Two XVid's w/AC3 to 1 DVD-R

[midimidi]

I've never messed with Xvids - just backing up DVDs. I'm just about to do this, and wanted to know if anyone has any opinions, problems, etc.

I have the first two episodes of Macross Zero in Xvid with AC-3 audio, and I want to put them both on one DVD. I was going to use the TMPGEnc guide found here at dvdrhelp (search Xvid -> DVD), but I'm especially curious about:

1) Will it retain the AC-3 audio (it says to strip the audio and video first)
2) How can I get the two episodes on one DVD?

Thanks.

[mujahid7ia]

Second question: mess around with bitrates and other video/audio props until you have the perfect fit for a DVD...

First: i think theres a way, look for a guide.....

If its just DVD backup, why dont u just do it straight? DVD to DVD??

[midimidi]

'cause all i have is the Xvid's...thx for the reply

[mujahid7ia]

NTSC (NTSC Film)



Video:
Up to 9.8 Mbit/sec MPEG2 or up to 1.856 MBit/sec MPEG1 video
720 x 480 pixels MPEG2
704 x 480 pixels MPEG2
352 x 480 pixels MPEG2 (Same as the CVD Standard)
352 x 240 pixels MPEG2
352 x 240 pixels MPEG1 (Same as the VCD Standard)
29,97 fps (frames/second)
23,976 fps with 2:3 pulldown (NTSC Film, this is only supported by MPEG2 video)


Audio:
Up to 8 audio tracks containing DD (Dolby Digital/AC3), DTS, PCM(uncompressed audio), MPEG-1 Layer2. One audio track must have DD or PCM Audio.

Extras:
Menus, still pictures, subtitles and more. For more technical details read the DVDDemystified DVD FAQ.

Yes you can use AC3 ! its a dolby digital file... there are guides for doing it..

[jeg_jason]

I have done this before. The tools that i used were virtualdub mp3 freeze, ac3fix, tmpgenc, and ifoedit. The first thing that I did was join the two files together using the append avi option under the file menu in virtualdub mp3 freeze. I then scanned the file for bad frames and removed them. I then did a direct stream copy of the audio portion of the joined files using Save WAV under the file menu under virtualdub mp3 freeze. I then renamed this *.wav file to *1.ac3 and fixed it using the command line program ac3fix.exe to a new file *2.ac3. I then went back to virtualdub mp3 freeze and did a direct stream copy of joined file to a new file. I then looked under the file properties to see how long the joined file was. You can then use a bitrate calculator to see what bitrate you need to encode the video to DVD specification while retaining as much quality as possible. I then opened tmgenc and encoded only the video of the joined file to a *.m2v file. I then authored the *.m2v and *2.ac3 files with ifoedit. I also made sure that I had one of my chapter points that fell at the beginning of the second episode. If you want menus and other advanced features then you will have to use authoring software the supports AC3 audio output. If you have audio sync problems you made need to use ac3delay corrector.

[mujahid7ia]

If you want menus and other advanced features then you will have to use authoring software the supports AC3 audio output.

A good program for this is Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2.0 with AC3 PowerPack (Expensive tho... ).

[phucloctho]

This is how I use to convert several movie files into a big movies file to play on a dvd player. I'm sure that there are many other ways to do this but this way seems to work for thus far without any problem. I was able to convert up to 2.5 hours of movies (app. 6 avi movies files)

1. Convert the movie to avi file. I use graphedit to do this. I use window media 2 for audio and make sure that in the avi mux property, you check the full option so that the video and audio will match (right click on the avi mux).

2 If the subtitle does not display in the avi file, I use virtualdubmod to load the original movie and demux the text stream and save it.

3. I use vobsub to mux both the avi movie file and the subtitle file into a new movie file.

4.I load the avi movies to showbiz ( you can have up to 6 avi movies, 5 is recomended) and choose create dvd project. it wii compress all the avi files into one big mpeg file

5. when it done, I use my soniv video to convert the to dvd movies and burn it to a dvd.

that's it. Load the dvd into your dvd player and enjoy your new movie

[midimidi]

superb replies guys - thx a bunch!

i love how everyone has their own little route...sure takes a lot of testing! (thus why i always ask, even tho there's guides out there...)

great forum. thx.

[schamp]

1. Extract the Ac3 sound from the xvid's with Virtualdub by saving wav with direct stream copy mode

2. Run AC3fix over the extracted wav and change the suffix to ac3 if you haven't already done so.

3. Now save the avi (without audio) also in direct stream mode.

4. Encode the saved avi's with TMPGenc (Video Stream only)

5. Use TMPGenc DVD Author to create a DVD with as many separate Tracks (Movies, Episodes etc.) as you like, by adding the encoded avi's and according ac3's.

Its as easy as that. All you need to do, is to make sure that all the material you want together on 1 dvd will fit, by calculating the right bitrates.

I've put up to 4 full movies on 1 dvd with this method with no problem.