best starting piont

[RBCC]

I cutting and saving vids in mpg and avi format is what is the best file format to burn to media? John

[redwudz]

What are you planning to play it back on? That would mostly determine the format. Some settop players can handle Xvid/Divx and some can playback DVD and Blu-ray. Few can handle MKV formats. PCs should be able to play just about anything.

Also how much quality loss can you tolerate? That can also determine format. Every time you convert to a different format you have some loses.

What are you using the burned media for? Playback or archiving?

[RBCC]

Question 1: I am planning to use it for ripping, archiving and playing on home dvd player
Question 2: 5-10%
Question 3: see answer 1

Thank you, John

[sanlyn]

I cutting and saving vids in mpg and avi format...

What kind of "vids"? What are your video sources? Why are vou capturing to lossy MPEG, then expecting format and re-encoding formats that lose even more quality? At that rate, 5-10% is impossibly high. Won't happen.

[jman98]

Well, if you're able to save in H.264, that would be good for your needs. Which MPG are you saving to? There's a big difference between MPEG-2 and MPEG-1, for example. Really, we need more info on your source videos (VHS tapes? Something else?) how you're getting them into AVI or MPG format, and so on.

sanlyn always gets hysterical about how if you don't capture to lossless that you are wasting your time, yada yada yada. Honestly, most consumers are not as anal as he is about the whole process and with sufficiently high bit rates like 8000 Kbps or more, capturing to supposedly evil lossy MPEG-2 can meet a lot of people's need without the fuss of capturing losslessly, filtering and re-encoding.

If all you are really doing is just ripping DVDs (your post is very unclear but this might be all you are doing) then just save the rips and don't convert at all. Do note that around here we do NOT use the word "rip" in the very incorrect sense that most of the world uses it. Ripping does NOT do any converting at all. It simply copies source files from a CD, DVD or BluRay disc to a computer, decrypting if necessary, but leaving them exactly the same as they are on the original disc, just decrypted. There's no quality loss if you do this. If you want to know how to rip just the movie and keep that, then say so and provide more details.

[usually_quiet]

I cutting and saving vids in mpg and avi format is what is the best file format to burn to media? John

Question 1: I am planning to use it for ripping, archiving and playing on home dvd player
Question 2: 5-10%
Question 3: see answer 1

Thank you, John

Relatively few US model DVD players will play media files from DVDs, and if they can, they are limited to standard definition DivX or XVid avi files (with restrictions that are spelled out in the DVD player's manual). All US model DVD players play NTSC DVD video discs, so based on what you say you want to do, a NTSC DVD video disc is your best option.

I recommend AVStoDVD for doing conversions from video files to NTSC DVD using HCEnc as the MPEG-2 encoder, and using ImgBurn to burn the resulting files and folders as a DVD video disc. AVStoDVD won't re-encode the video and audio if they are already compatible with the NTSC DVD standard. AVStoDVD creates PAL DVDs by default, so be sure to change the settings to NTSC.

[sanlyn]

sanlyn always gets hysterical about how if you don't capture to lossless that you are wasting your time, yada yada yada. Honestly, most consumers are not as anal as he is about the whole process and with sufficiently high bit rates like 8000 Kbps or more, capturing to supposedly evil lossy MPEG-2 can meet a lot of people's need without the fuss of capturing losslessly, filtering and re-encoding.

Mm, that's overstating it a bit. Depends on how much personal value you attach to the results. If you don't care (or if you're the "average consumer"), low bitrates and 2 hours on a 2GB USB stick will be perfectly satisfactory.

[Cornucopia]

I see 2 problems: "cutting & saving mpg / avi formats" and "ripping ... dvd player" seem at odds with each other unless you do it right.

Going back to SQUARE ONE...
1. Rip (decrypting if necessary) ONLY. Output should be VOB/MPGs. - No loss in quality.
2. Cut losslessly using MPG2Cut2, Cuttermaran, etc. Output should again be MPG. - No loss in quality, except possibly at GOP boundaries.
3. Author (using a good authoring, but non-encoding, app) cut MPGs together as possible/warranted and burn (using ImgBurn, etc) onto new DVD. - No loss in quality.

Now you have playable stuff of your own design.

