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What is the best file format to burn to a DVD?

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Kitrax, Oct 17, 2006.

  1. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    Ok, Chev's thread on video converters reminded me of my past blunders with burning video files to a DVD. Last time I tried it, Jessica had made a photo montage using M$'s MovieMaker program. The Output file (IIRC it was a .wmv) had horrible playback on a standard DVD player...so on my second attempt, I used Nero to convert the finished product to an .mpg before burning it to a DVD. It was a little better, but still had errors (audio scratchy in places, and video freezing in other places).

    Now that I'm really into 'Heroes' on NBC, I've been recording it each week to my laptop using my PVR box...and once I get enough episodes, I was going to burn them to a DVD using Nero's DVD creator (the one that adds custom menus and navigation) since I can't always watch an entire episode.

    My question is, which video format is the best to burn to a DVD? I'm aiming for the best playback quality, not necessarily the smallest file size. Right now my PVR box is configured to record the TV show in an .avi file. When it comes time to burn a DVD, is the .avi file a good choice? :hmm: :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Oct 17, 2006
    #1
  2. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    Wrong.

    Not enough details and what you think you know is way off.
     
    Taza, Oct 17, 2006
    #2
  3. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Standard DVD is MPEG2 encoded. I don't know what all the formats are that a regular DVD player will read these days though.

    And if you are talking about single-layer DVDs, you'll only be able to fit about 2 1-hour episodes on a DVD if you want it recorded at standard DVD quality.

    My PVR setup records shows in MPEG2 format, but I haven't attempted to burn a DVD yet (or remove all the commercials) since I have enough HD space for ~300 1-hour shows now, so I can't yet tell you how that will work out.
     
    Blackthorne TA, Oct 17, 2006
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  4. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    Well that was helpful. :rolleyes:

    What more do you need to know?
    • I have four episodes of 'Heroes' currently recorded/encoded as .avi files
    • I want to know what the best file format is to burn the episodes to a DVD.
    • If I need to convert the 4 .avi files I currently have into an MPEG2 format, will there be a big/noticeable loss of quality?
    :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Oct 18, 2006
    #4
  5. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    Still wrong.

    You need to convert the files to mpeg2 for a standard dvd (even if a lot of DVD players these days support mpeg4).

    I wouldn't know about the quality loss seeing I know nothing how the files are encoded nor the resolution, FPS, etc vital information.
    (Not that I would know much about the quality loss then either, seeing I only use my computer for video playing. I doubt that converting to mpeg2 will have a horrible loss of quality unless you have the originals as HD. Nero's converting tends to be horrible though.)

    "I have 4 .avi files" and then asking questions like that is like asking "I have a car with four wheels, how fuel efficient is it?".
     
    Taza, Oct 18, 2006
    #5
  6. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    [​IMG] On the other hand, posting a reply such as your first is a waste of your time typing it, and everyone else's reading it. If you're going to post, you might as well do it by asking for the specific missing details, so that you actually can help. This forum isn't labelled "experts only", so the kind of derisive feedback that you've provided is completely uncalled for.
     
    Taluntain, Oct 20, 2006
    #6
  7. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    Actually, now that I see your point though your sarcasm, it's more like, "I have four vehicles: a 2 door economy, a mid-sized minivan, and a big rig. Which one would be better to haul a 52' trailer?"

    So if I understand you correctly...MPEG 2 would be the *ideal* format seeing as how I wouldn't need to convert the file before burning it (and therefore save some video quality). Am I "right" this time?

    I can check and post the FPS, the resolution, file name, file size, location of the file, and the last date the file was accessed...if you really want to know, once I get home from work. :D :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Oct 20, 2006
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  8. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    The true problem is that an .avi file is a container - it can contain almost all types of encoded video. Therefore it's really the encoding type that matters.

    However, seeing that you want to burn a standard DVD, you're kinda short on options. I personally prefer XviD on players that can play it, but I don't encode video often enough to give you detailed information.
     
    Taza, Oct 20, 2006
    #8
  9. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    Ok, so what I found out is that the video files are 640 x 480 in size, FPS is 23, and the data rate is 140kbps.

    And it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to get very good quallity if I were to burn them to a DVD. I was watching an episode just a minute ago, and made it go full screen...and the quallity was crap! I don't want to even think of how bad it would look on my 32" TV... :eek: I didn't think that my TV tuner's default was so sh***y!

    Looks like I'm going to have to buy the damn season on DVD once it comes out. :doh: :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Oct 20, 2006
    #9
  10. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    What is the resolution of your monitor vs. the resolution of your 32" TV? Blowing it up on a much higher resolution screen won't give you a good feel for what it will look like on a standard definition TV.

    [ October 20, 2006, 19:47: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]
     
    Blackthorne TA, Oct 20, 2006
    #10
  11. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    See...the thing is, when it comes to screen size, resolutions and stuff like that...I have little to no knowledge at all. :bad:

    My laptop has a 15.1" screen set at 1024 x 768. I have no clue as how to check the resolution on my TV. I'd check the manual, but it got lost during the move. :(

    This all started out as an, "I wonder if I could..." type of project. And it looks like the answer is going to be, "Not this time." So it's not that big of a deal. :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Oct 21, 2006
    #11

  12. Sydax Gems: 19/31
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    I watch Prison Break, and since I like to watch them in English, I have to record them because they are on at 4AM, so I use a little tool that comes with the DSL software to record TV shows.
    After reading stuff around I found that there are no avi files in a DVD; any utility such Nero that records DVD movies will ask for certain files: first there should be 2 folders, called SOUND_TS and VIDEO_TS, in which there will be IFO, BUP and VOB files.
    Now, there are lots of ways to convert avi files to DVD compatible files (like CVCD, etc.), and after comparing and doing lot of testing I went for the option of getting a software that does all the proccess in one step, but be warned, any way you should do this, it will take no less than 40 minutes.
    Here are some tips:
    http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/convert_avi_to_dvd.cfm
    And if you get a chance, get WinAvi, the tool I'm talking about.
     
    Sydax, Oct 21, 2006
    #12
  13. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Assuming your 32" TV is just a regular analog television, then it's about half of what your laptop monitor is displaying. So, if you have the playback window taking up about one quarter of your laptop screen, that would be more accurate to what it would look like on your TV.
     
    Blackthorne TA, Oct 21, 2006
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  14. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    Oh really? I didn't know that. I had it at full screen mode, and the quality wasn't very good...but when I reduced the screen size to about half, the quality looked somewhat better than a normal OTA TV show on our TV. If I were to reduce the size of the window to one quarter, then the quality is great...but tiny...but hey, if it looks good on a normal TV, then that's all I care about! Thanks BTA! :D :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Oct 25, 2006
    #14
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