Recording DVD's out of AVI files

Mariano Nante · July 13, 2005

Hi,

I'm triying to record a 5 Giga .avi file into a DVD, but I can't seem to get it right. I downloaded NeroVision to do it, but when I insert the disk and try to start the burning process an error message appears, something like "you must insert the propper disk before recording".

Any thoughts? How do you guys usually do this?

Thanks

Chance Shirley · July 13, 2005

I think most DVD-Rs only hold 4.7 gigabytes of data, so the disc you're trying to record to probably isn't big enough.

There are some "dual layer" DVD+R recorders that can store 8.5 gigabytes using dual layer discs. If your DVD drive isn't dual layer compatible, 4.7 gigabytes will be the most data you can store on a single disc.

Edited July 13, 2005 by chance

Alessandro Machi · July 13, 2005

Hi,

I'm triying to record a 5 Giga .avi file into a DVD, but I can't seem to get it right. I downloaded NeroVision to do it, but when I insert the disk and try to start the burning process an error message appears, something like "you must insert the propper disk before recording".

Any thoughts? How do you guys usually do this?

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For starters, always do a very simple, very short dvd just to make sure all of your settings jive with each other.

Make up a short 30 second project consisting of three cuts, call the job done, and lay it back to DVD and see what happens. If it burns the DVD fine, then at least you know you're system works part of the time!

I agree with chance's comment that anything over 4.5 gigabytes and you've probably maxed out the DVD and it won't burn.

July 14, 2005

Hi,

I'm triying to record a 5 Giga .avi file into a DVD, but I can't seem to get it right. I downloaded NeroVision to do it, but when I insert the disk and try to start the burning process an error message appears, something like "you must insert the propper disk before recording".

Any thoughts? How do you guys usually do this?

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is the .avi video un-compressed or compressed? Or, more importantly, how long does it run for?

Bare in mind, if you're burning it as a DVD format, so it will play on DVD players, it will be re-encoded, usually you can get 1 to 2 hours descent quality on a single 4.7 Gig DVD.

For simple burns to DVD, try "WinAVI", it will get the best quality for the size of the disk. So if you're burning to a standard 4.7 Gig DVD disc, "WinAVI" will choose the highest possible bit-rate without making it too big for the DVD. But seriously, when you start going over 2 hours, the quality will be poor. Bare in mind that the DVD's you buy in shops, are burn't on dual layer DVD discs, i.e. 9.4 Gig discs. To burn those you will need a special DVD burner which could cost a lot.

As far as I know, you can't start creating interactive or even simple menus with "WinAVI", but if that's what you want to do then there is plenty of other DVD authoring software out there. "WinAVI" will do the basics.

Hope this helps,

Dan.

Edited July 14, 2005 by Daniel J. Ashley-Smith

Mariano Nante · July 14, 2005

The video is only 24 min long, and I don't realy know why it is so big.

I'll try the WinAVi, thank you all.

July 14, 2005

The video is only 24 min long, and I don't realy know why it is so big.

I'll try the WinAVi, thank you all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm guessing its un-compressed DV. You'll EASILY fit that onto a single DVD at good quality, and a whole lot more actually.

The reason why it is so big is because it is "un-compressed". Videos that you download off the internet, DVD's you buy from shops, are all (usually) compressed down to a more manageable size. It's like having a picture in windows bitmap format and then using JPEG compression to squeeze it down. Technically the quality won't be as good, but to the human eye, depending on how much you compress it by, you won't see any difference.

Dan.

(WinAVI)

Edited July 14, 2005 by Daniel J. Ashley-Smith

Frederico Augusto Ferraz Almeida · July 18, 2005

The video is only 24 min long, and I don't realy know why it is so big.

I'll try the WinAVi, thank you all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Friend,

looks like you´re trying to back up the Avi file? If you try to just put it on a DVD, it will not play in a DVD player...

If you want to convert it to a DVD format, I sugest you use "DVD Santa", I think it´s free and it wil convert your avi file directly to .VOB (DVD files to be recorded in a DVD disk). It will manage to adjust the quality to fit into a 4.7 DVD disk.

Cheers,

Fredalme

Mariano Nante · July 20, 2005

Friend,

looks like you´re trying to back up the Avi file? If you try to just put it on a DVD, it will not play in a DVD player...

If you want to convert it to a DVD format, I sugest you use "DVD Santa", I think it´s free and it wil convert your avi file directly to .VOB (DVD files to be recorded in a DVD disk). It will manage to adjust the quality to fit into a 4.7 DVD disk.

Cheers,

Fredalme

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, but I used NeroVision for the job. When I asked the original question I didn't realise that a DVD plugin was needed in order to convert AVIs and stuff.

Thanks anyway

xtraview · July 20, 2005

Thanks, but I used NeroVision for the job. When I asked the original question I didn't realise that a DVD plugin was needed in order to convert AVIs and stuff.

Thanks anyway

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a freeware software -- DVDShrink -- http://www.dvdshrink.org/

This software allows you to shrink/fit to 4.7GB single layerd dvd

Since the .avi size is 5GB you will not be shrinking as much and so the

quality should not be much off from the original

Look at the % in the software tab where it will tell you

what % it will shrink to.. if you get close to 95% you should be ok

This software is used for DVD movies that are over 4.7GB in size due to extra

stuff on the DVD and allows one to compress to one DVD

Unless you have High definition TV you will not see much difference

Hope this helps.

