Convert AVI to DVD software recomendations

SloYerRoll

I Googled and found a ton, but wanted to know what was out there that had a real track record of success from ppl I trust.

I run Vista, but can set up XP virtually if I need to (but don't want to).

I don't need anything fancy. Just want to pop in a DVD and watch the videos.

TIA

-Jon

ziggy53

Jon,

After spending a lot of time and money on stuff that took forever and often did not work, I wound up:

Shooting in DV format. (I presume that HD DV would be a similar workflow.)
Transferring from tape to computer using IEEE-488 card/port of some sort.
Editing in the computer.
Transferring back to the camcorder.
Using a dedicated component DVD burner with IEEE-488 input to make the final DVDs.

This has worked out pretty well in retaining quality and just plain working. The particular burner I chose does insert a minor hiccup/glitch in the video at around 70-74 minutes which many people don't even see. I gather more recent burners don't have the problem.

ziggy53

P.S. I did get a recent DVD player that also plays DIVX files.

For that player, I:

Encode (or transcode) into DIVX AVIs.
Use a regular DVD burner and software and make a "data" disk with the DIVX files on it.
Play in only that player. (Although I can feed the output of that player into the DVD recorder.)

I generally use some sort of temporal noise reduction in making the DIVX files and they compress nicely. Most of these files are from analog sources, and the DIVX is OK quality.

The player is an RCA DRC257N. I don't know if they are still available.

SloYerRoll

Thanks Ziggy, but allot of my stuff isn't made w/ a camcorder. I use stills, text and motion video put together.

I already have a decent sized collection of videos that I have exported in the AVI format. (and I won't convert them if I have to go back to the native files).

So what I would like to do is just convert an existing AVI file to whatever format will be most widely recognized on a DVD player.

Make sense?

Feel free to dumb down and answers regarding video acronyms. I used to be well versed, but technology has changed so rapidly. I'm practically a dinosaur at this point.

ziggy53

OK, I understand.

What operating system?
What video codec are the AVIs?
What audio codec?
What length are the AVIs?

Understand that video DVDs are not just files, they are a system of files and particular organization and indexing requirements.

I made a couple of short DVDs with the software that came with my current computer, but I don't think I want to try long format media. (A "muvee" product that I don't recommend.)

In previous years I used Nero products to make short video DVDs and it went pretty well.

dangin

for super simple avi -> dvd burning, i use a freeware app called favc.

http://favcfavc.googlepages.com/

i'm not sure if it's compatible with all a/v codecs but it's worked so far with everything i've ever thrown at it.

ziggy53

dangin wrote:

for super simple avi -> dvd burning, i use a freeware app called favc.

http://favcfavc.googlepages.com/

i'm not sure if it's compatible with all a/v codecs but it's worked so far with everything i've ever thrown at it.

"Very" cool, thanks.

Kenny304

Hello,

I use a free app named ImgBurn to do this and it's always worked very well for me. I run Vista Home Premium.

You can check out ImgBurn at: www.imgburn.com

It's a tiny download, 2mb I think, and installs in a flash.

To accomplish what you want you would use ImgBurn's "Build" mode.

You can get detailed instructions for the "Build" mode at:

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=1779

There are other guides and forum discussions available at the ImgBurn website.

ImgBurn will let you add the files you want to the disc, then "build" an ISO image or you can let ImgBurn burn the files to disc "on the fly".

ImgBurn will allow you to choose a burn speed, 2x 4x 8x 16x etc. I like to burn at a slow speed (2x). I seem to have less/no coasters with the slower burn speeds.

You can also choose to let ImgBurn "verify" the disc after burning. This adds a little time to the burn process but lessens the chance of sending someone a "coaster".

Hope this helps,
Kenny

SloYerRoll

Thanks for all the posts.

I found a tool that doesn't require codecs and all this other madness mentioned in here for people much smarter than I.

ConvertXtoDVD

All you have to do is drop the AVI file in the window and it encodes, burns, the whole 9.

Best,
-Jon