Recorded first DVD, have issues-

[kidred]

Hey all. I downloaded the mpeg4 version of Night of the Living Dead which went public a few days ago. I used ffmpegX and made the Toast file and then burned it to DVD-R. Everything was fine and it played in Apple's DVD player and in my Denon. However, while playing in my Denon I noticed some issues I was hoping someone could explain what I need to change, or what I did wrong.

Firstly, when I selected DVD 16:9 as suggested because of my TV, I received an error that encoding failed. So, I left that unchecked and it encoded fine. However, it's 4:3 (originally I assume) but I wanted default black bars on the disk as my TV defaults to grey bars. Why did it fail?

Secondly, the video was horribly interlaced, th Interlacing option was left unchecked, should I have checked that? Should this always be checked or unchecked?

Lastly and most importantly, the image went horribly crazy pixelated and audio crapped out during fast motion scenes. As if playing a huge video over broadband-so a possible compression issue. What caused this and how can I fix it? The movie was therefore unwatchable as huge squares, choppy clips and crackling audio whenever someone moved with any kind of speed.

Is there a guide on EVERY feature of ffmpegX? There are so many options and I have no idea what they do. Like what encoder is best? Why do i have to install the 3 components everytime I open ffmpegx? It this the best way to go, using ffmepgx? It was easy, but I want the best quality, the best possible DVD in terms of both audio and video.

Thanks

[BsMx]

well, I can't help you so much because I'm not an expert, but I always had problems with ffmpegX so I moved to MPEG2 Works and it doesn't give me any problems.

Try MPEG2 Works, I think it's easier to use than ffmpegX and better encoding

[kidred]

I'll try and find that and give it a try thanks. Are there any any other programs that I should be aware of? I just backed up with MactheRipper and want to test.

[terryj]

You know, this film can be found in Wal-mart's $1 DVD bins.
I just picked up a copy two weeks ago.

Saves the whole hassle of downloading....

[kidred]

terryj- Yea, but because after downloading one step of the whole process is done, I figured it would be a good way to get my feet wet.

[terryj]

Always nice to get wet,
but always smarter to choose
WHEN to get wet.