?s about computer system for video, converting video files and burning DVD

[maureensullivan]

Hello, I was not sure where to post my questions and if I should post them altogether or not, but I will go ahead and list them all here. I understand that a moderator may move my post to a more suitable forum.

I have just starting getting into the wonderful world of DVDs and downloadable video. 2 weeks ago I bought a 16X DVD writer and my odyssey began. I have learned much and I still have far to go. For example I realize my computer is slow.

So, I want to buy a new computer and I want to use it for working with video files. Converting DVD to avi, mpeg, etc., and vice versa (converting avi, mpeg to DVD). Plus I want to burn DVDs with these files. I want to know what type of system I need. How fast a processor, how much RAM, how much hard drive space, etc. The current laptop I have (1.8 processor, 512 RAM and 60gig HD) is very slow and takes hours to convert files. I also want to know if I need to get a desktop to work effectively with video, or if I can still get away with a laptop. My old laptop is an IBM thinkpad but I know IBM no longer makes them. Is Lenovo's product as good as the old IBM product, or should I consider a Dell? (I hope this is not a forbidden warez question)

I have both Nero and Roxio. Is there a better (as in faster) software package out there to do this stuff? I have noticed that Roxio is kind of tempermental. Some of the programs in the suite do not always work. One, classic creator, stopped working yesterday. I am wondering if I should re-install it. I am also wondering if perhaps Nero and Roxio conflict with each other and if I should pick one and uninstall the other. (again I hope this is not a warez question)

I also have a D-Link DSM-320RD wireless media player, that also plays DVDs like a regular DVD player. I have noticed it will play some avi files and not others. A freind gave me a DVD with 3 avi files on it and I had no problem playing them in my D-Link. But some avi files I downloaded from the internet (and burned onto a DVD) would not play in the D-Link player. I did "file properties" on the avi files that would play and they all seem to be Divx and the files that did not play seem to be something called DVcodec. What is DVcdec, and, can I convert DVcodec avi files into Divx avi files? I did manage to learn (from your forum) about VirtualDub. I will try to use it to see if it will convert DVcodec to Divx.

Another problem, When I tried using either Roxio or Nero to convert a regular non copyright protected movie DVDs into avi files and then subsequently burned those avi files onto a DVD, the D-Link player would not read them. The avi files would play in Windows media player but not in my D-Link. And according to the "file properties" they were the Divx flavor of avi. The files burned with Nero were not even visible to the D-Link, it said "no disk", and on the DVD (of the same files) I burned with Roxio, the D-Link could see them, but when I hit play it said "file not supported." Go figure.

One more twist, When I try to burn one of the Divx avi files that I know my D-Link will play, if I
burn the file to DVD with Nero, the player won't see it, if I burn it with Roxio the player can see
and play the file.

Now I have been able to take avi files (of any type) and covert them into DVD format with both Nero and Roxio and they play fine even in my regular DVD player. Of course these take hours (sometimes over night) to convert, so I was hoping for the easier solution of just being able to play the avi files themselves on my D-Link.

I am a biology instructor and I hope one day to take videos of my lab procedures and either post them on my website (we use Blackboard here at UNF) for my students or burn them onto DVD. But I figured I better learn something about video file formats and burning DVDs in the first place before I go out an buy a camcorder and start filming.

[normcar]

First, Roxio is considered bad. Nero IMHO is a good burner, but I do not use it for anything else. IMGBurn 2 is a good burner. Getting a good writer and good (usually Made in Japan) DVDs are important.

The only thing in your post that is considered out of bounds because of legal problems is to not download or copy copyrighted material. Do not do or discuss that here.

As for your system, for video conversion from AVI to DVD compliant then Author, get the fastest CPU you can afford (get a good speed point vs price). Get more than 1 Harddrive so you can do conversion from one drive to another is good for speed. Best Harddrive configuration is small HD for OS and 2 HDs for drive to drive conversion. If you are using Win XP, usually 512 MB memory is good, but 1 GB is better if price is not really critical. High level video is not important for Video editing.

I would also stay away from laptops for video editing or anything else, because you always get less for the same price. Only get a laptop if it is important for other reasons. Also you can only add Harddrives as external, and that slows down conversions. Dell used to have the best laptops with very good customer service, but that may not be as true today.

If you have little money, use it to buy the system, as most functions can be done by freeware. The only software I ended up buying was the TMPGenc products. They are considered very good products for video conversion and authoring, and well worth the money.

