Another help request

[l fish]

Well I am now ready to watch my torrents in my TV.

How do I convert these avi files into something my dvd player can read.

I only have a cd burner and not a dvd burner, so is it possible? Or am I stuck to watching it in my PC.

Thanks in advance for all.

[bitdave]

You could burn an avi to a svcd which should play in your dvd player, but your gonna lose some quality.

If you have a laptop with a video or svideo out then this is the best way to watch the avis directly on your tv.

I think Nero Burning Rom is the easiest thing to convert from avi to svcd and burn the resulting svcd.

There are also many many other ways some free and some not, your gonna need to do some reading

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=a...ide&btnG=Search

[l fish]

Thank you, much appreciated. I will do my homework and report back.

Unfortunately I cannot connect my PC to my TV.

One more question, if I get a DVD burner will I spare all this hassel?

[kamikazex2]

Thank you, much appreciated. I will do my homework and report back.

Unfortunately I cannot connect my PC to my TV.

One more question, if I get a DVD burner will I spare all this hassel?

The conversion of avi files to one that is readable by DVD players are dependent on the burning software (Nero would do the trick) and not the type of burner. If u are using cd burner and the converted avi files can fit into a CD (normaly movies would require 2 CDs), then theres no need to get a DVD writer at all. Well unless for some reason that your DVD player are not able to read CDs (unlikely) or u do not know how to split an avi files into 2 or more parts that allows u to burn a DVD-sized avi files(converted) into two or more CDs.

Well if u have the above reasons and would really love to save the hassle, just buy a DVD writer though it is not entirely necessary. A warning to you though that the conversion of avi files will take some time and expect a loss in quality (sound and video) that ultimately lead to decreased viewing pleasure. U can however limit the loss in quality but this would mean longer conversion time as well. the time for conversion will depend on your pC's processing speed and rob most of your RAM unless u have plenty of it >_<.

My best advice (if u are a video-editting fan who loves to watch yur works very often) is to connect yur pc directly to TV thru your graphic card with video-out function (look out for a yellow-colored round plug that connects to your vvideo-in socket in yur TV identical to PS2, and your dvd player) to cut all this conversion hassle and time-consuming process. A word of caution, u must have a audio-out function(white colored plug) of your sound card as well, unless u do not mind the fact that the sound will still be coming from yur PC speaker instead of yur TV ^^" . The audio and video out function are pretty common in current series of average graphic and sound cards and they do not cost much as well. If urs do not come with one, its highly probable that yur graphic card are pretty old, hence its a good time to get a new one anyway, since it will improve yur gaming experience and all so why not?

[l fish]

Thanks for the info Kamikze.

My main objective here is to watch movies that i download from the web, so I am not too concerned about the quality and stuff.

I do have a fairly new computer (less than a year) i just dont have a laptop, and my PC is quite far from where I have the TV.

Anyhow, i will first try this Nero and see how this works.

With a DVD burner will I still need a software like Nero or does it come usually bundled with the burner?

Cheers

[kluelos]

When you buy a DVD burner, it almost always comes with either Nero or Roxio for burning software.

I am not a big fan of either. Nero has destroyed a lot of disks for me, and the tech support sucks rocks. Roxio is much rarer, but it has caused me a lot of grief also. So, what to do?

First question is, what do you need to actually burn to DVD? The answer depends on your DVD player. Newer ones -- including many very inexpensive ones -- can accept DVD+R disks, and can play .AVI movies encoded with DivX or Xvid. CHeck the manual on yours, look for "DVD+R" and "DivX".

Most of the movies you download will be in the proper format, so you can burn those files directly to a DVD as if they were data files that you were making backups of, and they will play just fine. They'll also take up a heck of a lot less room on the disk. You can fit three or four times as much on a single disk, done this way.

If you DO have to convert the files to standard DVD video, so that any DVD player can play them, first be aware that the conversion takes hours to perform, even on a very fast PC. Second, be aware that the size of the converted material will grow a lot.

It may be worth it to you to buy a new DVD player just because of that. It will save you a great deal of time and a lot of disks, and the prices are usually well under US$100. Or you may want to wait and see this for yourself.

