Best AVI > DVD conversion software?

[SuperSix]

I have a bunch of AVI's I need to burn to DVD - I have WinAVI, but It's acting up, and I keep getting missing file errors when I try to burn the DVD files it creates.

Suggestions? Under ~50.00 or so.

 

[nismotigerwvu]

Dvd flick....its free....give it a shot

 

[w3stfa11]

I've always used ConvertXtoDVD. Great software, but it's not free. They're releasing a big update (3.0) soon, too.

 

[Muse]

Subscribed.

I have some big AVI's (~25 GB), and want to produce DVD-R's, single, double (it doesn't much matter), but I want to make some pretty elementary edits (delete some segments, and hopefully include a few still shots like JPGs for a few seconds in places), but most of all I want to preserve the quality of the original video as much as possible (480p quality, pretty much).

 

[SuperSix]

Originally posted by: nismotigerwvu
Dvd flick....its free....give it a shot

Cool - downloaded it - trying a DVD now - will report back.

 

[nismotigerwvu]

For best quality be sure to turn on 2 pass encoding

 

[MadScientist]

I've been using AVI2DVD. It's also free. Going to give DVDFlick a try.

 

[jjones]

Originally posted by: w3stfa11
I've always used ConvertXtoDVD. Great software, but it's not free. They're releasing a big update (3.0) soon, too.

This is what I've been using and it has worked great for me.

 

[SuperSix]

DVD Flick is very nice - thank you for the recommendation!

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: SuperSix
DVD Flick is very nice - thank you for the recommendation!

Does this ( with 2x encoding ) or ConvertXtoDVD do a good job of preserving the quality or are other tools noticeably better? This is my biggest concern.

 

[Auric]

There's a lot of crap converters to be avoided, that's fo' sho'.

I've used ConvertXtoDVD for several years but DVD Flick looks velly intellesting.

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: nismotigerwvu
Dvd flick....its free....give it a shot

mmm... Dvdflick doesn't work right for me...
no matter what settings I use the finished result is stuttery audio during dark scenes or scene transitions; does this on my stand alone dvd player, my ps2, and my pc.

I personally use ConvertXtoDVD works well but I wish it had 2 pass encoding...

 

[Rottie]

Alive Video Converter works great for me but it is not free.

 

[MadScientist]

I got my hands on a copy (don?t ask from where) of the new ConvertXtoDVD 3.0.0.1 to compare to the freeware programs AVI2DVD 0.4.5 Beta and DVDFlick 1.2.2.1. I downloaded a WS DVDRip of the movie Enchanted (again don?t ask from where), 2 -715MB avi files with AC3-6 channel audio, to use to test each program on my Philips DVP5982 DVD player and 46" LCD HDTV. I used Vebatim DVD-RWs from the same batch for burning.
The websites for these programs have support forums and guides. The guide for ConvertXtoDVD needs updated. I had to go to their forum to find out how to merge files.

AVI2DVD: ~60MB installed with AVISynth 2.5, individual freeware components can be upgraded to latest versions
Pros: free, easy to use interface after you learn its quirks, can merge files, create menus and chapters, add subtitles, can choose from 4 different free encoders , 2 pass encoding, can create VOB and iso files, can vary audio bitrate; deinterlace, multiple language, aspect ratio options.
Con: very long encode times, does not like file names with characters, to merge files you must rename them, i.e., Movie CD1.avi and Movie CD2.avi, with this version default DVD-5 size is set to 4.7GB, and cannot be customized, so you need another program like DVDShrink or CloneDVD2 to resize files, what was the author thinking?, no file burning capability
Encoding Test: used the latest version, 0.22, of the HC encoder, best setting, 2 passes, make iso, 384 audio bitrate, no deinterlace, no menu, CPU usage was ~50%, total time to finalize files was 3 hrs, 8 min., creates VOBs and iso files.

