Converting AVI to DVD Mpeg2 for future burning

[theharebreaks]

Hi All,

Hope I have the right forum.

Ok, I have some avi files, these are 640*480 at 25fps.
Also, a few at 320*240 as well.

I want to convert these to mpeg2 so that I can burn them onto
DVD. But I am unable to buy a DVD Writer at the moment, so
am planning on putting them on CDR until I get a DVD player.

What are my options. I am using TMPGenc to convert.

Should I split the video and sound or have a mpeg2 file
which contains both.

If I have, say, myvideo.mpg (MPEG2) will I easily be
able to burn this to DVD without any more conversions.

From my understanding if I convert from AVI to mpg
I will get best results, compared with converting
from, say, mpeg1 to mpeg2 in the future. Basically
want to avoid any more conversions later, so as to
avoid loss of quality. But want to make sure
I have the right format file.

As the AVI files are VERY big I want to convert now,
rather then keep the AVI files on my HDD and wait
to do the conversion until I have a DVD Writer.

Many Thanks
Abid

[johnny quest]

Well, I think by your question that you are assuming that a dvd compliant mpeg2 file will be smaller than your avi's, this is incorrect, they will be larger. So if you want to store them on a cdr, I would leave them in avi format and then convert when you get a dvd writer.

As to your question about having to do more conversions after converting to dvd compliant mpeg2, no there is no more converting required, however, you can't just burn the mpeg2's with Nero like a (S)VCD. You will have to author the dvd with SpruceUp, Maestro, MovieFactory, etc. Depending on which program, you may have to take more steps to burn if the program doesn't provide a burning option.

I would suggest reading the guides here as they are the most helpful.

[theharebreaks]

Hi johnny,

The AVI files that I have are VERY LARGE and if I convert
to DVD Mpeg in TMPGenc then the file size is reduced,
quite a bit. (650MB AVI down to 70MB mpeg).

Thanks for the rest of the info, that was useful.

Regards,
Abid

[mando]

Could be .AVI DV Uncompress, so compress to MPG2 will geve you a smaller file, but because the Res.. that you mention I don't think they are uncompress.

You have to option in MPG2, DVD and SVCD, DVD support different Frame size like 720x480, 640x480 (NTSC), but I think that SVCD support just 480x480 (Not sure). If you want to burn them later on to DVD, my sugestion is go for the DVD format, in that way you dont have to re-compress later on.

In TMPGEnc click Load and select DVD (NTSC) or (PAL).

Hope that help

[DJRumpy]

If your AVI's are using a newer MPEG-4 codec, like DivX, XviD, or WMV, then you should just keep them in that format until you have a burner. They will be much smaller as they are then they would as MPEG-2. If the codec they are compressed with uses a lower compression ratio (like Huffman, or DV codecs), then you would be better served converting them to MPEG (2 or 4). You can use GSPOT in the TOOLS section to determine what Video codec your AVI's are using.

You have to option in MPG2, DVD and SVCD, DVD support different Frame size like 720x480, 640x480 (NTSC), but I think that SVCD support just 480x480 (Not sure).

NTSC DVD supports only 720x480, 704x480, 352x480, and 352,240. It does not support 640x480, or 480x480 (svcd).

Note that the 352x480 (CVD) resolution is both compatible with CD-R ( CVD is the precursor to SVCD), and DVD media. If you wanted, you could re-encode these AVI's to CVD, and later move them to DVD without re-encoding the video (you would have to resample the audio, but it takes very little time, and will not affect your video quality). Using this smaller resolution, you could easily fit your entire movie onto DVD when you do get a burner. The original MPEG's could be rejoined using any MPEG Join tool.

That said, assuming your AVI's are using something big, like Huffman, or DV, I would probably just re-encode them to XviD, or DivX. Given enough bitrate the drop in quality should be unnoticable. The output file size will still be substantially smaller than a Huffman, or DV AVI (MPEG-4 is compresses to something like 29:1, where DV is 5:1, and Huffman is 2:1), and you can place the entire AVI onto a CD-R or two. It will also let you keep your higher resolutions intact until you do have a dvd burner. If you absolutely cannot wait to re-encode these to MPEG-2, and you want to view them on CD-R, then use the CVD resolution (352x480).

[mando]

Sorry.

DJ you are right, my mistake.....

NTSC DVD supports only 720x480, 704x480, 352x480, and 352,240. It does not support 640x480, or 480x480 (svcd).