Questions RE: Converting AVI/Divx/XVID to DVD + Menus

[aktick]

I've searched the boards and various guides, and couldn't really find an answer to these questions. (It may just be that I don't see the answer...I'm definitely a newb :P )

I have AVI, XVID, and Divx files of TV shows that I want to convert to DVD format with menus.

1. All 3 of those formats I have now are basically the same, right? Will one method of converting work for all 3 formats in basically every case, or not?

2. How long of AVI/XVID/Divx time can I fit on 1 DVD without losing noticeable quality? I actually tried ConvertXtoDVD, but I had 8, 42 min. episodes on the DVD, and it was pretty pixelated. (being an idiot, I figured since the files totaled only 3 GB, they would fit fine at their original quality onto 1 DVD)

3. I'm not sure exactly what all of these different #s mean, and what's good and what's bad. Any explanations or articles you could point me to explaining them would be greatly appreciated. Here's what I mean:

(from the XVID files) -

Video

Frame Rate 23 frames/second (this one is pretty self-explanatory, but any details you could provied as to what's good and bad, I'm all ears)

Data Rate 139kbps

Video Sample Size 12 bit

Image is 624x352

Audio bit rate is 130kbps (I'm more familiar with this in regards to audio than video)


4. My DVD player (Oppo) can play these just straight from a data disc, but I want menus that I can make and kind of play around with. It's just interesting to me, and something (video/DVD authoring) I could see myself doing as a weekend hobby.

So, (A) Is there a way I can leave these in their current format (so as to not have to deal with encoding/compression/whatever) and still get my creative juices going by making cool menus for them?

But, (B) I might still want to put them in DVD format so they can be played on other DVD players (though I'm thinking most new players can handle AVI/Divx files?)...what would the best way of going about that be (including cool menus and as little quality loss as possible)?

5. How to figure out what aspect ratio to burn in? I've been messing around with using DIKO and DVDStyler. I have a widescreen HDTV, and chose "Encode Anamorphic," but it ended up squeezing it down, leaving black bars at top and bottom. I'd like to set it up so it fills my widescreen TV (naturally) and just leaves the bars on top and bottom on a 4:3 TV - like any widescreen retail DVD (for TV shows). Ways to do this? The other options in DIKO are, "Letterbox and Encode at 4:3 (recommended)," and "Crop to Full Screen and Encode at 4:3." I'm sure I don't want the last one. Would the recommended option give me the desired result?


Kind of all over the place with the questions, sorry. I'm a financial planner by day, so a lot of this stuff is foreign to me - but very interesting. I need a way to get away from financial stuff, but love computers and TV/movies, and love building things up from scratch, so this is interesting to me.

I really appreciate any recommendations and advice. Thanks.

[jagabo]

I have AVI, XVID, and Divx files of TV shows that I want to convert to DVD format with menus.

1. All 3 of those formats I have now are basically the same, right? Will one method of converting work for all 3 formats in basically every case, or not?

AVI is a container. Xvid and Divx compressed video may be contained in an AVI file. Generally, if a program can convert Divx in an AVI file to MPEG it can convert pretty much any video in an AVI container to MPEG if you have the proper codecs installed.

2. How long of AVI/XVID/Divx time can I fit on 1 DVD without losing noticeable quality?

Anywhere from none to many many hours depending on your source. Typically you're looking at 1 to 4 hours.

3. I'm not sure exactly what all of these different #s mean, and what's good and what's bad. Any explanations or articles you could point me to explaining them would be greatly appreciated. Here's what I mean:

(from the XVID files) -

Video

Frame Rate 23 frames/second (this one is pretty self-explanatory, but any details you could provied as to what's good and bad, I'm all ears)

You'll typically see three frame rates: 23.976 and 29.97 are NTSC sources, 25 fps PAL. If the frame rate doesn't match your TV system you may have to convert it.

Data Rate 139kbps

Video Sample Size 12 bit

Image is 624x352

Audio bit rate is 130kbps (I'm more familiar with this in regards to audio than video)

The video data rate has pretty much the same meaning as audio data rate. With a codec and at a given frame size, the higher the bitrate the higher the quality. I believe you're getting those numbers from XP's file properties dialog. Unfortunately, XP's video data rate is in BYTES per second, whereas its audio data rate is in BITS per second. Image size is self explanitory. The Sample size is a bit technical. Many forms of video use a compression scheme where the luminance of the image is stored at "full" resolution (whatever the stated resolution is, say 640x480) but the chromanance is stored at 1/2 (each dimension) resolution (320x240). This means that each of the two chromanance channels have 1/4 as many pixels as the luminance channel. So on average, with 8 bits per pixel of luminance you have 2 bits per pixel of the two luminance channels. 8 + 2 + 2 = 12. For more information lookup things like Colorspace, Color Subsampling, YUV, RGB, YV12, 4:2:0.

4. My DVD player (Oppo) can play these just straight from a data disc, but I want menus that I can make and kind of play around with. It's just interesting to me, and something (video/DVD authoring) I could see myself doing as a weekend hobby.

So, (A) Is there a way I can leave these in their current format (so as to not have to deal with encoding/compression/whatever) and still get my creative juices going by making cool menus for them?

