MPEG and/or AVI to DVD with Toast 7

[g4jedi]

Could somone give me the proper specs of the video so that Toast 7 doesn't have to re-encode the video? Toast takes forever and it seems to crash a lot during the encoding process. I'd like to use another application such as ffmpegX (any other recommendations?) to convert the video files to something Toast won't have to re-encode. What specs should I use?

[Frobozz]

The DVD specs are described in the What is DVD link at the top left of this page.

What are the current specs of your video files? Are they MPEG 2?

[g4jedi]

MPEG1 Muxed, 320 x 240 30fps

Some are AVI files, but most of them are MPEG1.

[Frobozz]

What you have meets the standard for Video CD. It might work as a video DVD on a DVD player that also plays video CDs. The quality won't look any better than just making Video CDs with Toast 7, however.

If you really want a video DVD you can force Toast 7 not to re-encode. Click the "More" button on the bottom left and then choose the Encoding tab and then the Custom button. Where you see Reencoding, choose Never.

The AVI files need to contain MPEG 1 or 2 video as well.

Now proceed to burn your DVD.

[g4jedi]

Thank you very much. I'll try that. The reason I'd like to make a video DVD is because I'd like to have multiple videos on one disc.

[g4jedi]

I did what you said and told toast not to re-encode. However, it still goes through a "re-encoding" process. Looking in the Roxio Converted Items folder, it's making a .m1a file as well as a .m1v file.

[Frobozz]

That isn't re-encoding. That is multiplexing. The audio and video must be separated into two streams before they are muxed back together in the VOBs. This goes much faster than does re-encoding the video.

[g4jedi]

I kinda figured that, but wasn't sure. Thanks.

[g4jedi]

Looks like it worked. Plays in Apple DVD Player. I'll test it in my DVD player at home and report back...

[g4jedi]

Well, the resulting DVD from Toast did, in fact, play in my DVD player. However, some of the MPEG files got messed up. One lost the sound, while the other had serious video and sound problems. All the MPEG files had the exact same specs of MPEG1 Muxed 30FPS. They all play fine in Quicktime and VLC too. So... it looks like I'll try ffmpegX.

[robinhoodless]

i have some problems with this. i was told toast 7 would burn avi onto dvd that any/most dvd players would play. i have 2 dvd players both do not recognise the disks i burnt. i also tried custom encoding and selected never and it took even longer than before and still had same problem.

[g4jedi]

Too bad there isn't an easier way to do this. A fool-proof method would be even better, but alas, that's just a dream. I tried to convert one of the MPEG files I mentioned above to VOB (video_ts) using ffmpegX. 8% of the way into it... Kernel Panic! The file plays perfectly in QuickTime, so I have no idea what the deal is. UGH! Back to square one. Any other suggestions?

[robinhoodless]

dude, i couldn't even fire up ffmpegx after downloading from the link above. couldn't even install the binaries it said i had to. hell, i couldn't even play a burnt dvd on the mac i just burnt it on....!!!!! just how do you burn avi onto dvd??? mystery madness. i may be new to mac, but i'm not thick, but so far i feel like i got a pea in my head........!!!!!

[g4jedi]

Did you download each piece listed in the setup window? That window can be a little misleading. I had to copy the URL for each piece from that window and paste it in the browser. Once all three pieces have been downloaded, I pointed to those in the setup window. I hope that helps with ffmpegX. In regards to the DVD you just burned... How did you do it? AVI's have to be coverted before going onto a video DVD...

[robinhoodless]

will come back to ffmpegx. i was told toast 7 would burn avi straight off, and would be able to play dvd in pretty much any player. hhm, so what do i need to convert the files to before burning?

[g4jedi]

Yes, Toast can do it (versions 6 AND 7). However, it will have to re-encode the video. It takes forever and sometimes gives mixed results.

