avi to DVD (for TV)

[Jay]

I have video footage in avi format that I want to put on a DVD and
send to relatives so they can watch it on their TVs (home DVD player).
Any idea on what to use? preferably freeware. I have Vista Business
and installed is movie maker, media player, roxio. I had a look
through those and couldn't see an obvious way.
I know nothing about video/audio modes/levels/tweaking so something
nice and simple where I point to an avi, insert a blank dvd and voila
would be nice.

 

[Ringmaster]

I have video footage in avi format that I want to put on a DVD and
send to relatives so they can watch it on their TVs (home DVD player).

That means it needs to be converted to MPEG-2 format. Because of the
stupidity of Microsoft, the business version of Vista does NOT include
a means to make DVD's. Home Premium does, be it a very crude one.

Any idea on what to use? preferably freeware. I have Vista Business
and installed is movie maker, media player, roxio. I had a look
through those and couldn't see an obvious way.

If you have a Roxio version that is compatible with Vista, then you
should be able to make a basic DVD with it. Again, depends on what
version you have.

I know nothing about video/audio modes/levels/tweaking so something
nice and simple where I point to an avi, insert a blank dvd and voila
would be nice.

Depends on the software. The source file (your AVI) assuming you don't
want to get fancy and do much editing or adding special effects is
simple enough if you limit yourself to simply making a compatible
format that can be burned to DVD.

One such possibility below. I haven't tried it, so how good it is I
can't say. I use Vegas a professional grade video editing suite.

http://www.sothinkmedia.com/movie-dvd-maker/

 

[Jay]

That means it needs to be converted to MPEG-2 format. Because of the
stupidity of Microsoft, the business version of Vista does NOT include
a means to make DVD's. Home Premium does, be it a very crude one.


If you have a Roxio version that is compatible with Vista, then you
should be able to make a basic DVD with it. Again, depends on what
version you have.


Depends on the software. The source file (your AVI) assuming you don't
want to get fancy and do much editing or adding special effects is
simple enough if you limit yourself to simply making a compatible
format that can be burned to DVD.

One such possibility below. I haven't tried it, so how good it is I
can't say. I use Vegas a professional grade video editing suite.

http://www.sothinkmedia.com/movie-dvd-maker/

Thanks, I have Roxio MyDVD 9
Had a quick look and it's all about making menus and special effects.
I'll RTFM some more. All I need to do is simply drag, drop and burn

 

[Jay]

That means it needs to be converted to MPEG-2 format. Because of the
stupidity of Microsoft, the business version of Vista does NOT include
a means to make DVD's. Home Premium does, be it a very crude one.


If you have a Roxio version that is compatible with Vista, then you
should be able to make a basic DVD with it. Again, depends on what
version you have.


Depends on the software. The source file (your AVI) assuming you don't
want to get fancy and do much editing or adding special effects is
simple enough if you limit yourself to simply making a compatible
format that can be burned to DVD.

One such possibility below. I haven't tried it, so how good it is I
can't say. I use Vegas a professional grade video editing suite.

http://www.sothinkmedia.com/movie-dvd-maker/

When I open roxio and say add new movie, I browse to the folder and my
avi icon turns into a no entry sign. I can't select it and choose add
as the button is greyed out. The formats on offer include avi so I'm
not sure why I can't select it.

 

[Jay]

That means it needs to be converted to MPEG-2 format. Because of the
stupidity of Microsoft, the business version of Vista does NOT include
a means to make DVD's. Home Premium does, be it a very crude one.


If you have a Roxio version that is compatible with Vista, then you
should be able to make a basic DVD with it. Again, depends on what
version you have.


Depends on the software. The source file (your AVI) assuming you don't
want to get fancy and do much editing or adding special effects is
simple enough if you limit yourself to simply making a compatible
format that can be burned to DVD.

