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Recommend me a AVI to DVD converter

post #1 of 16
7/28/09 at 9:29am
Thread Starter 
Quick version: Can anyone recommend me a free program that will allow me to convert downloaded .avi files to watchable DVDs?

Longer version: I'm sick of watching downloaded TV shows on my computer, and so I'd like to burn them onto DVDs, so that I can watch them on my telly. There seem to be a million and one different programs out there, but SF is usually a reliable distiller of collected knowledge, so I thought I'd see if anyone had any experience with this sort of thing.

I'm running Windows XP. The program has to be Freeware. I don't need any fancy shit like subtitles or scene selection, and I don't care how long the program actually takes to run the conversion.

... any suggestions?
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post #2 of 16
7/28/09 at 10:33am
I'm currently trying out DVDStyler. Works on XP. But since your movie files have to be re-encoded in the DVD format it is very slow. Depending on your DVD player, you may be able to watch regular .avi/.mpg files written to DVD. My cheapo Pioneer player does this.
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post #3 of 16
7/28/09 at 11:48am
Thread Starter 
thanks -- that's exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to find. I shall give it a go and report back.
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post #4 of 16
7/28/09 at 11:54am
Even though it's not free NeroVision works well. I only mention it because chances are most people have the Nero suite anyway. I use Devede for Linux, it's free, open, and flawless. It's a bit short on menu options, but I don't care about fancy animated menus anyway. It decodes very well though.
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post #5 of 16
7/28/09 at 12:05pm
Thread Starter 
Hey -- that's neat. It looks like Devede is available for Windows too, and I use MPlayer already, so it looks like they'll be friends. I'll give that a try too.
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post #6 of 16
7/28/09 at 12:54pm
I love it. Keep in mind though, Devede will not burn your disks. It will convert the avis into DVD format, and spit out a nice ISO file for you to use whatever burning application you like.

Hint: For less failures and coasters, burn your video DVDs at the slowest speed possible.

If you don't have Nero, just google free ISO burner...there are TONS out there for windows.

If you're a Linux user just get K3b, awesome program comparable to Nero, and even though it's for KDE, there aren't many dependencies to download if you are a Gnome or Xfce user.
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post #7 of 16
7/28/09 at 4:28pm
Thread Starter 
Super -- I'm pleased to report that both seem to work perfectly. They both make a nice little ISO, and burning that to DVD is a piece of cake. Thanks for the advice, guys. Once again, I am amazed -- but not surprised -- by the collective problem-solving wisdom of SF.
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post #8 of 16
7/28/09 at 4:32pm
Mediacoder. It can convert between pretty much any audio and video formats imaginable.
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post #9 of 16
7/28/09 at 6:04pm
or you can get yourself an apple tv (or similar device) to stream your movies to your tv. This way you skip the step of burning them on a dvd.. Or use the tv-out on your computer to directly link the computer to your tv. All better options than using a DVD imho..
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post #10 of 16
7/28/09 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatto_in_Italia View Post
or you can get yourself an apple tv (or similar device) to stream your movies to your tv. This way you skip the step of burning them on a dvd.. Or use the tv-out on your computer to directly link the computer to your tv. All better options than using a DVD imho..
Or save money and get a WD TV for around 100 bucks, or a Popcorn Hour player which is far superior to both WD TV and Apple TV, for about 150. Far more functionality than AppleTV, and it doesn't overheat either. (Both Popcorn Hour and WDTV's firmware is open source, so expect hackers to make improvements to them adding even more functionality over time.)
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post #11 of 16
7/28/09 at 9:42pm
http://www.videohelp.com/ Best site for this. You'll find all the info you need there. I recommend DVDFab.
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post #12 of 16
7/29/09 at 10:53am
+1000 on videohelp. That site will help you do just about anything. My last project was converting my Lone Wolf and Cub divxes to DVD.

Easy enough to use any of those programs mentioned to do it, but the problem is that when you convert an AVI to DVD, the subtitles do not come along with it (doh!)

So what I did was use Virtudaldub with a subtitler plugin that plays the video and hardcodes the subtitle file directly into the video. Then convert to DVD and wallah. All thanks to a tutorial on videohelp.com.
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post #13 of 16
7/29/09 at 11:24am
Your DVD players can't play avis?
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post #14 of 16
7/29/09 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuuma View Post
Your DVD players can't play avis?
All AVIS are not alike. Some are encoded in divx, some in xvid, etc. Sure most new players will play divx/and xvid codecs now. But those codecs are constantly updated and I'd rather just convert to DVD than worry about my firmware going out of date not being able to play things in the near future. Besides, my DVD players are old as hell and don't play AVI anyway, and neither do many of my friends' players. I will eventually get a Popcorn Hour though and ditch the DVD habit, but not right now.
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post #15 of 16
7/29/09 at 11:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by javyn View Post
All AVIS are not alike. Some are encoded in divx, some in xvid, etc. Sure most new players will play divx/and xvid codecs now. But those codecs are constantly updated and I'd rather just convert to DVD than worry about my firmware going out of date not being able to play things in the near future. Besides, my DVD players are old as hell and don't play AVI anyway, and neither do many of my friends' players.

I will eventually get a Popcorn Hour though and ditch the DVD habit, but not right now.

Can't you upgrade the firmware, sounds like less work than converting all AVIs.
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