Burning Multiple TV Episode Files Onto One DVD

[Kerroj]

This is my first post and I apologize on its' length. I have 8 seasons of a TV series (1/2 hour episodes) that I downloaded for my girlfriend. I have an old Dell XP computer and I was going to use ConvertXToDVD to convert these to DVD to play on any DVD player. I figured I can convert & burn 8 episodes onto 1 DVD and still retain good quality. My girlfriend wanted to try and burn the episodes herself on her Windows 7 computer using the included Windows DVD Maker so I copied the files on a 64GB flash drive and gave that to her. I was shocked when she told me she was able to fit all of season 1 (24 1/2 hour episodes) onto 1 DVD and that it only took her about 20 minutes to do it! I checked the 1st DVD she made and it played great on her LG DVD player and looked great on her 40" HDTV! WOW! I am jealous... It would have taken me about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to make one DVD of 8 episodes using ConvertXToDVD on my XP.. Since then, I have been scouring the internet and multiple forums for a program like this that I can use on my old XP machine that would do the same thing, but I haven't found it. Do any exist? What is the program that Microsoft uses for their Windows DVD Maker which was introduced beginning with Vista? Is the reason why my girlfriend can fit so many episodes onto 1 DVD because the program uses data-DVD conversion software? I read somewhere that if you make a DVD data disc, you can fit multiple movies and TV episodes onto 1 DVD. I would love to be able to do this because I have many TV series video files that I would like to transfer to DVD and use much less blank media to do it! I have searched these forums extensively here and have not found the answers to my questions. Any of the knowledgeable people on here willing to help me out? It would be much appreciated!!!

[jman98]

Your girlfriend made a data disc and did not convert like you did in the past. This is how she did it so quickly. It is NOT in DVD format so she is just fortunate that she has a player that understands whatever format (AVI probably) the videos are in. Some DVD players will not play such discs. If you put her disc in your PC you will see that it contains no VIDEO_TS folder and that underneath that folder there are no file names than end in .IFO and .VOB, all of which true DVD format requires.

HDTVs contain various filters to deal with imperfect video sources and yes, the clips you saw probably really do look good on her TV, but if you get rip up next to the TV while they play you will see some imperfections in the source that you just can't notice at normal viewing distance.

[Kerroj]

Your girlfriend made a data disc and did not convert like you did in the past. This is how she did it so quickly. It is NOT in DVD format so she is just fortunate that she has a player that understands whatever format (AVI probably) the videos are in. Some DVD players will not play such discs. If you put her disc in your PC you will see that it contains no VIDEO_TS folder and that underneath that folder there are no file names than end in .IFO and .VOB, all of which true DVD format requires.

HDTVs contain various filters to deal with imperfect video sources and yes, the clips you saw probably really do look good on her TV, but if you get rip up next to the TV while they play you will see some imperfections in the source that you just can't notice at normal viewing distance.

Thanks for the input! I will take a closer look at the DVD she made.

Once I tried putting on several movies as a data DVD using Nero, but it didn't work. Are there any programs out there that would work with XP? I'd like to try this out.

[jman98]

Install the free ImgBurn buring program and look for a guide on how to use it to make data discs. It's not difficult.

[Kerroj]

Install the free ImgBurn buring program and look for a guide on how to use it to make data discs. It's not difficult.

Cool! Thank you!

[sanlyn]

Eight 1/2 hour episodes on single-layer DVD? That's 4 hours. 4 hours of standard DVD on a single-layer disc, it would look better (or just as bad) if you recorded them to VHS tape. I'd suggest a dual-layer DVD for 4 hours of video. There is plenty of free (and budget paid) software that will let you do it.

[tarzan54]

Don't mean to hijack an old thread but if you take out all those stupid commercials each show is around 21 minutes making it about 2 hours and 50 minutes long, The reason I found this thread is because I'm looking to join alot of my TV show dvds into 1 dvd, sanlyn which software would you recommend?

[Kerry56]

I'm not sanlyn, but I'd recommend AVStoDVD if you want dvd-video. You can make a menu to select each individual episode. Use the HC encoder in a two pass configuration within AVStoDVD.

[sanlyn]

Don't mean to hijack an old thread but if you take out all those stupid commercials each show is around 21 minutes making it about 2 hours and 50 minutes long, The reason I found this thread is because I'm looking to join alot of my TV show dvds into 1 dvd, sanlyn which software would you recommend?

