Is it possible to burn more than one avi movie to dvd

Hello

I am curious to know if it is possible to burn more than one avi movie to a dvd using tmpgenc. For instance after i convert a movie from avi to dvd it is usually always right near the max of the disc. So I for each episode i have to use one dvd. So is there a way to place muliple avi's which have been converted to dvd on the same disc.

A example would be a dvd boxed set from the store, for instance Stargate Sg-1 has 4 or 5 episodes on each disc. So is there a way for me to do this and if so how do i do it. Thanks

 

the only possible way would be to shrink or compress the video. even then, i doubt you would be able to shrink enough to fit two while keeping the picture quality and audio quality the same or near the same. mostly, you have to sacrifice quality and audio for size.

 

Thanks for the reply, does anyone know how the dvd companies do it?

 

you can put two three maby four avi movies on a single sided dvd depending on how big the avi movies are after you convert them to vob's, also the movie studios don't burn the disks they press them out

 

commercial dvds are dual layer, they have around nine gigs on them. chances are if you bought your computer or burner in the last two years, its dual layer compatible. if this is the case you should invest in some nice dual layer media, you do actually save money when you divide it by total storage space over 4.7 gig single layer media. dual layer media is much more prone to defects and failure, for all the same reasons normal dvd-rs were when they first came out, so if you buy dual layer make sure you check on these boards or cdfreaks to make sure you get ones that dont suck.

now, the answer is yes, you can burn multiple avi files to one disk, even on 4.7 gigs. i put half a season of futurama on one disk and it plays fine. i put the entire third season of entourage (6 hours) on one 4.7 with 704x480 res and it played fine too.

the way you would go about doing this would be to calculate how much space you can use for each ep. Then make sure the target file size is smaller than that. Also make sure you leave enough room for menus and stuff when you get to authoring. the max for the whole disk i think is upwards of around 12 hours if you use the absolute lowest resolution a dvd can have (4:3 mode, 352 x 240 i know tmpgenc xpress 3 can do it). just think, on a dual layer you could fit an entire season of 24. a good thing to do would be to add the "kvcd notch matrix" to your matrix template list and use it. it allows for better video quality at low bitrates. also, if you are converting cartoons, you can change the GOP frame rate to 15 and squeeze even more space out of the dvd, because most cartoons are only 14 fps.

make sure you use variable bitrate when encoding too, dont be lazy, itl end up being a multiple day encode but trust me, the quality is worth it, youll need it only going 352x240 and all. there is also one in the middle; 352x480.

 

There is an alternative that I'll share:

The free route: Use Imgburn which is free and under MODE select build & under FLIE select browse for a folder. Now you'll select your AVI and then click on it. You can add as many files as you like that will fit on a DVD-r and Imgburn will make them.

You can also use VSO Divxtodvd and convert your files to AVI and then use Imgburn to create the movie.

Alternatively if you have Nero you can use NeroVision to make multiple AVI files then burn to disc.

 

Wow, what a load of great information here. I will try this out and post how it turns out. I am curious to know what is this matrix template you mentioned earlier and how do i install it. I guess the better question is where can i download it. Now I am using tmpgenc express as well, plus I do have a dual layer. So could someone explain exactly how to use my dual layer burner. For instance do I just buy the dual layer disc and then im able to place 9 gb of stuff rather than 4gb? or do i have to use nero for something.

Here is the software im currently using
tmpgenc 4.0 express-to encode
tmpgenc dvd author 3-to author
virtualdub mod-to seperate the sound
nero-its just always good to have

So if i wanted to burn lets say the 4400 2nd season which is around 10 episodes using the dual layer. Whats steps would I take plus would i need any extra software other than what I have above?

 

If your DVD player reads AVIs, you just have to burn a 'Data DVD' containing the AVIs (so you can use very large AVIs, instead AVIs whose max size is 700 MB) ==> AVI1+AVI2+...AVIn < 4500 MB is the only requirement.

A 'Data DVD' is 4500 MB if the raw DVD is a DVD5; twice as much if it is a DVD9.
Using DVD9 is uncommon because the price of empty DVD9 is 8-10 greater than a DVD5 ==> using 2*DVD5 is cheaper than using a DVD9. For instance, if you need to keep the DVD movie's bitrate high, DVD Shrink allowes you to split a comercial DVD9 into 2*DVD5 just selecting a proper aplitting point (usually, a chapter). You just have to give up the extra stuff and if you want to keep in you must use more professional applications (which are commercial, instead of being free and which are much harder to use), like DVDRebuilder.

If your DVD player doesn't read AVIs, the procedure is harder:

- you must encode each of your n AVIs into a DVD movie (MPGn) choosing , in your AVI --> MPG encoder, a bitrate so that a movie long (L1+L2+...Ln) minutes [Lk = length (AVIk)] fits in a DVD.
Supposing that a 150' movie will well fit in a DVD, you can fit 15*10' clips using a bitrate so that each MPGn is approx 450 MB.
- you must author a DVD containing MPG1, MPG2....MPGn using a commercial authoring program (like TMPGenc DVD author).

At the end of the above mentioned process, DVD (1,2,...N) ==> an ISO 4500 MB large.
After obtaining the DVD image, you just have to burn it.