Can't burn my AVI files made with ffmpegX with Toast

[soctanten]

I'm not yet a registered user of ffmpegX but if this problem is solved I will register straight away.

When I try to burn AVI-files encoded with ffmpegX with Toast 6 (DVD Video mode) I just get the "spinning ball". The files play OK in QuickTime though. The files I encoded were originally MPG1. I can burn other AVI files without a problem so I must be doing something wrong when i convert in ffmpegX.

I'm really a newbie so please keep your reply at a basic level if possible

Thank you!

[thoughton]

Burning in Toast's video mode is going to re-convert your carefully encoded avis back to mpeg2 (the format used in DVDs). If you just want a copy of your avis on a Cd or DVD you should use Toast's data mode.

[soctanten]

Thank you thoughton!
I forgot to mention that the purpose with the DVD I want to burn is to be able to watch it on a standalone DVD player. Would I be able to if I use Data mode in Toast?

[mrhawkinson]

Is your standalone a DivX player?
Here's the settings that work for mine (Philips DVP 642):

TO PUT AVIs ON CD-R
Burn a Data CD (click the Data tab)
Open the Advanced settings and choose ISO 9660 format
In the ISO 9660 window, add your file(s) to the disc
Click the Settings tab and make these choices:

Format: CD-ROM (not CD-ROM XA)
Naming: ISO-9660 Level 1
Check 'Append Version Numbers' and uncheck the other two boxes

(click Set Defaults... to save yourself some time next time your burn a disc)

Click Done and record your disc!


TO PUT AVIS ON DVD
Much easier.
Click Data tab and under Advanced choose DVD-ROM (UDF)
Add files to your disc and burn... I have not needed to monkey with settings at all!

[thoughton]

If your DVD player cannot play divxs then using Toast's Video mode should work. Be warned it will take a long time (possibly as much as 24 hours if you have a slow Mac). It will produce mpeg2 files which play on DVD players, but the quality might be pretty crap

An alternative would be to find out the specs of your original mpeg1 file. If they are VCD or SVCD spec (which is pretty likely) then you can just burn them as S/VCD onto a CD-R which will most modern DVD players have no problems with. If this works you wont lose any quality whatsoever.

In any case, converting from your original mpeg1 direct to DVD (mpeg2) would result in better quality than converting from mpeg1->avi (divx)->DVD (mpeg2). Each time you convert it the quality degrades a little more.

Hope this helps,

[Riot Nrrrd]

If your DVD player cannot play DiVXs then using Toast's Video mode should work. Be warned it will take a long time (possibly as much as 24 hours if you have a slow Mac). It will produce MPEG-2 files which play on DVD players, but the quality might be pretty crap

I can verify this. I took an AVI that plays in QuickTime™ Player, have all the right codecs, blah blah, and converted it in Toast to a DVD-R. The resulting video quality was awful - blocky, pixellated, you name it. I just today finished re-encoding it to DVD-R using ffmpegX's DVD [mpeg2enc] preset setting, and the video came out a lot better. It's still a little darker than the original and not anywhere near as sharp (I *think* it got upscaled from its original 640x532 resolution to 720x480 in the process, which probably didn't help matters) as the original AVI, but it's a far sight better than Toast did - viva la ffmpegX!

[soctanten]

In any case, converting from your original mpeg1 direct to DVD (mpeg2) would result in better quality than converting from mpeg1->avi (divx)->DVD (mpeg2). Each time you convert it the quality degrades a little more.

Hope this helps,

Thank you all! Now I have some options to try

I don't think my old Philips DVDR 880 can handle DivX so right now I'm going to try thoughton's solution (see quote). It's very obvious to me now because the same goes for photos (where I'm less of a newbie) – once you have JPG:d something it'll never have the same quality again. Only, when it comes to video I really haven't got a clue so I'm really greatful for all your help.