AVI to mpeg results in shitty quality...Why?

How come all the torrents for shows Like Lost are in AVI format. After I DL them I have to convert them to mpeg to get them burnable for a DVD+r right? So, the quality of the video goes right down the tube!!! Is there not torrents that are there for the Download that are already in mpeg format? It just seems backwards to me......

Thanks for the input.

 

Your quality loss at the encoding process need'nt happen. I downloaded 3 seasons of a 1 hour TV show and most were avi but a few were in mpeg format and after encoding the avi to fit 3 & 4 episodes on a dvd, there was little, if any quality loss in the encoded files. Mine were downloaded off Limewire but that's neither here or there, the compression was the same as comparable torrent files. I would say that the quality seen depends on your encoder and its settings and, definitely, how many episodes you try to fit on 1 DVD plus the quality of the avi. As the saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. My personal preference is MainConcept but TMPGEnc Plus (for DVD)(slow), Procoder Plus (expensive and slow,as well) and Express and CCE Basic (fast but hard to use) are some of the higher end encoders, IMO. Others like ConvertXtoDVD, WinAVI, Nero are very fast and give good quality, too

 

Avi's are (usually) smaller, so quicker to download.
Crap quality during conversion happens when the bitrate of the mpg is too low, the framerate is changed, or framesize is enlarged too much, or with the wrong aspect.
Use Gspot to get the stats of the avi, then do the conversion based on the original.
With the right settings, and the right encoder (not some all-in-one junk), you can get excellent mpg's from the avi's, providing they were high quality avi's to begin with.
Garbage in, garbage out.

 

Not much I can add to those good replies!
The key point is AVIs are smaller and quicker to download - Star Wars Sith is ~6700MB on DVD, and my AVI is 700MB.
During the conversion of an AVI back to DVD (like making orange juice from powder) you will not get the original DVD quality, but you can get really very good quality at the resolution of the AVI.
You MUST do a two-pass high-quality conversion to MPEG2, though, and it can take hours and hours.
So sometimes: quality in, garbage out (if you are impatient).
Regards