No. Unless your player is Divx Ultra certified.

But, (B) I might still want to put them in DVD format so they can be played on other DVD players (though I'm thinking most new players can handle AVI/Divx files?)...what would the best way of going about that be (including cool menus and as little quality loss as possible)?

Very few players can handle Divx/Xvid/MPEG4. You'll have to convert to MPEG2 for normal DVD players.

5. How to figure out what aspect ratio to burn in? I've been messing around with using DIKO and DVDStyler. I have a widescreen HDTV, and chose "Encode Anamorphic," but it ended up squeezing it down, leaving black bars at top and bottom. I'd like to set it up so it fills my widescreen TV (naturally) and just leaves the bars on top and bottom on a 4:3 TV - like any widescreen retail DVD (for TV shows). Ways to do this? The other options in DIKO are, "Letterbox and Encode at 4:3 (recommended)," and "Crop to Full Screen and Encode at 4:3." I'm sure I don't want the last one. Would the recommended option give me the desired result?

Aspect ratios get a bit complicated. Your sample 624x352 above would be resized to 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) and marked with a 16:9 display aspect ratio when converting to MPEG2. That will give you an anamorphic 16:9 DVD just like most commercial wide screen DVDs. You can use something like FitCD to help you out with aspect ratio's and frame sizes.

[aktick]

I believe you're getting those numbers from XP's file properties dialog.

Yep, I should've mentioned that.

Very few players can handle Divx/Xvid/MPEG4. You'll have to convert to MPEG2 for normal DVD players.

OK, thanks. So if I convert them to MPEG2, can I still simply burn them as a data disc? (I'm assuming MPEG2 is the popular "DVD" format?)

Aspect ratio's get a bit complicated. You sample 624x352 above would be resized to 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) and marked with a 16:9 display aspect ratio when converting to MPEG2. You can use something like FitCD to help you out with aspect ratio's and frame sizes.

Alright. FWIW, I just did an ep that was 624x353 using DIKO and the recommended widescreen choice (Letterbox and Encode at 4:3), and while it's not sqeezed down as much as the "Anamorphic" option, it still is a bit, but it's also cutting off a bit on each side.

As an aside, I THOUGHT when I was burning data DVDs and playing them, it was showing everything - not so. It's still cutting a bit off on the sides, and a bit on the top and bottom as well. If I could simply figure out how to get the entire 16:9 video on my 16:9 TV I'd be happy for the moment. Ideas? I'll have a look at some of the tools.

Thanks for all the explanations, they're helpful.

[jagabo]

So if I convert them to MPEG2, can I still simply burn them as a data disc? (I'm assuming MPEG2 is the popular "DVD" format?)

Your player will probably play MPEG2 files on data disks, but most normal DVD players will not. They have to be "authored" for normal DVD players.

Alright. FWIW, I just did an ep that was 624x353 using DIKO and the recommended widescreen choice (Letterbox and Encode at 4:3), and while it's not squeezed down as much as the "Anamorphic" option, it still is a bit...

Are you watching the results on your computer? Anamorphic encodes will look squeezed (for example, people will look tall and skinny) if your player does not honor the Display Aspect Ratio (DAR) flag. Most Divx AVI files use "square pixels". Most PC monitors also use square (or very close) pixels. With square pixels the frame size is the same as the aspect ratio. But DVDs do not use square pixels. MPEG files have a DAR setting that determines the shape of the picture. For example, both 16:9 and 4:3 DVDs use 720x480 frame sizes. They just use different DAR flags. It's the DVD players job to display the picture as the DAR specifies.

it's also cutting off a bit on each side.

It's likely your TV that's cutting off the sides. Televisions always "overscan" the image so you can't see the edges. This is done for several reasons. There is often junk at the edges of the picture. Most CRT TVs can't regulate the picture very well so the edges aren't nice and straight -- overscanning the image helps hide this problem. TVs also aren't good at keeping the image an exact size and perfectly centered on the screen. overscan hides those problems too.

As an aside, I THOUGHT when I was burning data DVDs and playing them, it was showing everything - not so. It's still cutting a bit off on the sides, and a bit on the top and bottom as well. If I could simply figure out how to get the entire 16:9 video on my 16:9 TV I'd be happy for the moment. :lol: Ideas? I'll have a look at some of the tools.

You have to encode the video with black borders so the borders are hidden by the TV's overscan, not the main picture. FitCD has the option to add borders. I'm not familiar with DIKO so I can't help you with specifics for that program. Don't bother getting it "perfect" for your TV. Every TV has different amounts of overscan. Even a single TV will vary depending on how hot it is, how long the TV has been on, etc.

[aktick]

Thanks again.

So I figured out how to get the MPEG2 to fill the screen - had to select anamorphic in FitCD.

One problem...no sound. I'm guessing that has to be encoded separately? Or not?

Also, what do you suggest for encoding the video?

[jagabo]

One problem...no sound. I'm guessing that has to be encoded separately? Or not?

Depends on the software you're using. Check the audio codec with GSpot or AVICodec. You may need an audio codec. Some programs don't handle AC3.