Nero has a module called NeroVision, which will do that conversion and do an OK job of it. But you can choose to tell Nero to write the output to your hard disk instead of having it burn onto the DVD. I recommend you do that, and use another program to actually burn the DVD. There are several, and most of them work much more reliably than Nero.

For general burning purposes, I'd suggest Ashampoo Burning Studio.

Sincere advice here: don't buy cheap DVD blanks. Bargain-bin DVD+R's will have a high failure rate and turn out not to be a bargain at all. So, unfortunately, will many "name" brands. I suggest you buy TDK, or Maxell as a second choice, but nothing else you're likely to find at a store in the US. Bad ones include all "house" brands, GQ from Frey's, HP, Sony, Memorex, and every bargain brand you never heard of from any chain. (That's my advice, based on my experience, but YMMV and religious wars have been started over this subject.)

Burn your DVD's at the slowest speed you can stand. Yeah, I know, you got this spiffy new 16X burner, but you'll have a lot fewer failures if you burn at 4X than you will at MAX. Good burning software has a VERIFY option -- use it.

Good luck, however you decide to do it.

[Sleepless]

Word of advise DO NOT buy Nero7 right now from nero.com.

Their newest update may have fixed a few bugs, but in the process it has created a whole lot of others (v. 7.2.3.2). I made the dire mistake of updating. by some fluke I had not deleted the former update and was able to install that instead. :)

[caf4926]

as has already been said, probably the best way to watch the movie is as it is, and if your dvd player is cd-r compatible you should be fine

divx have a coverter to their format - but it's bundled with crap

you could also try mmconvert (google it) quite handy

but this prog DVD Santa, is known to be quite good to convert avi's to dvd, but quality will suffer and it takes an age, so leave it going overnight or something - you can get it from my blog: http://my.opera.com/caf4926/blog/

[l fish]

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys, you are a really helpful bunch.

As is expected my DVD player does not play avi files, so it looks like my best option is to buy a new player that accepts avi files.

BTW Why are most torrents in avi format and not in dvd?

In the meantime I will try this Santa thing and see how it works too.

Cheers

[todd_cat]

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys, you are a really helpful bunch.

As is expected my DVD player does not play avi files, so it looks like my best option is to buy a new player that accepts avi files.

BTW Why are most torrents in avi format and not in dvd?

In the meantime I will try this Santa thing and see how it works too.

Cheers

Which would you rather download a 700 avi, or a 4.2 gig vob(DVD) file. Also the torrent isnt in avi format, it is the download it self.

[l fish]

I am starting to get the picture, give me a little time and I will be a pro.

Question, a DVD player that supports divx, will it play avi files too? Are they the same thing?

@caf4926 Do you know how to make a svcd with DVD Santa?

I have downloaded it from your blog but it does not burn CD's only DVD's

[todd_cat]

I am starting to get the picture, give me a little time and I will be a pro.

Question, a DVD player that supports divx, will it play avi files too? Are they the same thing?

@caf4926 Do you know how to make a svcd with DVD Santa?

I have downloaded it from your blog but it does not burn CD's only DVD's

I know it seems like a lot of people have a problem with nero but for its great for a burning newbie, and can do it all. And is really easie to use. Buy it or download it and your problem will be solved, no need for a special DVD player, and yes nero does vcd, Svcd etc, and all the editing most anyone would ever want, newer verisons have the Smart Burn which no brainer walk thorugh. Burn software is preference for some but nero is maybe not my fav., but the easyness of use, and the diffrent things u can do with it makes up for a lot of it weaker points, my wife can use and if u knew my wife u would agree thats it easy. :D

[kluelos]

Question, a DVD player that supports divx, will it play avi files too? Are they the same thing?

Yes, and no, and you really don't want to go here. This subject is complex.

So let me put it another way, when you're downloading video, look in the file name or the file info, and see if you can spot "DivX" or "XVid" in it, and you should be fine. General rule, mostly true.

Re just using Nero, sure -- if you are willing give up your PC for hours while it does the conversion, and give up the disk space, and put up with Nero's penchant for turning DVD+R's into drink coasters. Yes, it's easy, but that's all it's got to recommend it. I suspect that after the 3rd or 4th time you've done it, you'll have had your fill.