Converting and writing

[headcoat]

Sorry if this in the wrong place, new to thsi site and new to DVD writing. I am trying to find the best program and way of creating my own DVDs and have a number of questions. Firstly, I have been trying various trialware programs before purchasing one, my favourite for simplicity is Ulead movie factory V4.0.

However my gripe with this is the amount of time it takes to convert an AVI file. I found a program WinAvi that does it in a fraction of the time, however how do I then get these files into the ulead.

That is my main concern converting (quickly) AVI's to DVD format.

Secondly, I have a video/dvd recorder and can aound 8 hours onto a DVD ie by using extended play, can I do this with a computer and ulead. So far I can only get around 2 hours onto a 4gb DVD.

thank in advance for the help

[Cunhambebe]

Well, this is a good start: I would recommend you buy Sony DVD Archtiect instead of U-Lead.

[jagabo]

Secondly, I have a video/dvd recorder and can aound 8 hours onto a DVD ie by using extended play, can I do this with a computer and ulead. So far I can only get around 2 hours onto a 4gb DVD.

Click on the little gear icon in the lower left hand corner to bring up the Project Settings dialog. Press the Change MPEG Settings button and select from the options. If you don't like any of the templates you can pick Customize. For 8 hours you'll probably want a 352x240 frame size and about 1000 kbps bitrate. The picture won't be great.

[guns1inger]

Before wasting your money on WinAVI, read this https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1395721#1395721 then do a search through the forums for WinAVI and note the number of posts relating to problems it has (rather than user caused problems).

8 hours on a single layer DVD is lower than VCD bitrate - why would you do that to your eyes ?

[headcoat]

Thanks for your help, I will stear clear of WinAVi.

When copying from VHS to DVD at 8 hours the quality looks exactly the same to me on a TV, but I guess from your responses it doesn't work like that on a computer.

[guns1inger]

The biggest single bottleneck you have is your PC. It is simply not as powerful as the average PC is nowadays, and the speeds you are experiencing when encoding are probably about right for your machine.

[headcoat]

I guess its time to upgrade, now I'm getting into video

[guns1inger]

yup