Scott

[RBCC]

I am copying the dvd structure from several personal dvds that I will soon lose to divorce. A xmas story
Ect. I will have the resultant vob structure. Then make archival copies of them and watch them. As far as lossless that I really don't understand. What does it mean exactly? I am thinking about wd tv.live to play avis. Is it possible to burn to usb keye to play like a dvd?
If so what do I use to burn it? It would be nice to have the resultant fiiles in avi/xvid. I am using mpg2cut to cut several cartoons out of video tape vobs that I have accumulated and would like to make them playable on dvd also. Also can one make a usb key playable on a dvd player?

Thank you for your help

John

[usually_quiet]

I am copying the dvd structure from several personal dvds that I will soon lose to divorce. A xmas story Ect. I will have the resultant vob structure. Then make archival copies of them and watch them. As far as lossless that I really don't understand. What does it mean exactly?

In this case, "lossless" means that the audio and video are not re-encoded by the editor. This is only possible when cuts are made on GOP boundaries using an editor that does not always insist on re-encoding the entire file.

Mpg2Cut2 cannot re-encode and is easier to use than Cuttermaran because Cuttermaran requires the audio and video to be de-multiplexed to separate files before it can import them. Cuttermaran's main advantage is that it can cut on any frame instead of only on GOP boundaries. If cuts are made inside a GOP, not on the boundary, Cuttermaran only re-encodes the GOPs adjacent to the cuts, minimizing quality loss.

I am thinking about wd tv.live to play avis. Is it possible to burn to usb keye to play like a dvd?
If so what do I use to burn it? It would be nice to have the resultant fiiles in avi/xvid. I am using mpg2cut to cut several cartoons out of video tape vobs that I have accumulated and would like to make them playable on dvd also. Also can one make a usb key playable on a dvd player?

Relatively few US DVD players will play avi files or other media files from a USB stick. (Philips made some, but not all of their DVD players have this feature) Most US-model DVD players do not play any kind of video from a USB stick. ...but as I mentioned earlier, even if a DVD player can play media files, they have to meet the DVD player's requirements as spelled out in the manual.

However ordinary media files don't provide a main menu, and menus for scene selection, language, etc. like a DVD. To have all the features of the original dvd available in a single file on a USB stick, you would need something that plays DVD ISOs. ImgBurn can create an ISO image from a complete set of DVD files and folders, which you would just copy to the USB stick.

As far as I know there are no DVD players that will play a ISO disc image from a USB stick. I seem to recall that some media players can play video from DVD ISO images on a USB stick, but I don't know which ones can access all the disc menus and other features.

[Cornucopia]

Until you can tell us what actual model(s) of players (& other equipment) are going to be used, and you can figure out for yourself and tell us what your priorities are as regards the quality, size constraints, support & featureset of these videos, there is very little (if anything) more we could do to help you. What does "5-10%" even mean to you in this context? - would you know a 5 or 10 or even 20% quality loss if presented without an original to compare against?

It would seem to me that your process should be 2-fold:
1. Copy your discs to new discs 1:1, so you don't lose anything in the divorce, and you know you have ALL the material. Takes little time or effort, and you can use many types of apps (though I would still recommend ImgBurn here). Don't be cheap here - it's only $0.30 a disc, if you had 100 discs, that's still only $30.
2. Taylor your editing & re-encoding (and possible re-authoring) to get compilations that you intend to view. This can take a while, but now you've got lots of time because you don't have a spouse to be breathing down your neck and can stay up to the wee hours working the transitions & effects of your compilations. Since you now have your own copies of the masters, this is all on a more relaxed timetable.

Scott

[RBCC]

I wont get the players in the divorce. I know that it is a samsung VCR/DVD combination V1000 Combination player. The Western Digital TV Live Model Number is WDBHG70000NBK-01. The Western Digital TV Live will play AVI/XVID Files. But the Combo wont and doesn't have a USB port. Is Losslessness something I should worry about. I tried to do this before and the Sound didn't match the movie.

I am trying to illeviate the possibility of this. Can someone help? What % of losslessness should I shoot for? Thank you John

[manono]

I am planning to use it for ripping, archiving and playing on home dvd player

Just make copies of the DVDs. DVD to DVD. Then you'll be sure that any DVD player (and Blu-Ray player) you ever have will be able to play them.