DVDFlick: ~17MB installed, not sure what encoder it uses, ffpmpeg?, if you know please share
Pros: free, small profile, easy to use interface, can merge files, add subtitles, 2 pass encoding, create chapters; deinterlace, aspect ratio, pan and scan options, can customize target size, can create and burn iso files
Cons: cannot create menus
Encoding Test: used best 2 pass encoding setting, no deinterlace, create iso image, CPU usage was 80 ? 85%, creates VOBs and iso files, total time to finalize files was 1 hr, 43 minutes.

ConvertXtoDVD: ~50MB installed, not sure what encoder it uses, if you know please share
Pros: very fast encoder, very slick customizable interface, can merge files, create menus and chapters, add subtitles, can burn VOB files, can customize target size; deinterlace, aspect ratio, video resize, TV format, language options, extensive file info
Cons: deinterlace option set to On as default, default DVD-5 target size of 4.4GB maybe too large for some 2nd class media, possible glitch in program when setting Video Process option to Auto, Link, had to set it to Letterbox to get it to play in WS mode even though I had TV Format set to 16:9 WS, no 2 pass encoding option (may not need it), cannot create or burn iso files
Encoding Test: used high quality (1 pass) setting, no deinterlace, no menu, CPU usage was 75 ? 80%, total time to finalize files was an amazing 27 minutes.

Results: I used Nero to burn the orginal avi files for comparison and CloneDVD2 for AVI2DVD to compress and burn its files, and the burning features of DVDFlick and ConvertXtoDVD to burn their files.

PQ: sitting about 8? across the room from my 46? LCD TV I observed very little difference in picture or audio quality between the encoded files of each program and the encoded files compared to the original avi files, even the dark scenes still looked good. I did have a major problem with DVDFlick. I could not get a good burn, stuttering video, and freeze ups when fast forwarding. I tried burning both the VOBs and iso files, also used Nero for burning, and got the same results.
Encoding and Finalizing File Time: the winner by a large margin at only 27 minutes was ConvertXtoDVD. Even with just 1 pass encoding, I don?t know how they do it, the PQ of the encoded files was as good as the freeware programs with 2 pass encoding.

Looks like I?m going to be using ConvertXtoDVD from now on.


Opteron 170 @ 2.7 Ghz
Epox nforce4 ultra MB
2 MB Crucial Ballistix DDR PC3200
MSI 8800GT Oc'ed
NEC ND-3540A DVD burner
Win XP Pro

 

[Muse]

bump

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: w3stfa11
I've always used ConvertXtoDVD. Great software, but it's not free. They're releasing a big update (3.0) soon, too.

:thumbsup:

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: MadScientist
I got my hands on a copy (don?t ask from where) of the new ConvertXtoDVD 3.0.0.1 to compare to the freeware programs AVI2DVD 0.4.5 Beta and DVDFlick 1.2.2.1. I downloaded a WS DVDRip of the movie Enchanted (again don?t ask from where), 2 -715MB avi files with AC3-6 channel audio, to use to test each program on my Philips DVP5982 DVD player and 46" LCD HDTV. I used Vebatim DVD-RWs from the same batch for burning.
The websites for these programs have support forums and guides. The guide for ConvertXtoDVD needs updated. I had to go to their forum to find out how to merge files.

AVI2DVD: ~60MB installed with AVISynth 2.5, individual freeware components can be upgraded to latest versions
Pros: free, easy to use interface after you learn its quirks, can merge files, create menus and chapters, add subtitles, can choose from 4 different free encoders , 2 pass encoding, can create VOB and iso files, can vary audio bitrate; deinterlace, multiple language, aspect ratio options.
Con: very long encode times, does not like file names with characters, to merge files you must rename them, i.e., Movie CD1.avi and Movie CD2.avi, with this version default DVD-5 size is set to 4.7GB, and cannot be customized, so you need another program like DVDShrink or CloneDVD2 to resize files, what was the author thinking?, no file burning capability
Encoding Test: used the latest version, 0.22, of the HC encoder, best setting, 2 passes, make iso, 384 audio bitrate, no deinterlace, no menu, CPU usage was ~50%, total time to finalize files was 3 hrs, 8 min., creates VOBs and iso files.

