Best way to convert avi to MPG DVD Compliant(highest quality)

[andre477]

Hi. I'm getting tired of the overscan bug convertxtodvd has. I don't like using winavi I think it produces some bad quality results. I want to convert avi's to dvd. So I'm thinking I'm out of options for 1 step avi to dvd convert programs.

I think I'm left with the option that I never wanted to do but now I have to (Convert avi to mpg). I haven't found one avi to mpg converter that produces high quality. I have TMPGEnc but I don't think it converts very well. So what's the best program out there that converts avi to mpg format with the highest quality possible. And not to be picky or nothing... a fast one at that too. It can be payware that's not an issue for me.

I have TMPGEnc DVD Author so I want to have a high quality converted mpg from an avi so I can author a DVD. Thanks.

[redwudz]

You could try CCE or ProCoder. Both are fairly fast, at least faster than TMPGEnc. I don't think you will see a big change in quality over TMPGEnc, though. Quality is in the encoder settings and also has to come from good source material. If you are converting Xvids off the net, they will all look about the same no matter which encoder you use.

You could also try a couple of freeware encoders such as HC or QuEnc.

[45tripp]

There is still DVD Flick.
And avi2dvd. Both are good.

TMPG is very good.
The fastest is CCE, but there's a a considerable quality difference in using sp vs basic versions.
HC is excellent, fast and free. But you're forced into many manual steps.
Quenc is probably an easier place to start.
There are options... none bad

There is also DIKO, which is a bit crappy as is and can have buggy crashes, but I found it to be customizable, one can work with it.


gl

[Lester Burnham]

HC is excellent, fast and free. But you're forced into many manual steps.

Why so?

Numerous all-in-ones allow use of HC as an encoder (eg FilmMachine, FAVC, possibly DIKO - and I'm reasonably sure there's others...) - in fact they even distribute HC with them.

[guns1inger]

Overscan is not a bug, it's a fact of life. The same methods that are used to compensate for it in HCEnc or any other program can be used in ConvertXtoDVD.

[GangstaRap]

There is also DIKO, which is a bit crappy as is and can have buggy crashes

maybe the previous version(2.30) had some issues.
I use DIKO(2.31) for AVI to MPG DVD and i'm really happy with it,
never had any crush (so far...).
it uses HCenc, and the results are great, at least for me they are...
i'd say it better than ConvertXToDVD or WinAVI thats for sure...
AND its free... 8)
you should try it...

[Noahtuck]

Overscan is not a bug, it's a fact of life. The same methods that are used to compensate for it in HCEnc or any other program can be used in ConvertXtoDVD.

Is this not the same guy that this was explained to the last time he complained about overscan


Why yes it is

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic320275.html

[MistaED]

Check out TheFilmMachine. It has several decent free encoders installed in the package, but also allows you to configure it to use CCE or ProCoder if you have those. It also can be set to boost audio if your avi's use ac3 audio or not boost if the avi is encoded with mp3 audio. Very nice and capable app.

[andre477]

You could try CCE or ProCoder. Both are fairly fast, at least faster than TMPGEnc. I don't think you will see a big change in quality over TMPGEnc, though. Quality is in the encoder settings and also has to come from good source material. If you are converting Xvids off the net, they will all look about the same no matter which encoder you use.

You could also try a couple of freeware encoders such as HC or QuEnc.

Thanks I tried ProCoder and the quality looks great! Let me load this up into TMPEnc DVD Author and I will post back if I have any questions.

[guns1inger]

You encode the wav to AC3 and author with a tool that accepts elementary streams. Start reading about authoring. If you don't go down the one-click-wonder route then you have to learn all the steps.

[andre477]

You encode the wav to AC3 and author with a tool that accepts elementary streams. Start reading about authoring. If you don't go down the one-click-wonder route then you have to learn all the steps.

I didn't edit my post in time. I figured out how to fix it. All I did was select the .wav track for the audio in TMPGEnc DVD Author. Simple as that. Just a little confusion before trying on my own. Thanks anyways though.

[45tripp]

edit: too late...

Procoder 3 now has dolby decoding/encoding ability built in.

p.s
I was referring to HC solo, no frontend. Habit i guess. I do video, audio and authoring separately regardless of encoder.
Don't have experience with favc, or film machine, I'll give them a whirl for fun.
I did mention avi2DVD though...
And I mentioned DIKO. and no, default DIKO output is not quality.

[andre477]

edit: too late...

