TV episodes -> DVD-R: ffmpegx and/or Toast encoding?

[broaddd]

For my first experiment in converting DivX TV episodes to DVD-R, I used ffmpegx to convert each 1hr episode into a VIDEO_TS folder of about 1gb, then used DVD2OneX to join four VIDEO_TS folders into one - with the advanced navigation turned on so each can be accessed like chapters. That worked quite well.

But perhaps life would be much easier if I used ffmpegx to convert them into some video format Toast 6.03 can then encode for me, as it apparently also adds a simple button menu which would be nice.

I tried dragging the .mpg files from my first experiment above into Toast but it gave me a -36 IO error.

BTW the episodes are in NTSC film format, but I want the DVD-R to be in PAL format.

Look forward to any tips.

Cheers,
Bruce

[NarenFish]

Actually your life would be much easier if you download the DivX 5.2.1 Quicktime component. Then Toast 6 will encode it straight up.

[broaddd]

Will that also work for XVIDs or is there a separate download for that? Thanks!

Bruce

[terryj]

for XVIDS, get the 3ivx component.
http://www.3ivx.com

[NarenFish]

Doh, now that you mention it, I just noticed I have both components so yeah, you probably need both. I thought the Divx plugin supplanted some of the functions of the 3ivx plugin when both are present?

I know 3ivx doesn't support MP3 audio.

[terryj]

I know 3ivx doesn't support MP3 audio.

Um, yeah it does.
http://www.3ivx.com/support/tbd_45.html

What's new in 3ivx D4 4.51 Codec:

* MP3 audio in MP4 files is supported

[G13]

Going the Toast route, you're still going to have the problem of NTSC source material output to a PAL DVD. Toast won't do the conversion. You'll need to convert all of your source material to PAL 1st. JES Deinterlacer will do it for you. Then you can take your converted PAL footage and create your DVD in Toast. I'd recommend upgrading to at least Toast 6.09. Good luck.

[broaddd]

I've tried the suggestions here but there are a few problems:
- Toast will happily encode one episode and make a working PAL disc image; but
- it crashes when trying to encode 4 episodes, and would have created a 7.25gb image anyway (can you force it to encode to single-layer DVD size?)

As an alternative, as Toast's menu creation system seems very easy, can I use ffmpegx to encode the 4 episodes to 4x 1gb video/audio files that Toast will accept and create a 4gb disc image with menus, without Toast spending hours reencoding what ffmegpx has already encoded?

Maybe I should just turn to Sizzle, but last time I used that (admittedly a long time ago) it seemed more trouble.

Thanks,
Bruce

[terryj]

If you plan on using Toast, and yu want to curb your
re-encoding times, then you must do one or the other:

A. encode all your video as 320 x 240 QT .mov files.
Use something Toast likes for the encoding,
such as 3ivx, Sorenson or Motion JPEG-A.
for the audio use either mp3 or AIFF.

Once saved out of Quicktime Pro this way,
drag and drop into Toast, and toast will encode
4 eps this way to fit onto 4.4GB space.

or

B. Use ffmpegx to encode the files NTSC formatted
MPEG-4[.MOV].
use 320 x 240 ( or some derivative based upon your file sizes.)
Encode the audio as .MP3, and then let Toast re-encode
to DVD.

[NarenFish]

I know 3ivx doesn't support MP3 audio.

Um, yeah it does.
http://www.3ivx.com/support/tbd_45.html

What's new in 3ivx D4 4.51 Codec:

* MP3 audio in MP4 files is supported

I'm talking about the 3ivx QuickTime Video Codec not the 3ivx DirectShow Media Splitter, whatever the hell that is. The 3ivx D4 4.5.1 for OS X codec does not support mp3 audio! It's rather easy to test, simply try to play a mp3 audio divx in Qt with only the 3ivx codec installed and you're gonna' get bumpkis with the audio. :P

[terryj]

I stand corrected.
Without BOTH the DIVX 5.21 and 3iVX codecs installed,
certain DIVX .avi files will not playback MP3 audio.
If you ONLY have the 3ivx codec installed, the video will play, but the audio will be muted.

However, bouncing these files through ffmpegx and creating
MPG4[.MOV] with audio set to re-encode to generic AAC
128kbps audio will then enable those files to play
fine through [with only] the 3ivx codec.