One such possibility below. I haven't tried it, so how good it is I
can't say. I use Vegas a professional grade video editing suite.

http://www.sothinkmedia.com/movie-dvd-maker/

So I d/l and install
http://www.sothinkmedia.com/movie-dvd-maker/
I open it and it looks perfect! Browse to a file, set options so it'll
fit on a disc. Enter a blank dvd and away we go.
It converts, plays a pretty tune to let me know it's done and is
starting to copy to disc. Plays a pretty tune and leads me to believe
it's done.

I open windows explorer and double click the dvd drive (also tried
explore and open) and I get a dialogue offering to prepare the disc.
If I click ok then I'm warned that all data will be erased from the
disc if I continue.
WTF!!!

 

[Jay]

So I d/l and installhttp://www.sothinkmedia.com/movie-dvd-maker/
I open it and it looks perfect! Browse to a file, set options so it'll
fit on a disc. Enter a blank dvd and away we go.
It converts, plays a pretty tune to let me know it's done and is
starting to copy to disc. Plays a pretty tune and leads me to believe
it's done.

I open windows explorer and double click the dvd drive (also tried
explore and open) and I get a dialogue offering to prepare the disc.
If I click ok then I'm warned that all data will be erased from the
disc if I continue.
WTF!!!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Drama over. I just clicked the open dvd drawer button then closed
again. WMP starts playing the file.
Why oh why does windows tell me I have to prepare (I assume format)
the disc when I try to view in windows explorer?

Haven't got as far as tsting it on a home (tv) dvd player. Will be
amazed if it works given the number of troubles I've had in the past
with cds/dvds and windows.

 

[Ringmaster]

Thanks, I have Roxio MyDVD 9
Had a quick look and it's all about making menus and special effects.
I'll RTFM some more. All I need to do is simply drag, drop and burn

I happen to have Roxio Easy Media Creator 9. Under Disk Copier it has
a Video Compilation tab. Clicking it allows dragging of many video
file formats with it converting them to DVD.

You application MyDVD 9 also does what you want. See review. READ the
instructions!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2103563,00.asp

 

[Ringmaster]

Drama over. I just clicked the open dvd drawer button then closed
again. WMP starts playing the file.
Why oh why does windows tell me I have to prepare (I assume format)
the disc when I try to view in windows explorer?

Haven't got as far as tsting it on a home (tv) dvd player. Will be
amazed if it works given the number of troubles I've had in the past
with cds/dvds and windows.

You're still sound confused. If Vista is asking you to prepare a DVD
disc it means one of several things. The most likely is the disc you
just inserted in your DVD drive is BLANK or if you tried to "burn it"
it didn't take or is corrupted so now it wants to prepare or format
the disc. Vista SHOULD ask this when making a data disc. A data disc
is burning it in such a way that whatever files you place on it can be
read by the computer that burned it and hopefully by other computers.
It's just "copying" files. No conversion is taking place, you're
simply copying files like when you try to copy music to a CD or DVD.

NOT WHAT YOU WANT if you want to play some video on the DVD disc on a
free standing DVD player. For that to happen you need special files
which the DVD burning software makes. To see if you got that far open
the DVD disc you "burned" in Windows Explorer. You should see two
folders. One called Audio_TS and the other Video_TS. It is normal for
the audio folder to be empty.

If you don't see this file structure and VOB and BUB files in your
Video_TS folder then you didn't make the correct selection when
attempting to make a DVD. The trouble with most DVD making software is
it is like a Army Swiss Knife and is capable of doing multiple things.
You need to pick to correct selection to get the result you want.

Remember... making a DVD that plays on any DVD player is a multi step
process.

1. The source files need to be converted to MPEG-2.

2. Once done, they need to be converted to a image files a DVD player
can read.

3. Optionally you need DVD Authoring software if you wish to add
a menu structure and do special effects like chapters.

4. The final phase "burns" the correct file format to the disc.
There is no separate formatting. Whatever software you use
should take care of that transparently for you.

Good luck. Once you do it a couple times it is less confusing then it
sounds.