Finally my first AVI convertion to VOB ...

[geek2330]

uff, not sure if this is supposed to be this way, so please tell me if I did this right,

1.used Windows Movie Maker and captured from camcorder, saved as DV AVI file
2. had to yet convert this DV AVI into "standard" DVI using DVDate (is this a must?), I think WMM records AVI in type1 and to encode the file has to be type2 AVI (please confirm)
3.installed Avisynth, HC and AVI2DVD for encoding to MPEG and installed codec needed for encoding (encoder was erroing out with "AVISource: couldn't locate a decompressor for fourcc dvsd", so I downloaded/installed the Pana encoder to bypass the error) (In AVI2DVD I chose HC as the encoder)
4.started process in AVI2DVD, man....this took about 4 or 5 hours for the whole process for a 13GB AVI file...!!! (is this normal????
The HC screen came up and took a very long time for pass1 and pass2.
5.process finished finally, now I have a new DVD folder with 2 new folders:
AUDIO_TS (folder is empty)
VIDEO_TS (has BUP, IFO, VOB files)

For testing, I changed one of the VOB files to MPG and it plys in WMP just fine.

Now, to burn the resulting files into a single DVD: I only have RecordNow! installed right now and it looks I cannot use this DVD program to burn my DVD. From here, what's the easiest way for this.....can't believe it took about 5 hours just to get 1 single minidv tape (1 hour) encoded in order to burn a dvd.

Please tell me if the above process is the right, easiest and fastest way using freeware and finally which is the best way to finalized/burn my dvd without any other changes (no edits)

Thanks..!!

[Richard_G]

Step 2 isn't needed. Some software only likes Type 1 DV, some only likes Type 2, some will cope with either. Personally, I prefer Type 1 as it interleaves the audio between the video frames so there is no chance of the video a audio getting out of sync.

4 to 5 hours is fairly normal, especially for a two pass encode.

If you have the two folders and VIDEO_TS has vob, bup and ifo files, you have a DVD. You need to burn these as they are to a DVD (both folders, with the AUDIO_TS one being there but empty). I've never used RecordNow but if it has a data disc mode use that, you don't want it doing anything to the files but putting them as they are onto a disc. ImgTools seems to be a popular free burning tool.

[45tripp]

step 2 is a must in this case.

Movie Maker 1 outputs type 2.

fastest,easiest,free
probably dvdflick.
type 2 not needed.

what you are doing is better,
avi2dvd is probably the wrong frontend though.

Try favc (includes imgburn).
again go to type 2. (edit: or use directshowsource to open avis option)

gl

[redwudz]

You can use the freeware ImgBurn and select the 'Build' mode, select your VIDEO_TS folder and burn to disc. You don't really need the audio folder as it's unused for what you are doing.

If you use WinDV for the transfer instead, it outputs Type 2 DV. But if you are using WMM to edit, go ahead with your method.

You can play the VOBs directly without changing the extensions with VLC media player. And you can also 'play' the VIDEO_TS folder by just right clicking on it and selecting 'Play with VLC media player'. That way you can see if the menus, etc. are working before you burn it to disc.

[geek2330]

I compared both the original DV AVI and the encoded new file (VOB) using Windows Media Player.
DV AVI = image is as good as on the camcorder, fills screen from left to right and has the black margins on top and bottom.

VOB = image is as good as on the camcorder, but now the black margins are all around video, top/bottom/left/right.

Tell me if that is normal and if I should proceed burning the VIDEO_TS folder onto DVD.

When encoding I did not change the ratio, left as 4:3

[45tripp]

they're only small margins right,
it's normal

[redwudz]

When you view a video on a TV, the area around the edges, 2 - 5% or sometimes more, is covered by the 'Overscan' of the TV set. If the area is more than that, then it may show. The amount of overscan varies by the TV. If you don't mind using up a DVD, I would burn it and try it. DVD RW are also handy for testing.

I suspect you won't see them.

[geek2330]

great, thanks guys. I just followed redwudz comment and created an ISO file with Imgburn.

I assume I can burn this onto DVD and this will be playable by conventional DVD players for the TV, right?

[redwudz]

Keep your fingers crossed, but yes, you should have a compliant DVD that will play on most any set top player.

You don't have to actually create an ISO with ImgBurn. Using 'Build' may do that, though. Not sure. Whatever, you just need to burn it to a good quality DVD disc and see what happens. Probably was mentioned before, but two of the best brands of DVD discs out there presently are TY (Taiyo Yuden) and Verbatim. Others may be fine, though. But those two have the best success rates.

[Pinstripes23]

You can burn it yes. But you can bypass the iso creating part by outputting straight to your dvd burner(output --> device). And from there just do what redwudz suggested and select the video_ts folder.

[geek2330]

I see and now I understand, it is just so many different things and programs to learn in a short time. When you're a noob you know what I mean....!!!

I have 1 last question before I set myself in one way of doing this or another as I have 4 more tapes to go...!!!
I didn't capture the image using WinDV originally because it was giving me too many files compared to WMM which is only one, yet the disadventage of using WMM is that it outputs Type1 AVI and the frontend I used (AVI2DVD) needs Type2, hence I had to use DVDate to make the type2 convertion before I could use AVI2DVD for the encoding process. The process of converting to type2 alone was another hour.

I can try 45tripp suggestion of using FAVC instead of AVI2DVD but want to make sure this way is better/faster than what I did.

I got Total Video Converter, now I don't want to endeavour in another 6 hours project for just a single tape without really making sure using this new program will give me better results in terms of ease of use and time, of course also quality.
1.

[redwudz]

The first part of this guide will show you how to setup WinDV so it will capture the whole file instead of splitting it up. http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/33/59/ The rest of the guide may be usesful also as one way to go from DV to DVD.