Burning Mpeg Videos onto DVD...I'm Still Lost

[Radiohead]

I've gone thru the VideoHelp site, including these forums and am very impressed. However, my own inexperience and/or incompetence continues to leave me flustered. I'm no computer illiterate, having burned dozens of DVD's from my camcorder using pre-installed software, but this conversion business is simply confusing.

Here is my dilemma. I recently downloaded 3 old Ramones concerts from the web in MPEG format. I purchased Cucosoft AVI/MPEG to DVD/VCD Converter as well as Nero 6 Ultra Edition, which includes Burning Rom. I assumed I had all I needed and I'd have them burned onto DVD in no time. However, I've been playing with these tools for a week, all of which are resulting in failed attempts. I'm still unsure if I need to convert them to MPEG-2, VOB etc. I'm also unsure if I need any other programs. I see frequent mentions of DVD Encrypter, TMPGEnc, Winrar etc. which further adds to my confusion. At my current trial and error rate, by the time I finally succeed, DVD's will be obsolete.

Can someone break down the steps, in simple terms, that I need to do in order to convert and burn these and other downloaded videos? Do I need to download another program besides Cucosoft and Nero? And are there any all-in-one tools that automatically converts and burns in one click, leaving the guesswork out for the clueless masses (including myself)? I thought Nero was that tool when I bought it. There has to be an easier way.

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide.

Paul_JS

<img>http://www.geocities.com/pjsullivan201/kingshwy_70.jpg</img>

[jimmalenko]

Essentially, you need to:

1. convert to DVD-compliant MPEG
2. author
3. burn

now the grey area comes when you get all these whizz-bang 1-click apps that integrate steps 1 & 2 into a one click process. Some programs that do this are listed here. Now this convenience is fine, but my personal preference is to do each step "manually", because I've found those programs to be left wanting on several occasions in regards to both final output quality, as well as flexibility in what options you have for menus, bitrates, etc.

I'd convert to MPEG-2 using this guide, author with TMPGEnc DVD Author then burn with Nero if it were me.

[ZippyP.]

If you can give us the details of your mpegs then we can suggest a course of action. Check them with avicodec and post the results.


FYI, one click applications are not usually the best for quality.

[ZippyP.]

1. convert to DVD-compliant MPEG

Might be able to skip this step if the mpegs are already compliant.

[jimmalenko]

1. convert to DVD-compliant MPEG

Might be able to skip this step if the mpegs are already compliant.

I did say essentially ...

[sdsumike619]

a good all-in-one that i use is Ulead dvd workshop, rather pricey but a hell of a lot easier than some of the other authoring programs =)