The problem with playing avi's in standalone players is usually the codec used to encode the avi. Each standalone player that plays avi's has a certain number of codecs available. Any avi you do not create yourself may be created to use any number of different avi codecs. Use Gspot to determine what codec the avi requires, and you can compare it to what the player uses.

I would uninstall Roxio if you are having problems with your system.

[redwudz]

The first place to look is to the upper left for 'WHAT IS' DVD. That will give you lots of information about the format.

For a computer, a desktop is usually better. They are upgradeable and have plenty of room for hard drives. Video takes a lot of hard drive space. I would use a smaller HD for your OS as the boot drive, and one or more large ones to work with video. 150-300GB drives would be a start.

Processor speed, as fast as you can afford. 2Ghz and above. Memory, 512-1024MB. More than that seldom is used for video. Most of the time while encoding, the programs use less than 400MB.

DVD programs are almost too numerous to mention. There are a lot of options. Generally, you need to capture the video or in the case of DV, transfer it to the computer with a FireWire cable. Second, you edit it. Lots of editors in our 'Tools' section. Then you encode it. Lots of encoders, also. Then your author it. This makes the DVD structure. Finally you burn it to the DVD disc.

For DV that you are probably mentioning, you need a DV codec to open it in VirtualDub. The Panasonic DV codec is one. I prefer VirtualDub Mod, but both do basically the same thing. VDM will just accept more file types. VD or VDM can also encode to Xvid, Divx or other AVI type formats. They can edit, filter, and work with the audio, also.

Unless your standalone DVD player is specifically made to play AVI such as Divx, it won't work for that. That's why you need to understand the DVD specs.

Nero (Or possibly Roxio) is OK for burning, but not much else. The other types of programs will give you much better results.

You might want to DL Gspot 2.60. It will tell you a lot about the format of the video you have.

I'll let others fill in, correct or modify all of the above.

And welcome to our forums. You have a lot of reading to do.

[normcar]

You have a lot of reading to do.

This is the most important idea you will get from your question. It will take you about 1-2 months of reading posts and instructions to really understand enough to be able to do most video editing. But you will learn everyday from the people here who have been doing this for years. This forum is a gold mine of information. You must listen and learn, and ask good questions with as much detail as possible. People here are usually very willing to help anyone they can.

[Ai Haibara]

I am also wondering if perhaps Nero and Roxio conflict with each other and if I should pick one and uninstall the other.

Some versions do reportedly conflict, yes. If I had to pick between the two, I'd pick Nero (pretty much for burning only, like normcar mentioned). But keep Imgburn around, too.

[maureensullivan]

thanks so much for replying so promptly

I just want to clarify that actually I have 3 DVD players. One is a "regular" DVD player, another is a combo DVD/VHS player recorder (we can "tape" TV shows to DVD with it) and the third one is a D-Link media player. You can connect it wirelessly to the home network and play files directly from the hard drive of a computer, or you can stick a DVD in its tray and play a file that way. I have been trying to create DVDs with the correct avi file format to play in my D-Link. Why the avi? To save space and time, since converting it to DVD format (which the D-Link will also play) take forever on my little old laptop. Much quicker just to burn avi files onto DVD than to convert avi to DVD format and then burn. And I want to store those avi files on DVDs to save space on my hard drive.

I tried Virtual Dub and it seemed to work. I managed to convert one of the DVcodec avi files into a divx avi. I burned this onto DVD with Roxio and so far so good, it played in my D-Link. I am still not having luck burning files onto DVD with Nero.

But I am frustrated with the inconsistancies of Roxio. I don't suppose any of you have time to list freeware (or other "ware") that could replace the various functions of Roxio? (Or point me to a former post where this was discussed?) And I hear that Nero is good, but I am actually getting better burn results with Roxio, as frustrating as it is.

[solarfox]

Hardware-wise, I would suggest the following:

CPU/Motherboard: Fastest one you can afford. However, don't skimp on the motherboard just to get a superfast CPU -- a 2.5GHz CPU on a nice DFI Lanparty board will, overall, serve you much better than a 3GHz CPU on a cheap ECS board.

Memory: I'd consider 1Gb of RAM to be the minimum. 2Gb is ideal. More than that is probably not necessary, especially under Windows, since Windows memory management is a bit dodgy.

Hard Drives: Yes, drives -- plural. I recommend putting two drives on your primary channel, and put the burner on the secondary. Both drives should be as large as you can afford. The reason for two drives: it will speed up your encoding considerably if you can put the source material on one drive, and have the encoded files going to another drive, so that the encoder isn't slowed down by the hard-drive heads thrashing back and forth between the input and output files.