, your time...!!! And on a shool night...

[jimmalenko]

As far as the all-in-ones go, the only one I can recommend with any sincerity is DivxToDVD. It will take pretty much anything you throw at it and convert to the DVD structure. No menus as yet but it's on the list of development. You can then import its output into TMPGEnc DVD Author if you wish to create menus.

As far as doing it manually, http://members.dodo.net.au/~jimmalenko/AVI2DVD.htm might assist, as well as any number of guides in the guides section under the Convert heading (to your left). Select either MPG to DVD or AVI to DVD from the conversion feature dropdown and you'll see the guides that are appropriate.