Proper method for burning DIVX to DVD using DVDit

[chrisb01]

I have a DivX AVI, and I'd like to burn it to a DVD+RW disk. First I extracted the audio to Uncompress PCM 48K 384. Then I used TMPGEnc to convert the video source of the original DivX AVI with the audio source as that WAV file from VirtualDub. I used the DVD(NTSC) template, but modified to CBR of 4000 so that the resulting MPEG size was small enough to fit on the DVD+RW.

That whole process took about 6.5 hours to complete. I figured that using DVDit to burn the DVD would be a piece of cake since the file was already in "DVD-compatible" MPEG format. Now DVDit decides that the DVD project is 4.9GB, which is too big for the DVD+RW, this is even though the source MPEG is only 4GB. Since it wouldn't fit, I changed DVDit to burn the video at CBR of 3000 and use Dolby Audio at 48K/256. This reduced the size a lot... Now DVDit is demuxing the audio, reencoding the the video...

My question is that after all the preparation with VirtualDub and TMPGEnc, DVDit is just doing it all over again. I wonder if DVDit would have just burned it straight from the DivX AVI? What's the shortest method for doing this... burning DivX AVI to DVD media?

[ozzhead42]

I have burn a DIVX movie with DVDit before, without using vitureldub etc.

[chrisb01]

Was your DivX AVi in 16:9 (widescreen) format? Didn't you notice that even though you selected 16:9 as the DVDit project type, that it still "squished" the video, making the video look a little "taller"?

[bugster]

What you did was basically correct. However, to speed things up a little, when using Tmpgenc to encode, do video only, dont bother with the audio as DVdit will only demultiplex and covert to PCM or Dolby AC3. Add your .wav file to DvdIt and drag from the items menu onto the same movie icon as your video. DvdIt will still convert to AC3 if you are using that but will not need to demultiplex. Saves a bit of time in bothe TmpGenc and DVDit. Let me know how you get on

[chrisb01]

If I use the DVD (NTSC) template in TMPGEnc, what project typr should I use in DVDit? 16:9 or 4:3?

[bugster]

Well, that depends on your source material and desired output. Change the aspect ratio on the TmpGenc settings video tab to 4:3 or 16:9 as you require, then use the matching project setting in DvdIt. The Tmpgenc template defaults to 4:3.

[chrisb01]

What's the difference between the aspect ration on the video tab and the Source Aspect ratio on the Advanced tab? I have noticed that the Video arrange method also has an effect on aspect ratio. I know all these different settings allow for handling complex situations. All I want is for the movie to look exactly the same when I play it on my DVD Player as it does when I play in in Windows Media Player or PowerDVD.

By the way, how do I tell if the source video is in a true 16:9 aspect ratio? I think that is techinically different than "letterbox"... I think you could potentially have a letterboxed 4:3 video which appears to be 16:9 but isn't, a true 4:3 video, or a true 16:9 video.

[bugster]

I cant claim to understand the Source aspect ratio settings on the advanced tab, I usually leave at whatever the template setts them to. All I can say is the info I have given you is what I do and I have converted many Divx movies to DVD format, mostly widescreen and they look pretty good on my 32" widescreen TV.

I think one of the howto's on the left of this page discusses aspect ratio settings but cant remember which one at the mo.

[chrisb01]

Another factor that affects how the movie is played is what setting you have in the DVD player... my DVD players has 4:3 Pan&Scan, 4:3 Letterbox, and 16:9. It looks different in all three. I've found if you get some distortion (stretching or quishing) in the MPEG from encoding it with TMPGEnc, then you can fix it during playback with the setting on the DVD player.