is there a quicker way to convert xvid?

[samwise2206@aol.com]

back in the day most movie files were mpeg. i would extract bin/cue files and convert with VCDgear and then burn. nowadays its almost all xvid. i extract the avi file then convert to mpeg with converter. im wondering am i missing a quicker way to get these to mpeg so i can burn? thanks for any feedback.

[jman98]

Welcome to the forums (I see it's your first post), but unfortunately like many new members, you have erroneously concluded that the less you say, the more likely you are to get help. This is quite wrong. Your post has problems, which makes it hard for us to help you.

1) You say "i extract the avi file then convert to mpeg with converter". What exactly is "converter" in this sentence?
2) You talk a lot about "MPEG" but do you mean MPEG-1 or MPEG-2? If you don't know the answer to that, then do you want to make VCDs or DVDs?
3) How long does it take for you convert? Ways to speed up the process include:
buying a faster CPU, especially a multi-core CPU
lowering your encoding bitrate (reduces quality too though)
using different programs to encode
You can also consider just doing encodes while you sleep as it really doesn't matter how long it takes then, does it?
Note that as a general rule quicker encodes = worse quality. Unless you buy a faster CPU, most likely anything you do to speed it up will give you worse results.

[mats.hogberg]

almost all xvid. i extract the avi file then convert to mpeg with converter. im wondering am i missing a quicker way

Yes. Get a DVD player that also plays DivX/XviD. No conversion needed. Ever. More. Can be had for the same or less that let's say Convertx2dvd or other commercial "??? to DVD" converters.

/Mats

[redwudz]

Just to add, if your Computer details are correct, a Celeron 1.8 is fairly slow by todays standards. If you don't want to upgrade it, then the overnight encoding is one simple way to make it easier. ConvertXToDVD is also a good program for easy conversion from AVI type files to a DVD. You might also try out FAVC. It's a freeware program that works very well with good quality for AVI to DVD conversions.

If you plan to work with video often, you might also consider a second hard drive as video eats up space very quickly. XP also functions a bit better with 700 - 1000 MB RAM (I GB). RAM is fairly cheap at present, but an additional hard drive would be my first choice. The boot drive (Usually 'C') is hampered by accesses by the OS, so not the best place to work with video.

Most AVI type videos I can convert in realtime or faster. But that takes a fair amount of CPU power. The quality, even if it takes overnight with a slower CPU, will be exactly the same.

And welcome to our forums.

[samwise2206@aol.com]

sorry i didnt give more details. best solution for me is to buy a dvd player that plays Divx/xvid. thanks for the input guys!