Can I burn .avi files, or do I have to convert them to .mpg?

[Lyzic]

Hello, total newbie here, so please excuse the harsh bout of ignorance I shall now bestow on all :)

OK, I have a bunch of movies I want to burn to vcd, but the problem is they are all in .avi format. In all the burning guides I have looked at, they all talk about .mpg, so I think it's a forgone conclusion this is what I have to do. Damn TMPGEnc takes forever to convert them though :(

Also, with anyone using Nero 5.0 to burn encountered any problems ? In some guides I've read it reccomends to NOT use Nero, but it is the only burning program I have that makes VCDs.

[siaododo]

In order to make VCD/SVCD, all files must be in mpg-1 or mpg-2 format. No other way around it. It is a fact of life that it takes a long time to convert avi to mpg. You may be able to shorten the time, but you will need to tweak around with the settings, but still be ready for hours of waiting time.

Don't use Nero to convert avi to mpg, because it gives really poor quality.

[condone]

Nero is the best program to burn MPEGs to VCD, however what it recommends not doing is to let it convert your AVIs to MPEG. TMPGEnc can have a better quality output, but it does take time. The only way to speed up is to change and buy CCE or to get a faster processor.

[Verbatim]

Hello, total newbie here, so please excuse the harsh bout of ignorance I shall now bestow on all :)

OK, I have a bunch of movies I want to burn to vcd, but the problem is they are all in .avi format. In all the burning guides I have looked at, they all talk about .mpg, so I think it's a forgone conclusion this is what I have to do. Damn TMPGEnc takes forever to convert them though :(

Also, with anyone using Nero 5.0 to burn encountered any problems ? In some guides I've read it reccomends to NOT use Nero, but it is the only burning program I have that makes VCDs.

YES you can and you can use NERO(not sure about 5.0) but it gave a carpy picture. It dose take less time then using TMGEnc. Me myself and I much like mpeg-2 over vcds you get a better picture. Some DVD players play mpeg-2s