I would like to know what encoders you guys use to convert AVI & WMV to MPEG format. I tried TMPGEnc. But i dont like it, any others out there?
I don't convert to WMV, but for MPEG-2 I prefer Cinemacraft Encoder (CCE). It's the best available, but the interface isn't very friendly. Canopus ProCoder is also very good, and if you want something free HC is probably the best one out there - plus it's reasonably fast.
MPEG-2 has superior quality and additional features (for example MPEG-1 doesn't allow interlacing). As a result it also has a little more overhead for header information. Generally speaking, unless you're making a VCD of some kind or a very low bitrate DVD it's pretty much always preferable to encode to MPEG-2.
I see, how about file size comparison? for example will i be able to fit say 4 movies that are 700mb in avi size onto a dvd with mpeg 1/2 ?
I'm sure you could. The question is how it will look. It's all a question of length and bitrate. The key is to find out what the total length of all the movies is and then use a bitrate calculator. Videohelp.com has one online: http://www.videohelp.com/calc If the bitrate it comes up with is less than about 3,500 kbps I'd encode to MPEG-2 at half D1 resolution (352x480 or 352x576). If it comes to less than about 2,000kbps I'd probably encode to MPEG-1 at SIF resolution (352x240 or 352x288).