I've read some guides, looked around, and even tried myself, but have been unsuccessful in my attempts to author DVD's containing TV shows I already have on my HD. They have been encoded in Xvid format (most) and Divx format (a few). I'm looking for a program, hopefully in the sub $100 price range that can handle this process. Ideally I would like to be able to add simple menus and play the files in my stand alone DVD player. Not sure if there are programs out there that will convert, create menus, and burn all in one, but I figured I would ask. Do I need to get the files from Xvid to Mpeg-2 before I can author with a separate program? If anyone has had success getting their TV episode collection to playable DVD'd please help me out. Thanks in advance.
There are a few different ways to do this. One is to encode the XviD/DivX files to mpeg1/mpeg2 and then use a DVD Authoring program to create the DVD. Use for example, Tmpenc 2.51 (free) to convert movie to dvd format. Then use tmpenc dvd author (not free but works great) to create a dvd with menu system. Another way is to use Nero with the extra program recode, which create dvd's with menu system out of different movie files. Check also this guide on AD (or the whole guide section): http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/convert_avi_to_dvd.cfm
look no further...use dvdsanta. costs $30.00 but it converts the dreaded xvid format and ac3 audio without any problems directly into dvd format. Now if you want menus, you'll need to use tmpeg dvd author program, probably another $50. dvdsanta is great because you can convert both divx and xvid in one step to DVD format. Boom, then you can burn using dvdsanta or use nero if you'd like.
Thanks for all the input. I got my hands on a copy of Sonic MyDVD Studio Deluxe Suite and it just about managed to solve all of my problems. Conversion, Menus, Audio Tracks, Authoring...pretty darn efficient. Made my first complete DVD disc last night and everything came out just fine. I would recommend this piece of software to anyone having the same issues as myself. VERY easy to use. Good luck all.
