[sparkybun]

Hi,

I'm not sure this is the right place to post but................

I've recently got a Casio Z750. It takes good quality movies and I would like to know how to convert these and how you get lots of these converted files onto a DVD in a menu format.

I have found some cheap programs for about $30 that quickly convert these files to .vob files and play fine on my PC BUT how do I then get lots of these into a menu format. Or will they just play one after another if i put lots of .vob files onto a DVD.

Thanks in advance

Mel

Are you on a mac or windows?
Free versions of Roxio software shold do it in either case, check the magazines in smiths for freebies.

[sparkybun]

Roy,

XP and thanks i'll keep an eye out. It looks as though windows movie maker will do it plus one of these cheap Encoders off the web.

Thanks

Mel

No windows moviemaker will not create DVDs - and no you cannot just copy the .vob files to a DVD one after the other and expect them to play - they must be put in the correct folders on a DVD so you do need some software (like Nero or Roxio etc.) to do that for you.

[sparkybun]

Hi,

Moviemaker will take all the .avi Files and arrange them into one File with titles etc.. albeight basic!! This can then be converted with a cheap encoder on the Web into a .Vob File (IMTooEncoder for example). From there I know that they have to go in a VIDEO_TS Folder but wanted to know if i put multiple .vob into a VIDEO_TS Folder will it they then play one after another or will i need a .ifo file in the Folder and what would create this .ifo file?

I suppose I should have been more specific rather than sounding like a complete novice!!

Thanks

Mel

[jomike]

Is this what you are looking for? Videohelp

BTW check out the rest of the site, lots of apps, tutorials etc.

[sparkybun]

Jomike,

That looks perfect for me!!

Thanks a lot

Mel

[Ekso]

Thanks,
this has helpmed me too.

I have been experimenting with NeroVision, but it takes too long !

Ek

Hmmm....
I downloaded this too even though I have Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 and Nero. If I like it I will get the pro version.

[senu]

Your Casio seems to be a digital still which takes video clips as AVI.
Im rather keen to know if the resulting video files are mjpegs, mpeg4 ( Divx/ xvid) and if any of the suggested programs actually work well with them

[sparkybun]

Hi,

The files are supposedly mpeg4 which have the suffix .AVI when transferred to PC.

I have used a couple of trial programs that seem to take the .AVI and turn them into .VOB files no problem. I haven't yet burned these to DVD but the .VOB files play fine on my PC with Intervideo DVD player.

The quality is certainly Camcorder equivalent ish... Well good enough for me anyway!!

Hope this helps

Mel

[senu]

If they are mpeg4 avi files then this raises the issues with mpeg4.
Either as divx or xvid, they are not guaranteed to play well or at all on settop divx-capable DVD players as there are issues like encoding bitrate , specific codec etc ( too boring to go into)

However if you have been able to get the vob files you made from them to play in interwin, then they have been sucessfully converted to DVD compliant mpeg2.

Nero vision, Ulead movie factory4 ( £19-29) amongst others are DVD authoring programs which will allow you take compatible video files from any where and author ( ie make up) a dvd-video with them capable of being played anywhere.
There are more expensive capable ( and complex) programs like Adobe Encore, DVD architect etc. Also advanced but easy to use is Ulead Movie Workshop2. Nero vision is basic and I have but have never used Roxios ( within Media suite 8) . However Roxio bought over Sonic who made MyDVD which is also a well known budget DVD authoring software

A collection of vob (mpeg2) files on a dvd disc will not play as a dvd video on a settop player. Even on the computer sofware player they will play only in File mode not recognising the disc as a valid dvd-video disc as such.
There are ifo and bup files which define a menu. chapter structure and allow the hardware and even software player see the disc as a DVD video disc and not a data dvd with video files. These provide a navigational structure ,subtitle, subpicture elements and such things like audio streams for DVD. If you explore the contents of a commercial DVD you will find these in the video_ts folder.

An analogy is that a collection of wav files on a data cd rom will not play as cd audio on a standard cd player unless made to the "red book" audio cd standard
Whats that? look here

[jomike]

I also have a Casio stills camera (QV2900-UX) about 4 years old. It takes video without sound in mjpeg format with an .avi extension, according to Gspot codec info.
Sparkybun, as Senu says the .vob files you have created have to be authored to a DVD to have it play in any DVD player. The link I posted above is to a freeware DVD authoring program that should do that for you. I havn't actually tried the program myself, so I don't know how well it works.

[sparkybun]

Hi,

I can't remember which of the cheap programs but i think it was videomaker that made the _ts folder full of the vob, ifo and bup files. I didn't burn them but i'm sure if i did it would work since all the correct files were there. One problem I have encountered with Nero vision is that it does not recognise the .avi files as video files. It only recognises them as sound files so when i drag and drop them it only puts them into the sound timeline.

Any ideas?


Cheers

Mel

[jomike]

You have to use another program like TMPGEnc to encode the avi files to DVD compatible mpeg2 files. Then you can burn them to DVD with Nero or similar.
If the other program you tried produced .vob files, try importing these into Nero and burning, it should work.

[sparkybun]

hi,

Nerovision should take .avi files and turn them into DVD files - is this correct?

That's the whole point of nerovision isn't it?

cheers

Mel

[jomike]

The .avi files that your Casio produces are compressed using a codec, and are not the same as .avi files from a miniDV camcorder. Nero Vision obviously can't handle the particular codec (probably mjpeg) needed to decode your files. The fact that the freeware DVD authoring program seems to have produced .vob files means that it was able to decode the .avi and encode to mpeg2. A specialised mpeg conversion program like TMPGEnc can handle a much wider variety of video formats than Nero can. Nero is essentially a DVD authoring program with some conversion capabilities.