Procoder 3 now has dolby decoding/encoding ability built in.

p.s
I was refering to HC solo, no frontend. Habit i guess. I do video, audio and authoring separately regardless of encoder.
Don't have experience with favc, or film machine, I'll give them a whirl for fun.
I mentioned DIKO. and no, default DIKO output is not quality.

lol this got confusing for a bit. Thanks though I really do appreciate it. Thanks for letting me know that Procoder 3 has that feature in it. I'm using Procoder 2 right now. What I'm doing now is, the file size exceeded 4.7GB so I can't author a DVD on to 1 disc. So I set the max file size to 3.9GB's and I will post back later once it's done converting and see how it works out. Thanks.

[j4gg3rr]

The Film Machine has been the best method for a long time now, taking over the reins from DVD2SVCD.
It has always used best practices for AC3 extraction or creation(Sonic Foundry Soft Encode, AC3Encode, Aften) and latest beta's even incorperate 2.0 - 5.1 upmixing if you want.

There are only 2 settings with TFM that let it down when using it in 1 click mode for video encoding for both CCE and ProCoder.
When I say let it down I mean the video produced is only 95% as good as it can be.

CCE:
- The max bitrate is always set to just 200 points above the avg bitrate.
- The low pass filter is set to 32 rather than disabled in the Picture Quality settings.

Procoder:
- The max bitrate is always set to just 200 points above the avg bitrate.
- Intra DC Precision is set to 9 not 10

That and the fact you aren't exposed to the extra filters Procoder and TMPGEnc both have available to improve image quality when encoding are the only reasons I don't use it 1 click mode all the time.

But rather I let it do the audio and edit the AVS is produces, taking out the FadeIn and overscan values in Lanczos4Resize and use it in any encoder I wan't for any given project.

Good AVI source below 4500 avg bitrate with sharp/bright video goto CCE for speed.
Everything else goes to Procoder or TMPGEnc depending on the AVI source needing certain filters.
eg. Sharpening always goes to TMPGEnc
No sharpen, just colour goes to Procoder as it's much quicker than TMPGEnc(my last 90min encode took 19 hours ).

I will never test WinAVI again!
I continue to test ConvertXtoDVD every new version, being continually dissapointed with every new version!

[andre477]

Ok so I've been messing around with Procoder and it works great with some files but I'm having some problems with others. It's amazingly fast with .avi files that have a fps of 29.97 but horribly slow with .avi files that have a fps of 23.98 or 25.00. I don't know if this is the issue because I had this same problem with WinAVI(different fps speeds were causing the problem). I don't know if it is a bug in the program. How do I get around it? I love the results it produces when it works right but I just can't wait 6 hours to convert a 1-2 hour movie each time. Should I try CCE or TheFilmMachine now? Thanks.

[guns1inger]

Are you converting from 23.976 to 29.97 fps or from 25 fps to 29.97 fps ?

Why do you assume that every time you do something wrong, it is a bug in the program ?

[andre477]

Are you converting from 23.976 to 29.97 fps or from 25 fps to 29.97 fps ?

Why do you assume that every time you do something wrong, it is a bug in the program ?

I'm not sure what I'm converting to. I'm just selecting the default settings it has in the program and running it like that. I'm not in the advanced features or something like that.

And why do I assume... I'm paranoid... lol jk. I don't know why I call it a "bug." What should I call it a error? I just assumed that's what it was called, sorry for the misuse of words.

P.S. Just as I was writing this post I found out what I was doing wrong. I wasn't selecting the proper frame rate manually in the target settings. I thought it did it automatically. So now the conversion time is down to 1-2 hours which is fine by me. Thank you for all the help and sorry again guns1inger for assuming things!!

And also I got another quick question... I read somewhere on these forums that cd skipping can be prevented by setting the output size of the dvd lower so the data doesn't reach the edge of the disc. What's a good point to set it at... 3.9gb? And would that change anything to the quality. Thanks.

[mats.hogberg]

I usually max out at 4.2 GB on a DVD-5 disk. I'm very relaxed with what media I buy - usually what's on sale at the moment. So far, only one 25-pack has let me down - but that spindle had read errors all over the surface (despite the fact the disk advertised itself as "TY G03" which it certainly not was) so going for 3.9 or 4.2 GB wouldn't had made any difference anyway.

/Mats

[pbar]

deleted.

please don't hijack topics. continue in your own topic https://forum.videohelp.com/topic329990.html / Admin Baldrick

[ricardouk]

Hi at the moment after testing almost every avi to dvd program available my opinion is that FAVC and D2MP are the ones that gave the best results.

FAVC: Simple, intuitive, no menus capability(planned)

D2MP: same as above but with menu capability, subtitle support extra payment (fixed subs are supported without payment)

DVDflick outputs is still a bit behind than the ones above with "same" settings.

avi2dvd is still a good choice but it hasnt been updated for a bit