Ok, I'm a newbie at this and spent hours on AD researching what I should do...but am having problems trying to figure out which software to use, what to do, and understanding some of the terms being thrown out there. *exasperated sigh* Please help me, but in layman (newbie) terms! =) [bold]Okay, here's the issue[/bold]: I have multiple AVI files of tv episodes that I want to put on a DVD disk so that it plays on my dvd player. I want to have a rather simple menu so that I can easily go to whatever episode I want on the DVD. So far, I can't figure out how to do this... [bold]This is what I've been able to do so far[/bold]: I use AVI2DVD to convert each AVI file to an MPEG file. The program automatically creates chapters of 15 min. intervals for each file (episode). Then, I use DVDShrink and can fit about 3 MPEG files (episodes) per DVD disk. Then, DVDShrink automatically opens up DVDDecrypter and burns the files to the disk. I am able to view the three episodes on tv using the dvd player. However, in order to go to the next episode, I have to forward through the chapters. FYI - the converted file created by any of the programs that I currently use (above) does not create all those dvd files that these authoring programs out there seem to need (.VOB files, audio_ts & video_ts files, etc.) AVI2DVD creates files, but it doesn't seem to be the right format to use authoring software like Tpgemc(sp?) and Nero. Anyway, those programs don't shrink the multiple files to fit on 1 disk. I think an .ISO file is created for DVDDecrypter to use for burning. So in layman's terms, what steps (and programs) should I follow instead so that I can both fit multiple episodes on 1 DVD disk AND have a menu? Also prefer not to have to use like ten different programs to carry this out. Thanks so much for your help!
I have used TMPGEnc DVD author in the past to create dvd from some camcorder stuff and add menu's but I can't remember if i had to convert the avi's to MPEG first but TMPGEnc DVD author does work with MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 files. Since you have already created a dvd disc you could even read the disc with TMPGEnc DVD Author, it will create MPEG files on HDD, then you can edit chapters, create menu's etc, convert to an ISO and burn to DVD. This program will do all that. One point I note, you said you used DVD Shrink. If I remember correctly when you add each file for analising in shrink it will call each file Title 1 , Title 2. Title 3 etc which you drag over to the left pane for authoring. SO, your dvd will have three titles and several chapters within each. You should be able to skip to each title on your remote rather than searching through chapters.
Hi there, VSO DivxToDVD v1.99.17 Pre-Release will convert all your .AVI to DVD. It will create a menu with 1 entry for each file, and will create chapters within each file. Then you can burn it directly to DVD Media since it has it's own built in burn engine. Load all file, click Convert and that's it ! That simple !
[bold]Byngo:[/bold] If I insert the DVD disk w/ the files on it and use TMPGenc to create menu, etc., it seems like I'll be burning the disk two different times? The first to have the episodes shrunk and then the second time to have the menu added. Can't I do it where I don't have to burn two different DVD disks to get the outcome I want? In other words, once I use DVDShrink to fit the three episodes on 1 disk, what are the next steps where I can use TMPGenc to create the menu before burning to disk? Yes, you are right about DVDShrink having title 1, title 2, etc. with the different files I'm shrinking. The problem is that when I insert the DVD into the DVD player, it automatically starts playing the first episode. In order to skip to the next one, I have to forward jump to different chapters. There are no menus or main screen to jump to the different episodes/titles. [bold]Cougar:[/bold] So if I use DIVXtoDVD, will it also shrink the files so that I can fit at least three 45-min episodes onto 1 disk?
Hi there, VSO DivxToDVD will NOT shrink things at all, actually output files will be bigger. A 700mb .AVI file usually outputs about 1,5gb to 2,0gb of VOB files. How big are those episodes.mpg files ? If your files are around 700mb, you will usually fit 2 only. If they are smaller, you can sometimes have 3 or 4 on 1 media. If you add more, you will need to use DVDShrink or other software to shrink it, and of course loose quality again ! My 2 cents...
Using TMPGEnc Plus to encode the AVIs, and DVDlabpro to autor a DVD I have fit 13 episodes on 1 disc (20 minutes each) with Very Good quality. You can use DVDlabpro to create simple menus easily. I always create a Main menu to play all the files and a Episode Selection Menu. If you already have the .vob files, then it is no problem and you do not have to re-encode anything. Just import them into DVDlabpro and it will demux them into .mpv and .ac3. DVDlabpro is very easy to use. All you need is to have a picture in your mind how you will want to navigate your DVD. I would guess that TMPGEnc Author will be about the same, but I have no experience with it. I also have no experience with VSO DivXtoDVD, but based on Cougar's posts it seems like a good piece of software.
JaguarGod, thanks for replying! Are you suggesting that I should use TMPGenc Plus to convert the AVI files to a DVD-compatible playing format and then use DVDLabPro to add the menu? I don't think either program shrinks the files, so I may only be able to have 1-2 episodes per disk. I don't know how to have a .VOB file created so that I can bypass the whole re-encoding process. =( Also, another =( is that when I used AVI2DVD, I'm probably making the settings wrong, because when I converted a 350MB avi file, it became a crazy 2-3GB file! I chose 16:9 aspect ratio, 384 audio bitrate, no PAL NTSC conversion, made converted file to "ISO" file, and used HCEnc encoder ("best" profile & "mpeg" matrix). Should I uncheck the "make ISO" option? Maybe this might solve the fact that I don't get .VOB files, etc. after I convert the AVI file?
I think you may be right about the "Make ISO" option. I used this option and I remember it deleting the .mpv file (I actually copied and pasted it while it was making the ISO). You can always use some tools to extract the .vob from the .ISO like DVD Shrink, which will at the same time shrink your files if you like. TMPGEnc, does not Shrink your files, but it is easier to figure out the file size. You problem was that you used HCEnc. If you are asking an encoder for Top quality, it will give you High Bitrate. You can use FreeEnc. I converted a 63 minute movie to only 740MB with 192kbs ac3 audio (only go for 192 kbs for Stereo and 484 for 5.1). With TMPGEnc, you can either set it for 2-pass VBR and set the average bitrate to about 2200 or use constant Quality with estimated motion search. This will give you a video bitrate range of about 1300 to 1900 You can use a formula like this to figure out what to set your bitrate: (7.5 * bitrate)* length of movie in minutes = target size in MB You should also break down bitrate into (audio + video). If you are using stereo, you should use 192 kbs, but you can go higher. PCM wav is 1536 kbs. For 5.1 surround use 484kbs. So say you want to figure out how to make six 60 minute episode fit into a DVD, you would do: (7.5 * BR) * (60 * 6) = 4400 7.5BR * 360 = 4400 BR = 1.629629.... Remember that this includes audio and your final answer is in MB/s. To convert to kilobits multiply by 976.5625 => BR = 1591.4352 or 1592 Subract audio of 192 and your actual video bitrate is 1400kb/s. ** a DVD is approx 4482MB in size, but you should try to go under 4400 (4.61GB in DVD size).
