Making a DVD from avis... (yes I've read FAQs)

[SamusekTDS]

I have a few encodes I've made compressed in avi/divx form, and I want to use my new dvd burner to make it watchable on DVD standalone players to lend to friends...

I don't seem to be able to find a proper answer to this. I thought there was a format that I could convert the avis to that wouldn't be TOO huge (ie: I can fit more then 2 hrs on a DVD)

Is this impossible? Is there no way to get more then 2 hrs on a DVD?

If an hour can fit on a VCD, why can't MULTIPLE hours in VCD format fit on a dvd?
---
Sam.

PS: I'm a video editor who's very computer literate, but new to doing this specific aspect, so don't be afraid to get technical.

[Kedirekin]

I assume you want your DVD to be playable on your set top box. This almost always means you need to convert your video to MPEG format, and probably convert your audio AC3, then use an authoring program to make the DVD.

You can fit more than 2 hours on a DVD, but you may have to make sacrifices to do so. Fitting more video on the DVD means lowering the average bitrate. If your videos are lower resolution, you can make a half resolution (352x480/576) or VCD resolution (352x240/288) DVD and fit between 4 and 8 hours in reasonable (though blurry) quality. If you want to keep full DVD resolution (720x480/576), pushing the average bitrate down too low may result in unacceptable video quality.

[oddyseus]

Well since u r a video editor, u know that u can't re-encode an already encoded file and expect to receive acceptable quality.

Of course this implies that your divx encodes r in a bitrate adequate for a cd or two. In this bitrate range u r at a point that u mustn't re-encode to mpeg2 at all. An attempt to mpeg1 at 1/4 D1 might produce a more acceptable result.

Anyway my attempts, a few years back, at mpeg1, 1/2 D1, using Panasonic's mpeg encoder, at 2mbs from the original dvd gave me some very good backups.

[SamusekTDS]

but if i have mpegs in vcd/svcd format is there a way to just plug them into some file structure on DVD to make it readable?
---
Sam.

[sarahjh69]

yes there is

dvd author from www.pegasys-inc.com (free for 30 days)
will accept the AVESEQ01.DAT files straight off a VCD
and you can fit 6cds worth on yor dvdr

mpeg files from SVCDs can also be loaded after you run them thru
dvd patcher (patch entire file 480 x 352)
Compile your files in dvd Author then use Dvd Patcher to patch
the finished .VOBs back to 480 x 480 before you burn em to dvdr

this doesn't work for .avis tho, you need to re encode them first using TMPG encoder from pegasys (also free for 30 days)