poor man's authoring solution

[SirDracula]

I got an .avi file which I converted to MPEG-2 for TiVo using Videora TiVo Converter. The file plays great on my TiVo.

Now I would like to burn a DVD from this 1.6GB .mpg file (DVD structure that can play in a DVD player, not a data DVD with the mpg file).

1) This .mpg file is already DVD compliant (or so it claims). What is the SIMPLEST, fastest, ugly and FREE solution that lets me create the DVD structure (VIDEO_TS, IFO and VOBs) out of this .mpg file? I don't need menus and other fancy stuff and the software doesn't need to burn the DVD, I have (free) software for that. I just want the poor man's solution to go from the .mpg file to the DVD structure files so that the DVD just plays right away. I hope I don't have to use more than 1 tool.

2) If in the future I want to skip the step of going through the .mpg file and just want to go from .avi (or other formats) to DVD directly, what would you recommend? Again, SIMPLE to use, can be an ugly tool, no need for menus, and it must be FREE (poor man again).

I did search the forums and I see a lot of fancy and expensive solutions mentioned, not so much free stuff.

thank you for your help

[redwudz]

Try GUI for dvdauthor or one of the other freeware authoring frontends that use the same program would be my choice if you just need to author it.

But if you want freeware quick and easy, try DivxToDVD. It's an older version of ConvertXToDVD, which has quite a few improvements. The newer ConvertXToDVD's not freeware, but it's cheap enough and does a good job with most conversions.

You can also check if it's really 'DVD compliant' by dropping it into Gspot 2.60 and comparing the information there to what is shown in 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page. <<<<<<

There are also freeware encoders in our 'Tools' section to the left. You might look at HC as it appears to do a fairly good job.

And welcome to our forums.

[SirDracula]

Thanks for your reply.

Digging through the many threads, I discovered new ones (new to me):

DVDStyler - any good?

Cucusoft DVD Author - any good?

Video DVD Maker Free - any good?

SUPER - can this one create the DVD structure or it just creates mpeg files? it's unclear from its page

MediaCoder - same question, can this one create the DVD structure?

[guns1inger]

SUPER can create VOB files, but I don't know that you get a full DVD structure. Same with MediaCoder. Assuming the VOBs are good, ifoedit could quickly finish them off.

DVD Styler is just another DVD Author front end. A few seem to use it, most seem to use GUIforDVDAuthor or DVDAuthorGUI instead, depending on the complexity of the disc.

There is also muxman.

One question that does come to mind is what you are hoping to achieve. If you just want something to convert files quickly and simply, and quality isn't the top priority, then DivxtoDVD (or even ConvertXtoDVD - it's pretty cheap) will meet your needs. Quality is OK, certainly on par with SUPER and MediaCoder for mpeg2, and you get a DVD Structure ready to burn. ConvertXtoDVD will also give you up to 2 audio tracks, subtitles, and a basic menu screen if you want it.

If you want to author DVDs that have some style and a reasonable to good quality, use FitCD, avisynth and HCEnc to get a compliant mpeg, then GUIforDVDAuthor to create the disc, with menus etc. The quality will surpass anything SUPER, MediaCoder et al can produce.

[SirDracula]

I'm just looking for something simple to use. I do not have time to author dvd's and certainly I don't understand everything that's going on and all available options (transcoding, fps, etc.). As for quality, sometimes the input is already poor, so there's no need to waste time to get the best conversion, I just don't like watching movies on my computer so I need to either be able to move them to my TiVo or to a DVD. But this is a painfully slow process that requires lots of time and space. Someone needs to simplify working with videos, it is not for the average user.

[guns1inger]

It can be, if people were sensible. DV is very simple to work with - that's what is was designed to be. Mpeg2 - not so much - but it was designed as an end viewer codec, not one for people to play with, edit etc. Mpeg4 (Xvid/Divx/H264 etc) are similar to mpeg2 in that respect.

If you want simple and mostly reliable, shell out a few bucks and ConvertxtoDVD. You won't be disappointed.

[dlflannery]

I can recommend DVDStyler for simple and free. No matter what authoring program you use, burn to ISO (.iso) file then burn the ISO to the DVD. Imgburn is recommended for the final burn.

[gadgetguy]

QuEnc has a experimental DVD author program on the Advanced options page. It will take a compliant MPG and create the DVD file structure, however it DOES NOT allow for menus, languages, chapters,etc. But if you really want quick and free, it will work. Then burn with Imgburn.

[AlanHK]

1) This .mpg file is already DVD compliant (or so it claims). What is the SIMPLEST, fastest, ugly and FREE solution that lets me create the DVD structure (VIDEO_TS, IFO and VOBs) out of this .mpg file? I don't need menus and other fancy stuff

These are free; DivXtoDVD has a fuller-featured pay version too.

DivxToDVD 0.5.2. Select "Source", your MPEG and "Destination" for the VOBs, click "Convert".
This creates a bunch of chapter points at fixed intervals. Note you can select more than one input file. They'll all be on the DVD, but no menu; just use the number keys or "Next" to navigate.

If that fails for some reason:

Rejig. First select the "File mode" and demux the MPEG to create separate video and audio files. Then Click "DVD author", choose these files, then "Destination", then "Create".

[SirDracula]

Thank you all for your suggestions. While I was hoping there would be one definite suggestion, it is great people have choices, for various levels of skills.