Mariano Nante · July 24, 2005

I've got a question: why can't you copy a regular DVD (like the ones you rent) onto another one? Daniel said that those are 9 Gig disks. I cannot believe it! If you want to buy one of those disks (empty, I mean) it costs like $12, and sometimes you can get DVD movies in stores for much less.

And even if I bought a big 9-gig disk, would I be able to copy one?

Suppose I can't: isn't there a way to transform that movie into AVI and then burn it into a 4.7 Gig disk? Would there be a significative video loss?

Thanks for your replies.

Thomas Worth · July 24, 2005

If you want to convert it to a DVD format, I sugest you use "DVD Santa", I think it´s free and it wil convert your avi file directly to .VOB (DVD files to be recorded in a DVD disk). It will manage to adjust the quality to fit into a 4.7 DVD disk.

A VOB (Video OBject) file is nothing more than a multiplexed MPEG2/AC3 or PCM video with additional DVD specific info like chapter points and such. Much more is required to get a DVD player to play your DVD. You need an entire file system, including a VIDEO_TS.IFO (Video Title Set). The first thing the DVD player looks for on the DVD is a file called VIDEO_TS.IFO, which contains a bunch of data describing the layout of the DVD.

You also need an IFO file for your main VOB, which should be named VTS_01_1.VOB for standards compliance. You can get a piece of software for free called "IFOEdit" that will create IFO files for VOBs.

There is a freeware software -- DVDShrink -- http://www.dvdshrink.org/
This software allows you to shrink/fit to 4.7GB single layerd dvd

Since the .avi size is 5GB you will not be shrinking as much and so the

quality should not be much off from the original

DVDShrink only works with an MPEG2 source, e.g. an existing DVD. You can't use it to encode AVI files. For encoding AVIs, do a search for TMPGEnc. It's a free encoder that will let you encode MPEG2 files for 30 days. I think at the end of 30 days you can reinstall it and go for another 30 days. You can get very high quality MPEG2s out of this software.

I've got a question: why can't you copy a regular DVD (like the ones you rent) onto another one? Daniel said that those are 9 Gig disks. I cannot believe it! If you want to buy one of those disks (empty, I mean) it costs like $12, and sometimes you can get DVD movies in stores for much less.

Yes, they most certainly are single sided, 9GB discs. The proper term is DVD9. The discs you burn on your PC's DVD burner are DVD5. It's a different type of disc altogether, which explains the price difference. Home discs contain a special "dye layer" and are burned with a laser. Mass release DVD9s, like the ones at the video store, are "pressed" by a duplication machine. The DVDs are much cheaper, but the equipment required to duplicate them is MUCH more expensive.

If you're cheap, your best bet is to use the following combination of free software:

1. TMPGEnc for MPEG2 encoding / multiplexing

2. IFOEdit for creation of IFOs (DVD file system)

3. Some DVD burning program that will burn a UDF/ISO format DVD

I have used this combination thousands of times to create high quality DVDs for testing or for client approval. It works.

Fore more info, check out my site at rarevision.com.

July 24, 2005

I've got a question: why can't you copy a regular DVD (like the ones you rent) onto another one? Daniel said that those are 9 Gig disks. I cannot believe it! If you want to buy one of those disks (empty, I mean) it costs like $12, and sometimes you can get DVD movies in stores for much less.

And even if I bought a big 9-gig disk, would I be able to copy one?

Suppose I can't: isn't there a way to transform that movie into AVI and then burn it into a 4.7 Gig disk? Would there be a significative video loss?

Thanks for your replies.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The only reason they use 9 Gig disks is because of all the extra features e.t.c. Usually the movie files won't exceed 4.7 Gig, sometimes they might. There is actually use certain software that can rip the movie files and ONLY the movie files. So you get rid of all the special features e.t.c.

As for the cost of the disks, I think they just get bulk discount so they get them for a lot cheaper.

I'm not sure what the quality of 3 hours of DVD video would be like on a 4.7 disk but it probably wouldn't be bad.

If you're wanting to rip copyright films, from my experiece, I would just suggest buying them. For a start it's stealing, and secondly it's too much effort to worry about. It's always nicer to have the official copy anyway. I used to rip copyrighted films, but now I just spare £12 and get the proper copy.

Thomas Worth · July 24, 2005

I'm not sure what the quality of 3 hours of DVD video would be like on a 4.7 disk but it probably wouldn't be bad.

It's not bad at all. In fact, I put together a compilation of 3 hours of stock footage from archive.org, and it looks great: http://rarevision.com/kicksville/ Keep in mind however, that in order to fit 3 hours of video with reasonable quality, the footage should be encoded at 23.976fps (as most big studio movies are). At 29.97, you're working with 20% more footage, which requires that much more storage space. My DVD was encoded at 23.976p. It was a labor intensive process that required a reverse pulldown operation for every clip, since they were encoded as 29.97fps with 3:2 pulldown for NTSC compatibility. Once the reverse pulldown was completed, I was left with a true progressive 24p clip.

If you're wanting to rip copyright films, from my experiece, I would just suggest buying them.

Have you tried DVD Shrink? It is completely free and makes copying DVDs a snap. It is truly a "one-click" DVD copying program that has its own MPEG2 encoder built-in and will allow some re-authoring. You can get rid of menus and other things you don't need to improve the quality of the movie. Studio DVDs are encoded at an unnecessarily high bitrate, probably for the purpose of discouraging piracy. Many older films that had been released before DeCSS was around are still DVD5s and look great. Many foreign films are still encoded onto DVD5s and don't even require recompressing to fit on a piece of 4.7GB media.