From Avidemux over DVD-Styler to a movie-DVD (for standalone players). HOW?

[MovingParts]

Hi,

I used this http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/doku.php?id=tutorial:converting_to_dvd
to get the mpeg2-PS file (though a lot was not really helpful, because the guide is out of date and a lot in the GUI and functions of Avidemux 2.6.6 has changed)

I then found this guide http://avidemux.org/smif/index.php?topic=3570.0
It tells one hwo to get from Avidemux to a DVD via DVD Styler.

Unfortunately DVD Styler did crash when opened, then I tried an older version, this was openable. But, when I import the mpeg2-PS file as recommended it gets a progress bar at the bottom that stops and next to it it says "7/76minutes, 3MB/s". Then nothing happens.

I am on a Mac and just could use Toast or iDVD or BURN, where I would have to just through the source file (a h.264 file) on it and they wouldd automatically encode it to DVD conform format and create the menue, TS folders and all that and get a ready DVD.

But I wanted to have a bit more influence (than iDVD) and a newer encoder (than Toast), so I use Avidemux.

How is it going to work, that the mpeg2-PS file from Avidemux can be used (when DVDs have TS folders?).

I also tried throwing it on Toast, but toast will encode it a second time.

[usually_quiet]

DVDStyler itself accepts H.264 video in various containers (MKV, MOV, MP4, TS) as input and converts for DVD compatibility using ffmpeg. Did you try using it on the file without using Avidemux to convert?

[MovingParts]

I tried it without using Avidemux, I directly dropped the h.264-mp4 in the bottom bar of DVD Styler. The same, it shows 7/72minute, but this time it shows 8MB/s (I had used 8MB/s in DVD Styler, but in the stopped progress bar it showed 3MB/s, I gues that is, because the mpeg2-PS file by Avidemux resulted in 3MB/s average. So it seems DVD-Styler doesn't re-encode, when it is already mpeg2-PS).

The problem is, it still hangs.

Version 2.9.2 -Mac-OS-X didn't open
Version 2.9.2-multi-mac did open, but hanged at the 7/72minute position

Could it be it is imature software?

Does 2.9.2 use the same generation of ffmpeg as Avidemux (in other words, the most up to date?).
What do you think, how would an up to date ffmpeg compete against the encoder build in in Toast 8 (Nov. 2007) and Toast 11 (2011).

At the meantime I found out that in Toast you can select "re-encode" and I had checked "automatic", however the Toast guide says, Toast will re-encode, even though if one checks "no", when Toast estimates that it will not produce a standard conform DVD otherwise.

A bit off topic, but I did cut some files and then just "copied" them with Avidemux, in Avidemux you always have to take the next i-Frame, why can mpegstreamclip cut in p-frames, instead? The resulting file has the same bitrate (only differing by 1kbps).
You have to choose "save as -> mp4" if you do want to just do a copy.

[usually_quiet]

I'm not going to claim the OS X version DVDStyler totally bug-free for the most recent versions of OS X, because I have barely tested the Windows version, but DVDStyler isn't immature software. It has existed for several years as a multi-platform tool and is still being actively maintained and improved. Maybe you should try the support forum. http://sourceforge.net/projects/dvdstyler/support

I don't use AVIDemux, but most editors allow starting a clip in an I-frame and ending a clip on a P-frame or an I-frame if they don't re-encode.