Re: Video Question

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Russ:
I'm sure some folks here are video experts...

OK I have a video camera that uses a Mini DV tape.

I save the 50 minute video I took as an AVI file
and it comes out to about 10.5 Gigabyte.


I have tried many of the free on line
convertors/movie makers and when they convert the
file it compresses it way to much.

Now I do understand that there are many file types
codexes etc etc.

When I do convert the file to something of a decent size
such as a Dvix or Mpeg4 they will play on a computer,
but not on a standard DVD player.

I don't mind spending a few $$$ on a commercial
editing/converting program such as one of the Corell
products if I can find one that will let me take this
LARGE 10.5  gig avi file and convert it to a GOOD quality
file that I can play on a standard DVD player.


the VOB files you find on a DVD are as Randy said, MPEG2 within the VOB container, encoding directly to MPEG2 will make the DVD compilation process easier - but to be honest so many of the newer DVD machines (ie, chinese) and multimedia devices in general have a lot more codecs they can read, and avi's so widely used these days by so many more devices I'd recommend thinking hard about whether you really want the headache of making DVDs. I find this especially so when you go to all the bother of making DVDs for people and ask them later what they thought of the project.. after they look at you vaguely and so 'oh yeah, it didn't work' (went in the trash) you'll find yourself researching their particular DVD machine to find it was incapable of reading writeable disks, or it only reads DVD+R's or something equally annoying. Also annoying is putting avi's on a DVD and getting the same response - now I just write DATA, FOR USE IN COMPUTERS - WORKS on disks to make life easier for the stupid people who haven't the wit to try more than one device before giving up.

I would try to get the files into Mpeg2 format first, roughly the right size first, and you probably already know you're going to need a program that can burn the things onto a usable DVD - many burner programs wont do that out of the box.

http://www.dvdflick.net/ (free) is an all in one encoder and burner. You'll need a burner that can actually burn DVDs or else you'll need to compile the file structure yourself and that can be a headache. (VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS files are where the data is stored in a very particular order, with the AUDIO_TS file often left empty) this will probably do all you want it to with a minimum of fuss.


http://www.dvdstyler.org/en/ - (free) I have no experience with this particular version but it allows full authoring, takes many media types turns them into what you want.. and it provides tools for building menus, graphics and all the fruity things that go on DVD's

Myself - to burn the actual DVD I use Deepburner - a commercial version which can create the file structures.. all you need do is point it to the movies, it does the rest - but it's no great improvement on the free DVDflick

to rip files smaller:

pocketdivxencoder v4.5 - totally free (if you find a 'buy it' link, look elsewhere) easy to use divx encoder, massive level of easily understood customization - handles most video formats compresses extremely well- wont make you a DVD but will make large files much smaller and do a very good job once you find the right compromise regarding quality/size http://www.pocketdivxencoder.net/EN_index.htm - I know I said you need a MPEG2 encoder, but if you spend a bit of time (not much, it's pretty quick) seeing what this can do you'll have a better idea of what you can be aiming toward quality and size-wise.

totalvideoconverter (I have the commercial version) - offers a mass of integrated codecs, ugly, some ability to customize output - but it offers a simple choice of DVD, VCD or SVCD along with the rest http://www.effectmatrix.com/total-video-converter/


I'd strongly recommend against roxio or cyberlink products - you'll need a crowbar and about 2 gallons of high octane fuel to get the things out of your computer when they irritate you for the last time.

k





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