DVD conversion frustration

Robert Eric · Tue 30/12/2003 03:51:32

I just bought a DVD/CD burner drive, and I've been having some problems. First, why does it take so long to convert an AVI to MPEG-2 (720x480)? In the program that came with it, it said that it would take eight hours to transcode it to the format. The file was 588mb, and the resulting file size is estimated to be about 6 gigs. Can someone give me a little helpful info?

Timosity · Tue 30/12/2003 04:28:38

Converting Video file formats is one of the reasons processor speed has been going up (besides games), It's one of the only things that actually utilises CPU speed but it is still just a slow process.

The reason the file size is large is probably because of the different compression ratios, what you've described sounds pretty much right as far as I know.

It's a bitch of a process, I don't know what processor you have but the faster the better as far as time is concerned.

It's much faster to actually make it into a DVD or copy a DVD, it's just converting a file to the right type to make a DVD that is the killer.

~~but it's probably easier to just watch porn on your computer~~

TheYak · Tue 30/12/2003 04:37:05

You might consider using a different program as well. When converting a Div-X, X-Vid or standard Non-compressed AVI file to Mpeg-2 via Nero 6, it takes a maximum of 3.75 hours for me. Still a lengthy process, I often set up a burn and go to sleep.

There are other programs out there that will convert various files to the proper format. The problem is that various burning programs will try to re-convert the file when burning. If you learn about the structure of a DVD-movie (audio/video_ts folders and filenames) you can burn it as an ISO and have it work in many standard players.

One format conversion program I like is TMPGencoder (Web-search TMPGenc). It will convert among many file-types and usually doesn't take much longer to encode movies in MPEG-2 than the time period the movie lasts. The problem is that it has a 30-day limited functionality for MPEG-2 conversion and requires you to register the program after that.

For DVD-Copying (which you didn't ask about but I thought I'd mention for interested parties) many people swear by DVDXCopy. I don't particularly enjoy paying 80-150 dollars for a simplistic program so I found others at www.afterdawn.com. They've got lots of programs/tutorials on various video-manipulations. From there, I found DVDDecrypt (free) which gets rid of Region-markers and other protection devices and DVDShrink (Also free) which lets you choose which DVD features to cut or compress (and how much compression) so you can fit an 8-gig (DVD-9) disc onto a 4.7G DVD-writable.

Robert Eric · Tue 30/12/2003 05:18:17

What I've been doing is converting the AVIs to MPEG-2, 352x240 (the movie is about two hours long), beforehand, then use the software that came with the drive to just slap it in without a menu or cool options, simply renamed. It works, but the quality is poor. My only question is: Why must DVD vob files be so freaking big? Does it have no compression/encoding? As I said before, but to stress the point, the file in question was 588mb, two hours long, and at 640x400. The resolution of a DVD vob seems to be three times as large. What the bloody hell?

TheYak · Tue 30/12/2003 06:36:51

Well, the MPEG-2 format is meant for hi-quality. Even if you use a low-quality AVI, it's still only got the compression rate of a higher-quality movie (At least when using most user-friendly programs). So, you get to see blocky crap as crisply as possible. What program are you using? If your drive came with MyDVD, I suggest you ditch that program as soon as possible. I've tried several programs for DVD-creation in the past month or so and MyDVD is one of the worst. It's easy to use (which is nice) but at the cost of any real sort of features or customizations.

Pumaman · Tue 30/12/2003 16:45:13

With NeroVision Express you can choose to use a lower resolution and bitrate to fit more minutes of video onto the disc, but the conversion still takes ages. It was estimating about 48 hours when I tried it, so I've never actually bothered to make a proper DVD.

Robert Eric · Tue 30/12/2003 22:04:16

I converted a two hour avi at 640x480 to 352x240 MPEG-2 in under two and a half hours with Nero just now. The quality wasn't that bad, but I'd rather have the full resolution. I guess I can live with this. Thanks for the help.

TheYak · Wed 31/12/2003 04:09:26

Quote from: Pumaman on Tue 30/12/2003 16:45:13
With NeroVision Express you can choose to use a lower resolution and bitrate to fit more minutes of video onto the disc, but the conversion still takes ages. It was estimating about 48 hours when I tried it, so I've never actually bothered to make a proper DVD.

What the hell, man? Are you programming AGS on a 486 to ensure proper backwards-compatibility? That estimate is only 44 hours longer than mine've ever taken. Hell, I'll send ya an Athlon 1700+ XP CPU if it'll help. :

DGMacphee · Wed 31/12/2003 04:18:45

* DGMacphee kisses the ground that he bought an Athlon 1700!

Now all I need is a DVD burner.

Robert Eric · Wed 31/12/2003 20:20:08

For everyone trying to convert their files to DVD format, use Extended Play option. Trust me, it's worth it. The file looks just as good and doesn't take up as much space or time it takes to convert. It only took me about four hours to convert a 588mb file.