Converting TG avi to DVD Help

[ionlygreat]

Hi guys,

I have a bunch of Top Gear avi (DivX encoded) files on my hard drive. I want to write these to DVDs season-by-season so that I can be more organized, and so that it would be easier for me to watch these without having to connect my computer to the TV using s-video.
BTW, I have a Mac and would prefer doing things through it. Of course, I could also use my Windows desktop but I would prefer Mac solutions. I want to create a DVD menu with a list of the shows etc. and I believe all of this can be done on iDVD (i'm new to the mac and haven't looked through all of this yet).
I'd like to know what software to use in order to convert the avi files to a format that'll work on my DVD player.
Will Handbrake/VisualHub do the job, or is there something else I should be looking at? I'm willing to get Toast if it'll work.

Software I have/will get:
Quicktime Pro
iDVD
Handbrake (havent' got it yet)
Toast (if necessary)
Of course, I am also open to Windows solutions.

[Cosworth]

I use Toast Titanium and find its fine, get the odd corrupted disc but thats probably my fault for doing do much work at the same time as its encoding ...

[NecroJoe]

Well, for one, unless you're in love with your DVD player, you might want to consider buying a player that can play DVD's with Divx files.

The trouble with burning them to a DVD-Video disc, is that you can only fit two episodes on a disc (4 if it's dual layered) before you have to compress them down so much that the resolution suffers.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Cosworth

I use Toast Titanium and find its fine, get the odd corrupted disc but thats probably my fault for doing do much work at the same time as its encoding ...

Which would be a good alternative for XP users?

[ionlygreat]

Originally Posted by Cosworth

I use Toast Titanium and find its fine, get the odd corrupted disc but thats probably my fault for doing do much work at the same time as its encoding ...

Cool i'll check it out - what about the quality? Does it remain the same? And does Toast create menus that have as many options as iDVD?

Originally Posted by NecroJoe

Well, for one, unless you're in love with your DVD player, you might want to consider buying a player that can play DVD's with Divx files.

The trouble with burning them to a DVD-Video disc, is that you can only fit two episodes on a disc (4 if it's dual layered) before you have to compress them down so much that the resolution suffers.

I would love to get a DVD player that can play DivX files, but I just got a DVD player sometime ago and I don't have deep enough pockets to get another one.

[Paco]

I don't know much of mac software, although I do recommend you check out lifehacker to see if they have any articles.
If you feel like dealing with XP, you can get yourself a pro version of Nero utilizing which ever media acquisition method you prefer. Specifically you want Nero Vision (review). It helps you set up a menu and converts the files into a DVD format. The conversion takes a while, depending on your rig, but that's par for the course. I used it a while ago to back up seasons 4-8 to watch on my friend's old "big screen". I was able to fit 4 on a single layer disc without any noticeable loss in quality. I still use it today whenever somebody wants a movie I have downloaded but is stuck with a regular DVD player.

I have an xbox with XBMC now, so I don't have to bother with any of that crap

[NecroJoe]

Originally Posted by ionlygreat

Cool i'll check it out - what about the quality? Does it remain the same? And does Toast create menus that have as many options as iDVD?



I would love to get a DVD player that can play DivX files, but I just got a DVD player sometime ago and I don't have deep enough pockets to get another one.

Mine cost $29 at Circuit City. It's a cheap crappy Phillips, and the only thing I have it hooked-up for is playing Divx files. I've got a blue-ray player (annoyingly, the european version can play Divx files, and the firmware won't work with mine...same model number and everything.) but I have this other DVD player hooked-up.

If you figure that you can fit 10-12 on a dual layered disc...that's an $80% savings on media. now can you rationalize buying it?

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by avanti

Which would be a good alternative for XP users?

http://www.dvdflick.net/

[La Chaton]

Hmmm... I was going to start putting all my TG on DVDs but now considering that you can only get 2 eps on 1 DVD I'm not sure how well it'll work. That means I'd wind up with like 45 DVDs So I guess it's worth the money to get a DVD player that works with DivX...?

[NecroJoe]

Or...a larger hard drive and a video-out cable from your computer to your TV...

[burnsy]

you should be able to get about 3-4 episodes on a single sided dvd. all of my dvds are 3-4 eps, and i see no difference between it and the actual downloaded episodes. however, yes, if you try to put 5 or more on, then you will suffer some quality. some of my dvd torrent might still be floating around, so if you find one, you could download and see if you like the quality, and then make your own.

EDIT: forgot to add another vote for DVDFlick, very good program, and the new one can even make you the menus. though, i use DVD-LabPro 2, very awesome.

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by La Chaton

Hmmm... I was going to start putting all my TG on DVDs but now considering that you can only get 2 eps on 1 DVD I'm not sure how well it'll work. That means I'd wind up with like 45 DVDs So I guess it's worth the money to get a DVD player that works with DivX...?

Originally Posted by NecroJoe

Or...a larger hard drive and a video-out cable from your computer to your TV...

Or buy an Xbox 360 and stream your entire video, music, and photo collection from your computer to your HDTV.

