[chaz]

can anybody tell me do you need a special laser reading system on DVD players so it can read dual layer DVDs if it cant play mp4s does that also mean it cant read those dual layer discs. thanks

[StevieBuck]

Most comercial DVDs of movies you can buy are recorded on dual layer format disks. If you look on the box, it often says something similar to "Dual layer disk - layer transition may trigger slight pause".

The amount of layers a disk has nothing to do with MP4 playback.

[chaz]

so if i copy a series (e.g 24 ) on a dual layer DVD it should play on most DVD players i am using a Pioneer writer to copy discs if that helps

[tinytim]

It should be OK.

What application are you using to burn the disc? I'd suggest Imgburn as perhaps the best option.

[StevieBuck]

I'd also recommend you use imgburn. Assuming your Pioneer drive is a dual layer burner, then it should be OK. Also make sure you buy high quality disks - I've heard of people having all sorts of problems with cheap DL media (failure while burning, unreadable disks).

Check out the 'guides' section of the imgburn forum - everything you need to know about dual layer burning should be covered there.

[chaz]

convertX is that ok

[StevieBuck]

ConvertXtoDVD? It might have a built-in function to burn files to disk, but it is primarily a conversion software for converting video files to DVD format. It also costs money to buy.

Imgburn is free, and is purely for burning data to disks - so I don't see any reason why you'd want to use convertX over Imgburn.

[chaz]

thanks for that is there a easy giude to do this the reson is one i am new to all this conputer lark and touching 60 so its got to be easy to do the reson i am doing this is because my brother lives in Kazakhstan and he wants to see this 24 series that everbody has been talking about rather than copying to normal dvd which will take 12 DVDS i want to put them on to six DVDs insted thanks for the help

[StevieBuck]

I was under the impression you had all the DVD files on your PC, and just wanted to know how to put them onto a disk.

DVDShrink is a software that can compress DVDs to a single layer disk. Go to VideoHelp.com - Forum, Guides, Tools and hardware lists and search for it.

[tinytim]

DVD Shrink is very good at what it does but you can lose a great deal of the quality when compressing too much.

If you're starting with the original 24 series disks then you can do either a straight copy (to dual layer disks) or attempt to shrink them but that's only good if you're then writing them to normal single layer disks. Compressing 2 original disks to 1 dual layer disk gets quite complicated.

Most production DVDs have some form of protection. DVD Shrink will get round the basic protections but you often need other programs to overcome the latest protections.

Guess we need more detail from you as to just what you're trying to do.

[chaz]

i am not copying them from DVD but from pc files ( geting confused now ) useing a torrent to download them on to conputer.

[Strocky]

Originally Posted by chaz

i am not copying them from DVD but from pc files ( geting confused now ) useing a torrent to download them on to conputer.

Basically you've announced to the world that your a computer pirate

[tinytim]

If you're getting avi files and the DVD player can't play Divx files then perhaps the easiest approach might be to use Nero's NeroVision Express. With this you can add a number of video files to a project & it should - never done it myself - create a DVD with a menu for the included files that will be playable on all DVD players.

I think you'll only get 3 episodes per single layer DVD or 5/6 on a dual layer DVD.

If the TV these will be shown on is a CRT of 28inches or less then you might get more.