Question on burning avis/mpegs to disc

[BeatsWorking]

Hi, I'm a relative newbie to all this and I have one or two questions I'm hoping someone will be able to answer.

The objective: I have a few movies in mpeg and avi format that I want to get on disc to be playable on external DVD players. The file sizes are around 700meg.

The hurdle
- I have a DVD writer but due to the file sizes, on paper CD should be the most sensible format to burn to. However when I try to burn these files, even if the file sizes are initially lower than the capacity of the CD, the burning software will indicate that there isn't enough space and to insert a higher capacity disc. I have read some info on DivX encoded AVIs saying that the file size will increase back to what is was originally when it is burned, so I'm inclined to think that some of my files are encoded in this way. I was wondering if there was an equivilant to DVD shrink for CD or at least something capable of carrying out the same function. How does the rest of the world deal with this?

The objective: To get movies on to DVD

The hurdles
- I've been using WinAVI to convert AVI and mpeg files into DVD files. Sometimes this doesn't work and WinAVI displays a message telling me that a certain codec is not installed. Forgive my ignorance in this area but I have installed a K-Lite codec pack. Should this be enough or do I require something very different.
- Sometimes WinAVI will successfully create DVD files from other formats (from memory I think the only format I've had sucess with has been mpeg). I then try to open these files in DVD Shrink to create an image but an error message comes up and DVD Shrink will not open it.

I have found this site extremely useful and a lot of the knowledge I have is thanks to videohelp. I have done my best to research these problems on my own but I hope you appreciate that sometimes you get a little lost and need someone with more experience to get you back on track.

Thanks.

[mats.hogberg]

You are very generally talking about writing mpegs and AVI to a writable media, like CD-R or DVD-R. This can easily be done - after all, they are just data files, and as such, given a media with enough capacity (>= file size) can be written.
However, I suspect you want to create some kind of video CD/DVD. In this case, the AVI (and mpeg, if it's not encoded according to the target format specifications) has to be reencoded to meet the specifications.
For AVI to DVD, look at the (huge) number of guides on the subject under Convert left.
The mpegs you have, do probably fit some specification already, (VCD or SVCD or CVD or DVD - see What Is top left) and are best authored as such. If it's not compliant with any standard format, the mpg can also be reencoded, in the same manner as an AVI.
The processis rather straight forward: Decide on target format. Encode to meet the format specifications. (Most encoders have presets for these.) Author. Burn.
Codec packs are evil. Use GSpot to find out what codec a particular file needs, download and install latest version if needed.

/Mats

[BeatsWorking]

You are very generally talking about writing mpegs and AVI to a writable media, like CD-R or DVD-R. This can easily be done - after all, they are just data files, and as such, given a media with enough capacity (>= file size) can be written.
However, I suspect you want to create some kind of video CD/DVD.Use GSpot to find out what codec a particular file needs, download and install latest version if needed.

You're right I was talking about video CD/DVD, I was a bit vague there. Thanks.

I do have codecs installed to play every kind of video file I have come into contact with and GSpot confirms that. WinAVI still refuses to encode some of them though. That's the reason I was asking if the K-Lite pack should be enough or if I needed something else?

[mats.hogberg]

K-Lite pack might well have ruined your system, for all I know, at least if it's anywhere near the Nimo codec pack.
If you're having trouble with a particular file, don't use one-click-wonder apps, as there's no telling where in the process things start to go wrong.
For AVIs, VirtualDub MP3 Freeze is good to have at hand, scanning for bad frames - all unknown AVIs should be scanned before further processed.

/Mats