I've done some reading online at Deskshare and here at Afterdawn. Lots of great information but not a concrete answer for a newbie--what is the best way to compress an AVI file for DVD use? My blank media can hold 4.7 GB and my file is nearly five times that. I keep reading that MPEG-4 and XVID/DIVX are good options. Or should one keep the AVI format and alter specs to compress it? Which will give me the least quality loss? Thank you, Alissa
Do you intend to play your created dvd on a DVD player? Does the machine play mpeg-4? Not all of them do? If it doesn't you'll have to create a real DVD, use one of the free apps. such as DVD Flick.
I believe it does, but I know for sure it plays DivX. But let's say it plays a good variety of formats. Which would compress with the least loss of quality? What do you mean by "real DVD"? Do you mean MPEG-2?
Yes, I meant the standard DVD (mpeg-2 as you say) Xvid and Divx are a flavor mpeg-4. What do you mean "alter specs"? Do you mean change the resolution? Why don't you give AutoGK a try ? Or even something Like Dr. Divx can give good results. Most standalone players will only play mpeg-4 with a max resolution horizontal of 720, so bear that in mind. Another restriction is that the avi (or Divx) files should be less than 2GB.
Yes, I meant adjusting settings on resolution, frame rate, etc. I hate being niave about things. I'm struggling to understand media editing/conversion in its entirety and there's a lot to learn. Can you explain what you mean by "flavor"? Thank you for the links to Dr. DivX and AutoGK. I'll keep them handy, though I have a media converter already and would like to figure out how to do most of my burning through Nero to keep life simple. My videos are not HD. Since 720 x 480 is standard for DVD, MPEG-4 shouldn't be limiting to resolution, correct? (Is your concern for PC/laptop playing?) So....I still think my original question stands: if my player can play a variety of formats, which compressor would result in the least loss of quality?
My concern re: resolution. That was for the standalone player. No such limitation on the PC, except that it's within the limits of your monitor, video card and cpu horse power. By flavor, I mean it's comes under the umbrella of "mpeg-4". See here as to why using the term can be ambiguous unless you're very clear: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4 The best quality for the size is generally H264 (avc), perhaps put into an MKV container. However, that's for the PC. Standalone players will not play it. Most movies on the net are compressed to about 700MBusing xvid/divx. From the samples I've seen, this is often too-low a bit rate and increasing the file size a little would have resulted in better quality. Other times, the mvies are encoded in 1-pass when 2 passes would have mproved it at the same file size. Why don't you try it and see if the quality suits you?