I don't care whose sofyware is recommended, as apparently very few people understand that more than 2 hours on a single-layer DVD is below-average quality that looks worse than VHS.

[tarzan54]

From what I see on my DVDS I will take them over any VHS anytime, But let me correct what I said in post#7, I want to take the TV shows and put them on one Bluray disk which should hold 4 or 5 dvds.

[sanlyn]

Oh. BluRay disc. Then you have plenty of room. I don't know what some players will do with that. Never tried it. I put DVD on DVD, but I guess it would work. Too early in the day for living on the edge.

[tarzan54]

From what I have been reading you can take the dvds and make a data bluray disk but not all bluray players will play them as you have stated.

[sanlyn]

I'd go for good quality at a decent bitrate and use Verbatim DVD+R_DL dual layer. Most retail DVD's are dual layer to begin with. Use Imgburn to make it easier. I must have dozens of dual-layer DVD's that I've made over the years. Even my TMPGenc DVD Author apps will author it and burn it properly. Works every time, assuming you do what the apps tells you to do.

[usually_quiet]

One thing you should know, even the best BD-R (except for Panasonic probably) and the best dual layer DVD media don't have a lifespan equivalent to good DVD+R or DVD-R media. After a couple of years they may be unreadable.

[sanlyn]

Everything of value is backed up on hard drives. Getting quite a collection here.

[enim]

even the best BD-R (except for Panasonic probably) and the best dual layer DVD media don't have a lifespan equivalent to good DVD+R or DVD-R media. After a couple of years they may be unreadable.

Everything of value is backed up on hard drives. Getting quite a collection here.

When I tried to play BD25 backup, I noticed pixelating, I played original which was fine. I would also like mention that bottom of BD-R25 was un-scratched.The reason I can guess in case of BD-R 25 or 50 for pixlating is very high data density. BD-Rs not worth paying high prices, I would prefer 4.3gb mkv backup on DVD-R with crispy encode, which in turn very cost effective and give almost same taste with original audio. On HDD I usually prefer 1:1, as I do not buy all but a few.

[sanlyn]

I would prefer 4.3gb mkv backup on DVD-R with crispy encode

You won't get a "crispy encode" at nearly 3 hours on a single layer DVD. Your bitrate will be down to about 3K VBR -- which is half of what you need for "crispy".

[enim]

Your bitrate will be down to about 3K VBR -- which is half of what you need for "crispy".

agree, rough guess out of expereince bit rate requirements for good encode is roughly 2700+kbps for 720p and 5500+kbps for 1080p. Your experience may vary.

[Kerry56]

From what I see on my DVDS I will take them over any VHS anytime, But let me correct what I said in post#7, I want to take the TV shows and put them on one Bluray disk which should hold 4 or 5 dvds.

If you are starting with dvd-video and they are full resolution, they should already be compliant to blu ray specifications. You can make a blu ray video out of them and include a menu to select each episode.

This can be done in one tool, MultiAVCHD. Or you can make an oversized dvd-video and author to blu ray. http://club.myce.com/f32/guide-combining-dvd-videos-into-blu-ray-331859/
If all of the videos will fit without compression, you won't lose any video quality. And this should play on any blu ray player.

Edit: Since you are starting with episodic dvds, you might want to rip each episode individually. DVDDecrypter should be able to do this.

[tarzan54]

Thanks Kerry56, Just what I was looking for, I tried Womble Mpeg Video Wizard which gave me sound and no picture, Tried VideoReDo which I had a hard time trying to fiqure out how to use it, Then tried Leawo Video Converter Ultimate and it worked perfect, Just add your vob video files from the dvd and pick what format you want which I picked mpeg4 and hit start then your done.

[sanlyn]

MPEG4 is not DVD.

[tarzan54]

I wanted to make the files mpeg4 so they were compatible with a bluray disk so I knew they would work on my bluray player if I did it right.

[manono]

I wanted to make the files mpeg4 so they were compatible with a bluray disk so I knew they would work on my bluray player if I did it right.

Do they?

[sanlyn]

Oh. The O.P. changed his mind about "DVD". Look at the title of this thread.

[tarzan54]

The OP was asking about DVD and I'm not the OP, But I jumped in and got alittle off topic with asking about the same thing except burning to a Bluray disk, Maybe I should have started a new thread, manono, yes they did work and it took awhile but I'm still going to look for something faster, I will try Kerry56 suggestion next.