Export Several Formats to One DVD

[Amirhosain]

Hi, I've several video files with .dat, .avi .mkv formats and I want to make a DVD including all these videos in separate titles (or chapters), volume of all files are small enough to fit on one 4.7GB DVD. I try many tools, some can't convert some formats and the others expand a file to whole a DVD and can't make multi-title DVD. So, what tool can both:
1) Convert .dat, .avi & .mkv to DVD
2) Insert all converted files to a multi-title DVD
Thanks

[guns1inger]

ConvertXtoDVD can do most of these, if not all. Will they all fit ? Who knows. It depends on how long the combined running time is.

[PuzZLeR]

You also have to understand that if you convert from one format to the other, the resulting file may not fit in with it's new size.

For example, your .avi file could be a huge beast where your project would be much smaller after conversion, or your .avi file could be compressed (such as with the DivX codec) and would become larger after conversion.

I've converted lots of stuff with WinAVI. It's incredibly fast. Try it out, and I'm sure you'll like it enough to register it with its low price.

The trick here is that if you can convert the files to .mpg (MPEG-2 is the DVD standard) you've done it. Then load them up in an authoring package (I use NeroVision) and you can make them chapters or whatever you want them to be.

Good luck.

[mats.hogberg]

Bear in mind tho, that WinAvi and NeroVision are generally considered the worst apps ever, in their respective area (video encoding / DVD authoring). Obviously, YMMV.

/Mats

[AlanHK]

So, what tool can both:
1) Convert .dat, .avi & .mkv to DVD
2) Insert all converted files to a multi-title DVD

Better to use separate tools.

1) Convert (transcode) each to MPEG2 using whatever works.
2) Author the resulting MPEGs.

For Avi I use Avisynth to serve the files and HCenc to encode video, Besweet the audio.
I use GuiforDVDAuthor for the authoring part myself.

I suspect you could use Aviynth filters to load most kinds of files.
"Dat" could be anything. Use GSpot to diagnose the filetypes.

[mats.hogberg]

.dat is most likely VCD video. May pass as mpg, if you change the extension. If not, get the MPG out of the VCD using VCDGear.

/Mats

[PuzZLeR]

Bear in mind tho, that WinAvi and NeroVision are generally considered the worst apps ever, in their respective area (video encoding / DVD authoring). Obviously, YMMV.

/Mats

Both have worked flawlessly for me while others have given me problems. I'm basing it on my own experience yes, but I'd love to know why they are considered the worst apps ever. Thanks in advance.

[mats.hogberg]

why they are considered the worst apps ever

Just counting the questions related to problems with WinAVI and/or NeroVision tells the story. They are both commercial apps, but the support seems non existent. On my scale, they are down there along with codec packs.
If they work for you, by all means go ahead and use them.

/Mats

[PuzZLeR]

why they are considered the worst apps ever

Just counting the questions related to problems with WinAVI and/or NeroVision tells the story. They are both commercial apps, but the support seems non existent. On my scale, they are down there along with codec packs.
If they work for you, by all means go ahead and use them.

/Mats

Appreciate the input thanks. I believe there's alot of questions and issues regarding these apps because of their wide usage. The more of them sold, the more customers, the more customer issues. This would be the case of any product.

Yes, the support for them is horrid. But in my case, as long as they're doing what they're doing, I don't need it anyway.

I agree that WinAVI has its faults, but I wouldn't say it's the worst in its industry. Nero? I can't say a bad thing about them.

Nero is the only author/burn app that gives me results without jerkiness, hanging, bad video, un-optimized .vobs, etc. etc. Just using the Nero Image Drive alone to test discs has saved me tons of coasters. I've even tailored it my way by using a "blank font" and designing my own templates, buttons, backgrounds, etc. instead of that "cookie cutter" average consumer stuff. And I always have my video ready and compliant before I add it into Nero, so basically Nero doesn't have to do anything much but burn it.

If Nero ever gives me any stubborn issues, they are usually resolved with restarting my PC. If Nero continues to go astray on me, it's not the only app that does. It's then time to reformat the PC and restart fresh because I build alot of conflicts/junk over time with my usage, which would also probably solve a big percentage of the problems asked about on this forum.

Anyway, whatever works for one individual is great and I recommend they stick with it. I hate having to love something that's commercial, and marketed for the novice, but at my age, I guess I'd prefer peace of mind.

Cheers!

[guns1inger]

I would suggest that WinAVI is not widely used because it is good, but because it is easily available through non-commercial channels. Aside from the fact it produces lower quality, and often non-compliant DVD output when it does work, and more frequently crashes for unknown reasons instead, the main thing we have against WinAVI is the fact that the owners frequently spam our forums with bogus offers of advice and support that a) wastes Baldrick's bandwidth, and b) are simply not reflected in the quality of their product or it's support. If they simply produced a sub-standard conversion software, they could be written off as just another player in an over-crowded sub-standard market. However their dubious business practices have earned a special place of hatred and distain amongst many longer term members here.

As for NeroVision - yes, many use it because it is given away free with so many burners, but it is a lower quality encoder, and has a bad habit of needlessly re-encoding compliant material for no good reason.

Quality is in the eye of the beholder, and if you are happy with the performance and quality these products produce, then by all means continue to use them. However the longer term experience of memebers here means you won't find much support for any recommendations to use them. Especially when there are so many better methods and tools, many of them free of at a similar cost.

[ZippyP.]

winavi and nero are "one click" solutions that do it all but are not particularily good at anything. They have no flexibility to change settings according to user preferences.