[robinhoodless]

thats what i thought, but they don't play on the 2 dvd players i own. not even on the mac i just burnt!! on dvdplayer, when i press play, it says supported disc not available. another strange thing, the discs are rw, but toast spits them out asking for an empty disc

[g4jedi]

You burned the DVDs in the wrong format. When Toast "splits" DVDs, that means it is burned as a Mac data disk. To burn a video DVD, you need to select the video tab for it to re-encode video tracks and burn a standard video DVD. You can also burn a standard video DVD from the data tab by choosing DVD-ROM (UDF), but that requires dragging a prepared VIDEO_TS folder with VOB files.

[robinhoodless]

ok, just to be sure, coz it takes so bloody long. i need to select video cd? coz if thats the case, yes i got it wrong before. if you mean dvd video, i didn't get it wrong, and somethin is way up.

[g4jedi]

If you are planning on making a Video DVD out of AVI files and expect it to play on any DVD player, then you have to click on the Video tab and choose DVD-video on the left. It will have to re-encode the AVI to proper specs, which will take hours. If this didn't work for you, either your DVD player or your Mac doesn't like the media or something esle is wrong.

[robinhoodless]

well thanks for your patience dude, but after all that i was doing it right anyway. just doesn't like it for some reason. my mac plays the avi no problem and theres nothing wrong with them in terms of picture and sound quality. just won't play. bugger!!

[g4jedi]

Sounds like Toast didn't convert the AVI file properly then. Someone really needs to make an application that does it all. Convert all video formats to any other video format. I would gladly pay for such an application. I realize that ffmpegX is supposed to be able to do this, but quite frankly I find ffmpegX very non-user-friendly.

[Frobozz]

thats what i thought, but they don't play on the 2 dvd players i own. not even on the mac i just burnt!! on dvdplayer, when i press play, it says supported disc not available. another strange thing, the discs are rw, but toast spits them out asking for an empty disc

Are they DVD+RW or DVD-RW discs? What OS, Mac, DVD burner and version of Toast 6 are you using? As for Toast ejecting the RW disc, you must erase it before Toast can rewrite to it. You'll see the the Erase command in the Toast Recorder menu. A quick erase will work fine.

There are many different video codecs that can be placed in an AVI container. I'm guessing that yours is a Divx codec. You need to download and install the Divx (and I suggest the 3ivx codec as well) if Toast is to properly read the video and audio in the file. Another option is to use Divx Doctor II to convert the AVI to a format that is certain to work with Toast.

Have you tried to play the DVD you burned on your Mac with VLC Media Player instead of DVD Player? It may be that your DVD Player doesn't play movies burned to RW media.

When you look inside the DVD that Toast burned do you see an AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folder?

[g4jedi]

Good suggestions Frobozz! I totally forgot about that stuff. Maybe that will help him.

[robinhoodless]

wow. am totally new to ALL this stuff. could pop from anticipation right now. just give me a day or so and i'll let you know how i got on.

[g4jedi]

Yeah... we could sort of tell you are new to this. But we won't hold it against you.

[robinhoodless]

ok. yes, vlc did play the dvd i burned. two problems though, the basic menu i created skips straight to the movie. the picture quality is poor, no where near as good as the original avi file. so not much point. should have thought to try vlc though.

i downloaded divx doctor II and that worked fine, along with the extra codec 3ivx, but again the quality diminished considerably, and when i played the converted file it chopped off 2cm from each side of the screen. this wasn't there with the avi, stretching right accross the screen.

have looked at the file info and the extention is .m 1 is that normal? doesn't say mp4 anywhere. or am i just being a total novice again!!?? i burned onto disc and it played fine, but again the quality was pretty poor. the 2cm i lossed either side when playing in quicktime mysteriously reappeared when played on dvd. rather strange, but hey, i'm not complaining!

just to answer your other q's. the discs are -rw, erasing worked fine, as you know. i'm on osx 10.4.2 g4 17" powerbook and using toast 7. and yes, when i opened the original burned disc (the one that didn't work) there were two folders video ts/audio ts.

last thing. don't know if this is normal but the converted file (mp4) was much much smaller than the avi. about 1/3 the size. does divx doctor II compress as well as convert?

thanks for your advice, and sorry jedi, i totally took over your post and your still left without an answer to your problem. you've been most gracious.

if anyones got any tips about fine tuning the conversion for better quality, i'm all ears. thanks again......