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mileslong

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
491
4
Newport Beach, CA
im not a newbie but not an expert on movie formats and conversion. i have all the software necessary but i sometimes have trouble deciding the best way to burn movies to a disk for play in most DVD players. there are so many options. here is my question.

i have a number of music videos in all formats:
1) avi
2) mp4
3) mpg
4) mkv
5) m4v

what would the best format for these in order to burn to a disk playable in most DVD players? or would it be better to burn it to a VCD or DVD?

again, i have all the conversion software as well as Toast etc.

thanks in advance!!!
 

r.j.s

Moderator emeritus
Mar 7, 2007
15,026
52
Texas
Eventually on DVD they will all end up as mpeg2, so it doesn't really matter if they are already compressed.
 

SigmundFraud

macrumors member
Jun 11, 2007
49
0
Mp2

Yes, for DVD it will be Mpeg2, I think VCD uses the much inferior Mpeg1 standard, while SVCD uses Mpeg2 at lower bit rates that DVD. The DVD encoder on Toast is dreadful so if you have another option use it, keeping in mind the bit-rate limits for DVD (you'll need to look it up, but around 9mbps - most DVDs are encoded with an average bit-rate of about 5mbps).

Just a note of warning about other converters; I found using open source converters like ffmpegx that Toast sometimes doesn't like the encoding when it comes to making the DVD, and re-codes with its own Mpeg2 encoder. This might be because of ffmegx's difficulty with interlaced video. You might need to experiment a little.
 

mileslong

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
491
4
Newport Beach, CA
thanks guys, so just convert everything to mpeg2 then?

i have the following programs, any suggestions?:

1) Toast 8
2) VisualHub
3) Divx Converter
4) Divx Doctor
5) Easy WMV
6) ffmpegx - i cant ever get this to work right however.
7) Isquint
8) MPEG Streamclip
9) MPEG2 works 4
10) Quicktime Pro
11) Reelbean Pro
12) Video Converter for Mac
 

SigmundFraud

macrumors member
Jun 11, 2007
49
0
The List

1) Toast 8 - poor quality but tolerable
2) VisualHub - worth a try
3) Divx Converter - don't know
4) Divx Doctor- don't know
5) Easy WMV- don't know
6) ffmpegx - i cant ever get this to work right however.- doesn't do interlaced, but your files probably wont be. Uses the same mp2 codec as mpeg2 works 4
7) Isquint - don't know
8) MPEG Streamclip - doesn't have an encoder, only does mpeg2 edits
9) MPEG2 works 4 - heard good reports, fine so long as non-interlaced content
10) Quicktime Pro - doesn't do mpeg2 encoding
11) Reelbean Pro - don't know
12) Video Converter for Mac - don't know

And lastly, the iDVD mpeg2 converter is visually very nice, but only does PCM audio - i.e. uncompressed so less content per disk. If I was being perfectionistic, I'd use iDVD, if I was happy with good enough, or if the source files were "internet quality" I'd just use Toast. Good luck
 
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