Hi, I think this is the right forum to ask this. I'm downloading these torrents which have six episodes of Mystery Science Theater made to go on one dvd. The episodes are 2 hours but they're reduced to about 700 mb so that 6 of them can fit. However when I try to burn a dvd of these, it won't hold the file size. It doesn't want to fit more than 2 hours even though the file size was reduced. Each disc should be almost 10 hours. I know the quality is degraded a bit, but it doesn't look too bad. I thought it should fit on a dvd. Any help would be much appreciated
The problem is that a single layer DVD has a nominal capacity for two hours - you could probably stretch it to four hours if the authoring program allows it. Assuming the downloads are DivX/XviD files, they have to be converted to mpeg2 format. Mpeg files are much larger (for the same running time) than DivX/XviD. The best option is to get a DivX certified DVD player, copy the AVI files to a DVD and use that for playback.
How do I know if they're DivX/XviD files? Each one dowloaded as a Nero ShowTime File (.avi) 480 x 360. The torrent was meant to put 6 episodes per disc
An AVI file is typically created using the DivX codec or the XviD codec. Drag/open the file in MediaInfo and you can see the name of the codec that was used for - this example is the XviD codec. (note that the DivX and XviD codecs (XviD is DivX spelled backwards) are interchangeable.. http://www.afterdawn.com/software/audio_software/mp3_tools/mediainfo.cfm
Yes, it does show that these are xvid files. Thanks for the help. I'm thinking that's probably how these are intended to be watched? I already did burn a copy in this format and I was disappointed when it didn't play in my dvd player. I'll remember that when I'm buying a new one.
Considering the hours required to convert AVI files to DVD format, a DivX compatible standalone player that includes a USB port or a device like the WD TV player is a bargain.
Use 'convert x to dvd' program, it will convert the avi files to video files that you can run through 'dvd shrink' and put them all on one disc. Like you stated, the quality isn't going to be top notch due to compression, but it's convenient
10 hours on a dvd.. degraded?.. it will look worse than youtube!!!!!. You are getting the 2 hour limit because a dvd is nominally 3 hours max.. so 1x2hour file is all you will get... unless you set your transcoding/authoring application ( use dvd flick .. it's free) for dvd9 .. and then run the resulting iso through shrink. I would only put 2 on a disk anyway, otherwise it's going to be unwatchable.
