MOV to mpeg or avi quality

[Dzigi]

Hello

I have a bunch of mov files which I made with my camera. I want to convert those files to mpeg or avi so I can watch them on my DVD player. How can I convert them so there is no quallity loss. I tried with IM TOO MOV CONVERTER but even if I set all settings to top quallity it encodes it from 11mb to 1.2 mb

Thanks!

[VERVE]

if ur asking which format is lossless when it comes to quality, the answer is .avi as u will see, the size of the files is always huge relatively.

to view it on dvd, u will need to encode them to mpeg-2. This will give u a smaller file size while mainting acceptable quality. more importantly, u will be able to author a dvd using this format.

VERVE

[Dzigi]

Hello Verve
Thanks for your reply.
Yes I'm asking for lossless format.
Unfortunetly my Kodak digital camera only records in .mov files so I must convert them so I can watch them on my dvd player. I'm using WinAvi video converter. It's interesting when you merge multiple mov files into DVD , the dvd content is the same size as the mov files but the quality is not as good as mov files.
When I convert the mov files to avi (with ZJ media MPEG-4 encoder) the files are 1/2 size of the original mov files but the quality is almost the same as mov files so I guess the size is not always important.

[guns1inger]

I wouldn't scrape WinAVI off my shoe if I stepped in it. I'd just burn the shoe and move on.

Get a good encoder and you will get better results. Tmpgenc is cheap and does a good (albeit slow) job. Procoder Express is a little more expensive, but again is very high quality. Even the free HCEnc will do a better job than WinAVI.

[VERVE]

I use Canopus Procoder, and I think it's actually the best tool out there. definetly recommended.

VERVE

[guns1inger]

ProCoder Express is the same engine with a few less options - think CCE Basic for ProCoder.

[Dzigi]

I've tried Canopus Procoder and CCE, and when I set the output file to avi (640X480) I got much larger avi file then original mov. From 11mb to 32mb and the picture was worse then from WinAvi programe, strange

[Dzigi]

Verve
I've downloaded demo version of Canapus Procoder demo wizard (30 days trial) from
http://www.tucows.com/preview/277834

I opened a mov file (12.9Mb) I choose Avi -> Config -> set to 640x480, changed the frame from 15.000 to 30.000 , non-interlaced, 4:3, pixel 1:1, encoder:Cinepak Codec by Radius (that was default)
The Audio : I set to Divx audio , stereo, 16 bit , sample rate 48.000

It took 3 minutes and I got 34.5mb long avi file with poor picture quality , am I doing something wrong?

[VERVE]

u wanna put it on dvd for tv viewing I'm assuming. if it is the case, u need to set the aspect as pal or ntsc.
PAL: 720 x 576
NTSC 720 x 480.

as for the avi, of course it's gonna be bigger. what u need is an mpeg2 format not an .avi so ud author it on dvd.

in procoder, choose

1- procoder wizard (next)
2-choose DVD(next) - PAl or Ntsc
3- MPEG2 for dvd ( the middle one)
4- follow the default setup

when u convert it to mpeg2, u will get a smaller file size with good qualtity, ready to be authored by any dvd authoring tool.

let me know if u need anything else.

VERVE

[Dzigi]

Verve thanks for the info.
I followed your instruction exactly and in the end I got almost the same file size as mov , but I got 2 files :
test (MPEG2-DVD_PAL).m2v
test (MPEG2-DVD_PAL).wav

But I don't know how to author this two to DVD, I'm using DVDShrink but with no success.

[guns1inger]

You cant author with DVD Shrink. It is only for transcoding already authored DVDs. For a simple solution, try Tmpgenc DVD Author or GuiForDVDAuthor (free)

[Dzigi]

guns1inger, I tried GuiForDVDAuthor that you suggested but I can't import the audio file. Video is ok but audio can only import mp2, ac3, mp1, m2p and dts. But I have wav.

[VERVE]

dzigi, thats cos u chose MPEG- Elementary stream. this will break it down to a video file and audio one.
Try MPEG-Program Stream instead. this one will mix them for u, and u'll end up with one file (.m2p) to author.

as for authoring, u need to check the tools section to find which one works for u. I personally use Adobe encore, its not cheap...but brilliant. of course u can use free tools or maybe Nero, which gives u a bit more options (nothing proffessional though).

VERVE

[Dzigi]

Verve please help me, I tried with several GUI programs and nothing works. I can't author .m2p file to dvd. Do you know any free software that does this?
Thanks!

[VERVE]

havent tried freeware authoring tools sorry.

but u can download nero's for trial. that will do the job for now.

VERVE

[guns1inger]

If you can't import .m2p into guifordvdauthor, try changing the extension to .mp2

Or use ffmpeggui to encode your original wav file into AC3 instead.

[Dzigi]

Verve sory but how do you do it with Nero,how do you make a dvd if you have .m2p file ?

guns1inger , I tried to change the extension to .mp2 but it doesn't work, GUIfordvdauthor would only accept m2v

[VERVE]

Let me make it clear that I dont waste my time with gui and freeware when it comes to authoring. That being said, read my suggestion to u:

Ok, u have more than one choice:

first, If u have the m2p u can author it with proffesional tools like Adobe Encore (which u can get a free trial period).

Second, If u have aready fel comfortable with nero and have installed it, then u need to do one thing before u can import ur video to it. U can either:

1- convert ur video to .avi (using procoder) and import it to nero (it will transcode it on its own for dvd)

2- load ur original .mov to procoder like i told u before, but instead of choosing (mpeg2-stream program) choose (vob for dvd) from Procoder.


When u finish, u will get a .vob file, which u can drop in nero (nero will accept it). after that, u can add menus and music..etc to ur dvd.


Good luck
VERVE