[ionlygreat]

OK, this is what I did.
I changed the format of the avi files by using VisualHub (great piece of software btw, totally worth it's price tag). This took about 14 minutes for each 700 MB file on my Penryn Macbook Pro, which is great especially since the avi's also had to be converted to NTSC from PAL (i hadn't known that this had to be done until Toast warned me).
Unfortunately, VisualHub doens't create DVD menus, so I then used Toast to create the menu, made sure that Toast didn't re-encode the videos, and then wrote 3 episodes to a disc. Compared to connecting my laptop to my TV, I must say that there was a small drop in quality (as I packed in 3 episodes, but according to the VisualHub user's guide, I could have packed in many more.) This was a barely noticeable drop in quality, however.
Overall, it took VisualHub 50 minutes to convert the files and author a DVD. Then it took me some time to get Toast to create a decent menu and write the files. Is it worth it? I don't know - buying a DivX player would make life easier, and preserve the quality.

[ionlygreat]

Originally Posted by NecroJoe

Mine cost $29 at Circuit City. It's a cheap crappy Phillips, and the only thing I have it hooked-up for is playing Divx files. I've got a blue-ray player (annoyingly, the european version can play Divx files, and the firmware won't work with mine...same model number and everything.) but I have this other DVD player hooked-up.

If you figure that you can fit 10-12 on a dual layered disc...that's an $80% savings on media. now can you rationalize buying it?

I went through quite a few on amazon, but most were upwards of $50. I realise that this isn't too much, especially since I have a whole bunch of DivX files to play, but could you tell me the quality of the picture that you get from this Phillips?
I got a Panasonic HD DVD player (i know) , and I can't connect both players to my home theater system - thus, if I do get a DivX player, it'll have to be good enough to replace my Panasonic (I don't really watch HD DVDs much anyway - not as much as I watch DivX, at any rate)

[cvrefugee]

You have a Macbook Pro yet you are worried about spending more than $50 on a DVD player?

[ionlygreat]

Originally Posted by cvrefugee

You have a Macbook Pro yet you are worried about spending more than $50 on a DVD player?

Actually, that is exactly why i'm concerned about the price about a DivX player. I don't want to buy too many things, I don't have very deep pockets, I'm still in college. Also, bear in mind that I said that I'm willing to make the investment if the Phillips player will prove a worthy replacement for my Panasonic, as far as quality of image goes. So if you could actually have something more constructive to say, then please do so.

[Clegg]

Originally Posted by ionlygreat

Actually, that is exactly why i'm concerned about the price about a DivX player. I don't want to buy too many things, I don't have very deep pockets, I'm still in college. Also, bear in mind that I said that I'm willing to make the investment if the Phillips player will prove a worthy replacement for my Panasonic, as far as quality of image goes. So if you could actually have something more constructive to say, then please do so.

My DivX DVD player cost me a grand total of 25 dollars... Surely your pockets are deep enough for that... I know mine are, and i'm also a poor college kid.

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by ionlygreat

Actually, that is exactly why i'm concerned about the price about a DivX player. I don't want to buy too many things, I don't have very deep pockets, I'm still in college. Also, bear in mind that I said that I'm willing to make the investment if the Phillips player will prove a worthy replacement for my Panasonic, as far as quality of image goes. So if you could actually have something more constructive to say, then please do so.

I did have something fucking constructive to say, but you chose to ignore my other posts. Maybe if you actually learned something in college it would be not to spend more than 2000 fucking dollars on a computer (unless you got it for free). So shell out $69 and get this Philips model, it will upconvert your standard-res DVDs to 1080p and of course will play your TG episodes either burned on a DVD or connected via USB drive.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVP598.../dp/B000N254LU

[ionlygreat]

Originally Posted by cvrefugee

I did have something fucking constructive to say, but you chose to ignore my other posts. Maybe if you actually learned something in college it would be not to spend more than 2000 fucking dollars on a computer (unless you got it for free). So shell out $69 and get this Philips model, it will upconvert your standard-res DVDs to 1080p and of course will play your TG episodes either burned on a DVD or connected via USB drive.

Your other posts did not answer my question - one was about software for XP users, the other was about buying an XBox - surely not very constructive! Maybe you should read your own posts first.
I bought my laptop because I believe that it is value for money (and you don't know that I actually paid full money for it, do you?) . I already said that I'm also willing to buy the Philips if I believe that it too is value for money. I don't see why you guys keep harping on the fact that I'm saying I don't want to shell out $50 for a player - I said I will if I think it's value for money!! But what if I'm going to a friend's house to watch my DVDs with him? Do you expect me to buy a DivX DVD player for all of my friends too? But if you're gonna get this worked up over this, then I see no point in pursuing this discussion with you. I'm not here to whip up a fight.
I did get some helpful replies earlier on in this thread, and I've already posted what I did so that someone else down the line can get to know what to do.

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by ionlygreat

Your other posts did not answer my question - one was about software for XP users, the other was about buying an XBox - surely not very constructive! Maybe you should read your own posts first.

1. In your very first post you said you also had a Windows desktop. How does that make my post about DVD Flick not relevant?

2. If you already had an Xbox 360 then you could be doing this for free without buying additional equipment or burning discs. But you spent your money on a shiny aluminum piece of equipment with an apple logo instead.

So you can either:

a) Waste a shit-load of time and money to convert all of your episodes to DVD format, a good choice since you're a college student.

b) Spend 70 fucking dollars and buy the DVD player I linked to above.