Hey everyone. I want to make some dvds. The menus I can do are simple and thats the way I prefer them. Since I will have more space with simpler menus, I would like to use higher quality files. Some of the videos I want to use are pre-HD and the source is not too wonderful. I have these files in .AVI format. My question is, would it be better to use HD videos from youtube if I can find them and find what I need to convert them or stick with the .AVI format? Also is there a way to improve quality of older pre-HD videos? Please be easy with me, my tiny brain can't take too much technical jargon.
HD video from YouTube will be in h264 codec .flv files and you can use a program such as SUPER to convert it to DVD compliant; the video quality is likely to be better than your .avi files but perhaps not the audio. There is no way to step up the quality of an .avi file without a better source file to re-compress to a new .avi. You can apply filters etc with programs like VirtualDub and AviSynth and they may improve picture quality slightly.
Thanks buddy. Well I'm working with audio thats a bit loud and recorded in live settings with people yelling and screaming so as long as it stays decent I really don't mind.
Ok I'm having a bit of trouble now. I found a program called DVDstyler. I can create simple static menus and its a super snap free program to do what I want with till I can afford something a little better. The only problem I am having is that I can't fit more than .AVI file on a disc in at least 5 mbt/s quality. Is there a way to compress an AVI without loosing quality?
Oh on the last question I forgot to add that I can change the video quality to any setting It has 2-8 mbit/s or I can go custom with any number I want to type in Kbit/s format. Also the audio has two options it has MP2 48khz or AC3 48kHz. It is currently set @ a default of the AC3 48kHz. It has an aspect ratio selection of 4:3 or 16:9.
You should be able to make the .avi file smaller using a program like AutoGK and setting the output size smaller than the input, I think. But you will sacrifice video quality by compressing it, and then converting it. The size of a DVD is finite after all. You could burn the .avi files as data if you have a standalone player which can handle the file type.
