Need help converting avi to mpeg/vcd

[Andrewski22]

Hello all. I am a newbie so do not get mad with me if you think I am being dumb. Can anyone give me the definitive way of converting avi to mpeg/vcd? I am using an imac with OS X.2.

I have looked all through the boards and tried to follow what i found. I used ffmpegX but I cannot get it working. I get this script every time. what am I doing wrong? Please help me! Would be grateful for any help from all the experts on here.

Last login: Tue Nov 5 19:57:05 on ttyp1
pbpaste | sh
Welcome to Darwin!
[Roisin-Murphys-Computer:~] roisinmu% pbpaste | sh
/Users/roisinmu/X-Files_[5x20]_-_The_End_[350]-[AC3]-[AMC].ShareReactor.avi: Error while opening file
**ERROR: [mpeg2enc] Could not read YUV4MPEG2 header: system error (failed read/write)!
/Users/roisinmu/X-Files_[5x20]_-_The_End_[350]-[AC3]-[AMC].ShareReactor.avi: Error while opening file
INFO: [mplex] mplex version 2.2.1 ($Date: 2002/04/20 19:08:30 $)
**ERROR: [mplex] Unable to open file /Users/roisinmu/test.m2v for reading.
-3 is not a valid mpeg file
(Super) VideoCD xml description created successfully as `/Users/roisinmu/test.1.xml'
++ WARN: initializing libvcd 0.7.12 [darwin5.2/powerpc]
++ WARN:
++ WARN: this is the UNSTABLE development branch!
++ WARN: use only if you know what you are doing
++ WARN: see http://www.hvrlab.org/~hvr/vcdimager/ for more information
++ WARN:
**ERROR: could not stat() file `/Users/roisinmu/test-1.mpg': No such file or directory
rm: /Users/roisinmu/test-1_02_pregap.img: No such file or directory
rm: /Users/roisinmu/test-1.toc: No such file or directory
(Super) VideoCD xml description created successfully as `/Users/roisinmu/test.2.xml'
++ WARN: initializing libvcd 0.7.12 [darwin5.2/powerpc]
++ WARN:
++ WARN: this is the UNSTABLE development branch!
++ WARN: use only if you know what you are doing
++ WARN: see http://www.hvrlab.org/~hvr/vcdimager/ for more information
++ WARN:
**ERROR: could not stat() file `/Users/roisinmu/test-2.mpg': No such file or directory
rm: /Users/roisinmu/test-2_02_pregap.img: No such file or directory
rm: /Users/roisinmu/test-2.toc: No such file or directory
(Super) VideoCD xml description created successfully as `/Users/roisinmu/test.3.xml'
++ WARN: initializing libvcd 0.7.12 [darwin5.2/powerpc]
++ WARN:
++ WARN: this is the UNSTABLE development branch!
++ WARN: use only if you know what you are doing
++ WARN: see http://www.hvrlab.org/~hvr/vcdimager/ for more information
++ WARN:
**ERROR: could not stat() file `/Users/roisinmu/test-3.mpg': No such file or directory
rm: /Users/roisinmu/test-3_02_pregap.img: No such file or directory
rm: /Users/roisinmu/test-3.toc: No such file or directory
Encoding complete!

[bilestyle]

is the avi file a divx avi file? or just a plan old avi file? If it is a divx file i suggest you run it through divx doctor II first

http://www.versiontracker.com/redir.fcgi/kind=1&db=mac&id=14266/divxdoctor21.sit

and then you can either run it through quicktime and export to toast VCD (if you have toast) or you can run it through MediaPipe (little more complex, MissingMpegTools would probably be more along the lines for newer users when interfacing with mediapipe) or ffmpegx.... if it is an avi file that QT does not support then this file SHOULD work

http://mpeg4.jamby.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=getit&lid=7

i don't have extensive experience using these methods to convert avi files but they SHOULD work fine...... ill try playing around with the programs sometime to see if i can get em to work.

[Andrewski22]

Thanks for the speedy response. I do hve some problems though.
I ran a couple of my files through Divx Doctor as suggested but when it tried to flatten the movies it said that there was no video file. Now i know this is not true because I have watched all the files on videolan. what am I doing wrong? The files do have ac3 sound files but I will convert those but in the meantime I do not what is going on with divx doctor. Any suggestions?

[bilestyle]

there IS the possability that the input file isnt a divx file, did u try avi2mov? or are you certain the file is divx?

[Andrewski22]

Ok I'm getting very confused now! I think the file is an avi with ac3 sound. When I try to put it through avi2mov the program says that it cannot find an mp3 track. I have extracted the soundtrack and converted it to mp3 only I do not know how to remove the original soundtrack and add the new one. New suggestions?!?! Oh by the way once I have finally got my mov ile or whatever what do I do next? Do I convert this file to an mpeg/