DIVX to a format so it can be seen on a DVD video player

[zoranb]

I have many TopGear shows (if anyone is familiar by the way) which are coded in divx format, and i want to convert them to some -dont know what- format so i can put a few shows (750mb each and about 1hr lenght) on a DVD disk and watch them on my DVD video player.
What can i do, i have Premiere 6.5 for what thats worth!
The dvd player can play mpeg and avi files that are not encoded with divx of course

[Baldrick]

what dvd player? what kind of avi can it play ?

[guns1inger]

Odd, because most players that play avi files only play back Divx/Xvid encoded files.

If you have files with the .divx extension and your player doesn't recognise them then you can just load them into virtualdub, and use Direct Stream Copy mode to transfer them to the .avi container. You could also just try changing the extension from .divx to .avi, as .divx is just the .avi container with some custom data included.

If your player won't play divx files at all then you have two choices :

Convert to DVD format, in which case you will get around 2 hours of good quality and 3 hours of OK quality to a disc using something like ConvertXtoDVD.

or

Use g-spot on an avi file you know does play in your play, and convert to that format

[zoranb]

ive downloaded gspot, but pls be more specific in what i must do exactly!

[guns1inger]

Open one of the avi files that you know works with your player. G-spot will analyse it and tell you what codecs it uses. You can use this information to work out how to re-encode your videos to match. If you cannot work out how to read the g-spot information, post a screenshot here so we can help.

[zoranb]

ok i think i was wrong cause now the two files i had in mind dont work on my dvd player.
anyhow heres is a screen shot of the gspot app with each of the two files im trying to see on my DVD player. Is there something wrong with them?

[guns1inger]

The second one should certainly play back on pretty much any mpeg4 capable player (divx/Xvid etc in an avi or Divx container). The first one should play back on most, although the 32kHz audio might annoy a small number of players.

Does your player have the Divx logo on the front, or mpeg-4 written on it anywhere ?

[zoranb]

nope none of those!!
this is what i see on its front side
dolby digital, dts, dvd video, kodak picture cd, compact disk digital video, mp3, cd-G

[guns1inger]

Then you will have to convert these to DVD format. Given the probable quality of these, I would stick with 2, maybe 3 episodes to a DVD5. Try DVD Flick, or ConvertXtoDVD to convert, and Imgburn to burn the disc.

[zoranb]

can i do a dvd video disk using nero? actually i think thats what im doing now, and its transcoding 2 clips ive selected.
but i must say it needs 8hrs to finish!!!!

[jagabo]

can i do a dvd video disk using nero? actually i think thats what im doing now, and its transcoding 2 clips ive selected.
but i must say it needs 8hrs to finish!!!!

Yes, Nero can do it but it's not very good at it. The speed sounds about right for a 1GHz Athlon processor.

[zoranb]

can i do a dvd video disk using nero? actually i think thats what im doing now, and its transcoding 2 clips ive selected.
but i must say it needs 8hrs to finish!!!!

Yes, Nero can do it but it's not very good at it. The speed sounds about right for a 1GHz Athlon processor.

what do u mean nero is not very good at it?

[jagabo]

can i do a dvd video disk using nero? actually i think thats what im doing now, and its transcoding 2 clips ive selected.
but i must say it needs 8hrs to finish!!!!

Yes, Nero can do it but it's not very good at it. The speed sounds about right for a 1GHz Athlon processor.

what do u mean nero is not very good at it?

A/V sync problems, poor frame rate conversions, aspect ratio errors, mediocre video quality...

[zoranb]

ok jagabo, but using nero i guess is easyer making all the dvd menus etc. can i perhaps make all the trrascoding elsehwere and then only insert the trascoded files to nero to make the dvd?

[guns1inger]

You can, but Nero isn't very reliable about externally encoded video, and may well chose to re-encode it anyway. Nero does have some passionate supporters (not many, but a few) who seem to have more luck than most. I think if you want to use Nero for menus, you should use it for everything and live with the results. If you want better quality and reliability, don't use Nero at all.

[dfisher052]

OR you can use Convertx2dvd, have menues & get the job done in just a couple of hours.

[zoranb]

OR you can use Convertx2dvd, have menues & get the job done in just a couple of hours.

WOW, big WOW actually for ConvertXtoDVD app. Did my job nicelly there, now the real question is how many avi clips can fit in there withut worsening the quality?
Here are the specs of the movies
either http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?8bdfae2b64.gif
or http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?c89e5d79f1.gif

how many sutch clips can i add to make the dvd without any loss in quality?
4, 5, ??????

[guns1inger]

corporate firewall is blocking the images, however as a general rule, 2 hours on a DVD5 is about the limit before quality starts to drop, however it is source dependent to a degree. It could be less, or it could be more. With Divx/Xvid sourced material you can usually get up to three hours without huge loss.

That said, you must expect some image degradation simply because you are enlarging an image that has been reduced in resolution, which will show up all the artifacts from the Divx/Xvid compression. You will get this no matter what encoder you use. These artifacts will also be much more noticeable on your TV than on your PC.

[zoranb]

So ok, ill check out for 3hours of video, and fit in 3 1hr clips.
But let me ask you, the more clips i enter on ConverXtoDVD app the more squeezing happens, and therefore, quality loss?

[guns1inger]

Pretty much. ConvertXtoDVD only works at full-D1 (720 x 576/480), so the lower the bitrate, the quicker it affects quality. VSO claim up to 4 hours, but it depends on source. I wouldn't push it that far.

[zoranb]

The bigest problem is that it takes so many hours, u have no idea how long it takes me with the 1GHz Athlon!!!!

[psx_pirate]

Adding more ram to your system will help somewhat (but not by a huge amount) ... upgrading your processor will deffinately help, but bare in mind that re-encoding video will always take a fair bit of time

[zoranb]

if only there was an app similar for the mac platform. at work im working with a PowerMac G5 dual 2.5ghz
Is there a similar app for the mac?

[Noahtuck]

I do about 4 hours of video in around 2 hours with 2ghz and 1gig of ram in ConvertXtoDvd.

As for mac tools, i'm not sure but here is a good pace to start looking

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/macos-video-tools

or search in the MAC forum.