Divx to DVD-r HELP!!!!

[jjardim]

I am new to the MAC and LOVE it! but I am having a problem putting Divx to DVD-r. Can somone tell me how they would do it. So far I convert the .avi to .mov usine avi2mov, then i am exporting it to mpeg using quicktime. But am unsure of the bit tate i should use. Then i import it into DVDStudio Pro and I can build the dvd, but it looks lik crap. also can you burn a dvd on dvd studio pro? I don get that option. Someone help please

Jason

[major]

The simplest way is to use DivxDoctor II to make a .mov file and drop it to iDVD. Of course, video quality can't be better than your source divx one.

[jjardim]

But the problem w/ IDVD is it will only allow 90 min of video, and most movies are at leas 2 hrs. Is there any type of hack for idvd?

[major]

Here is an alternate suggestion which should go up to 4 hours: install the G4 MPEG2 Export component which comes with DVD Studio Pro (there is even an OSX version in release 1.5), doctor your AVI with Divx Doctor II, open the resulting .mov in quicktime player, select Export, "Movie to MPEG2", Options, define aspect ratio and PAL/NTSC depending on source material and select quality/bitrate. Bitrate can be up to 9.8 Mbit/sec, but you can fit more video in a DVD-R by lowering the bitrate at just enough is needed to handle your divx material image quality. Try to encode a 10 seconds clip with different bitrates (not lower than 2,5 Mbit/sec) to find the best setting. Choose high motion scenes and detailed images for testing. You can also use a different MPEG2 encoder, like Astarte M-Pack (set image size to 720x576 for PAL or 720x480 for NTSC, and choose VBR encoding & maximum quality). After encoding, import the resulting mpg2 streams into DVD Studio Pro, create your DVD, preview it (but it will always look worst than the final result on TV) and finally choose 'Build & Format" which will also burn the DVD.

[jjardim]

Thanks alot, would you happen to know where I may be able to get a copy of that Astarte M-Pack for "testing" purposes?

Jason

[major]

Astarte M-Pack was bought by Apple so I guess the Quicktime Mpeg2 encoder (G4-only) uses the same engine: however M-Pack has more settings and also runs on G3 (not on OSX though). This program was available for $400 two years ago but it is no longer distributed. However, if you're just a bit lucky you should find it. Look for version 3.5.1. For Dolby Digital audio encoding, the A-Pack (also originally from Astarte) comes bundled with DVD Studio Pro.

There are other MPG2 encoders for Mac out there. A promising one popped out recently. Unix's mpeg2enc has been included into Mediapipe for OSX. Some guys use Heuris and are happy with it. Avoid Cleaner 5 (slow as hell) and Digigami MegaPeg (bad quality).

Finally you should check the DVD Studio Pro Manuals from Apple available here.