DVDFlick: ~17MB installed, not sure what encoder it uses, ffpmpeg?, if you know please share
Pros: free, small profile, easy to use interface, can merge files, add subtitles, 2 pass encoding, create chapters; deinterlace, aspect ratio, pan and scan options, can customize target size, can create and burn iso files
Cons: cannot create menus
Encoding Test: used best 2 pass encoding setting, no deinterlace, create iso image, CPU usage was 80 ? 85%, creates VOBs and iso files, total time to finalize files was 1 hr, 43 minutes.

ConvertXtoDVD: ~50MB installed, not sure what encoder it uses, if you know please share
Pros: very fast encoder, very slick customizable interface, can merge files, create menus and chapters, add subtitles, can burn VOB files, can customize target size; deinterlace, aspect ratio, video resize, TV format, language options, extensive file info
Cons: deinterlace option set to On as default, default DVD-5 target size of 4.4GB maybe too large for some 2nd class media, possible glitch in program when setting Video Process option to Auto, Link, had to set it to Letterbox to get it to play in WS mode even though I had TV Format set to 16:9 WS, no 2 pass encoding option (may not need it), cannot create or burn iso files
Encoding Test: used high quality (1 pass) setting, no deinterlace, no menu, CPU usage was 75 ? 80%, total time to finalize files was an amazing 27 minutes.

Results: I used Nero to burn the orginal avi files for comparison and CloneDVD2 for AVI2DVD to compress and burn its files, and the burning features of DVDFlick and ConvertXtoDVD to burn their files.

PQ: sitting about 8? across the room from my 46? LCD TV I observed very little difference in picture or audio quality between the encoded files of each program and the encoded files compared to the original avi files, even the dark scenes still looked good. I did have a major problem with DVDFlick. I could not get a good burn, stuttering video, and freeze ups when fast forwarding. I tried burning both the VOBs and iso files, also used Nero for burning, and got the same results.
Encoding and Finalizing File Time: the winner by a large margin at only 27 minutes was ConvertXtoDVD. Even with just 1 pass encoding, I don?t know how they do it, the PQ of the encoded files was as good as the freeware programs with 2 pass encoding.

Looks like I?m going to be using ConvertXtoDVD from now on.


Opteron 170 @ 2.7 Ghz
Epox nforce4 ultra MB
2 MB Crucial Ballistix DDR PC3200
MSI 8800GT Oc'ed
NEC ND-3540A DVD burner
Win XP Pro

its a bit of a waste of time anyways, the avi is already softer looking than the dvd. the dvd made from avi is just more degraded.
i just use netflix

 

[MadScientist]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
its a bit of a waste of time anyways, the avi is already softer looking than the dvd. the dvd made from avi is just more degraded.
i just use netflix

I think we are all aware that the best way to make a copy of a DVD movie is from the original. Please reread the OP's question.

 

[agr8man]

use nero vision to convert it to dvd.it automatically converts the avi's to dvd.

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: agr8man
use nero vision to convert it to dvd.it automatically converts the avi's to dvd.

That's what I started off using, but realized quickly that it's the worst of the bunch. If the files weren't straight forward resolutions and bitrates, it went out of sync and just plain looked bad.
Nero was good back when it was a CD burning program.
Now it's just bloatware like Roxio is.

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: Soundmanred

Originally posted by: agr8man
use nero vision to convert it to dvd.it automatically converts the avi's to dvd.

That's what I started off using, but realized quickly that it's the worst of the bunch. If the files weren't straight forward resolutions and bitrates, it went out of sync and just plain looked bad.
Nero was good back when it was a CD burning program.
Now it's just bloatware like Roxio is.

Edit: The 3.0 update for ConvertXtoDVD is great, has more features than the 2.xx versions and converts just a bit faster. It's my favorite conversion program.
Real edit: Why did my edit make a whole new post? Weird.

 

[agr8man]

thanks for the info

 

[Soundmanred]

Originally posted by: agr8man
thanks for the info

No problem!
Wait, you're not the OP...

 

[Ravenit]

another vote for convertxtodvd been using it for years