MPeg Layer - 3?

[sunburst01]

I could really use some help, please. I, like other newbies, have downloaded alot of movies from swap sites (i.e. limewire, morpheus..etc), and of course they have taken up so much room on my harddrive. I'm trying to teach myself how to transfer these movies to CD, with hopes they would play in my DVD player (regular one, not the computers DVD), but I can't get it to play I'm not quite grasping the concept of the different types of files. There is one movie in particular that I want to save, the quality is excellent and I want to transfer it to disk the same way. Problem is, the details say its a Mpeg layer 3? Actually, the details read:
Audio: MPEG Layer-3, 128 kBits/s, 48,000 Hz, Stereo
Video Format: 656x304, 170953 frames, 23.976 Frames/Sec, Unknown Format

it is an AVI file.

I've downloaded Tmpgenc to do all the convertings, but I'm obviously missing something. I've tried to change the settings to match this, but there is no setting for Mpeg layer-3 under audio...Also, I keep getting an error stating some kind of streaming error. I'm sorry, but I don't know where else to look. Any type of guidance would be appreciated. Also, what should I be converting it to in order to play on my TV's DVD player?

[mikewg]

MPEG Layer 3 is DivX. I don't deal with it, but do a search of the forums for converting DivX to VCD. Also, just because DivX appears perfect on your screen, it might not convert perfectly because 1. DivX is more highly compressed than VCD and trying to "raise" the quality might not make it look as good and 2. You're going to have to reencode the video file into VCD format, and reencoding will make you lose quality.

[adam]

Mpeg layer 3 is just how the audio is encoded. You're probably more familiar with the common name, mp3. All you need to do is get virtual dub from the tools section. Load your divx file and hit file/save wav.

In TMPGenc load your divx file in the video section. For the audio section use the wav you just created.

Now the simplest way to encode this would be to use either the ntsc film vcd or svcd templates. I would recommend using the vcd template since the resolution of your source is too small for standard svcd and increasing it will probably look pretty bad.

You may want to unlock the template (load the unlock.mcf) and raise the bitrate to preserve more quality but keep in mind the higher you go the less chance your dvd player will be able to play it.

Make sure you use the ntsc film templates not the regular ntsc templates, because your framerate is 23.976fps.