[amjohnst]

I'm a complete newb, and I need some suggestions about how to burn an avi to DVD so that it will play in a set top DVD player. (I'd also like to add a few chapter stops.) I have iLife 5, and so, I assume that I'll use iMovie HD and iDVD to do this. My problem is that I can't figure out to import the avi into iMovie.

The avi is a 4.2 GB file encoded in v1.03 of the xVid codec. It's a 1280x720 conversion of a 1080i HD broadcast which was converted using a 2 pass encode with VirtualDubMod. The audio is 384Kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. In case you're curious, it's the Illinois - Arizona game from the NCAA tournament. I downloaded it from Illini Torrent, and I'd like to have an archive copy on DVD for myself and my family. I have no plans to sell or distribute the file.

I can't import the file into iMovie no matter what I do to the file. Even though I have v1.03 of the xVid codec installed, QT doesn't recognize the file. (Incidentally, it doesn't play in VLC either, but it does work in mPlayer.) I tried converting the file into FFmpegX into various formats such as DV, MP4, etc., but that doesn't work either. Does anyone have suggestions about what I should do to convert the file so that I can import it into iMovie?

Oddly, one thing that does sorta work is using FFmpegX to convert the avi to DVD-TS. This creates an MPEG2 format TS-VIDEO folder (almost as if it had been ripped to the hard drive from DVD). Unfortunately, I don't know how to import this format into iMovie either, and if I burn this folder to DVD from the Finder, it won't play in a set top player (even though it will play using Apple's DVD Player). Am I doing something wrong by trying to burn the TS-VIDEO folder from the Finder? And is there any way to edit or manipulate a TS-VIDEO file like this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[badidea]

Your TS-VIDEO folder should be named to VIDEO_TS if you want it to work in a set top player!
If it really is already MPEG2 format, it should work but it also should be .VOB files (I think)!

I really don't know why Quicktime and especially VLC can't play your XviD movie but it might have something to do with the 2GB file size limit that comes to my mind!?

The easiest solution would be a DivX DVD Player - no need to convert anything, just burn your XviD movie onto a DVD-R and enjoy (around $50-$100)!

[amjohnst]

I think I simply mistyped. I think FFmpegX created a VIDEO_TS folder with the video in .VOB files. I always thought that the .VOB files were actually just MPEG2, but I guess I was wrong about that. After a quick google, I see that .VOB is actually a different format altogether.

In any event, I'd really like to avoid buying a new DVD player just to play this. Does anyone know how I can convert the original xVid avi into some format that I can import into iMovie? Or does anyone know how I can burn the VIDEO_TS files to DVD in such a way that a set top DVD player can handle them?

[badidea]

.VOB files are MPEG2!
To properly burn those files for a set top DVD player, you have to burn a DVD-ROM (UDF) containing nothing else than your VIDEO_TS (and if you have it, also the AUDIO_TS) folder! The AUDIO_TS folder is usually empty (I have never seen one containing any files) and not important at all!

How did you burn your DVD the first time? With the finder? Not good - you need Toast or something similar!

[amjohnst]

FFmpegX generated a folder with VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders (and, as you guessed, the AUDIO_TS was empty). I tried burning the DVD simply using the Finder. So, maybe that's why it borked.

I'd rather not buy Toast simply to burn one DVD. Can't I use iDVD to do that? Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to open up the VIDEO_TS folder in iDVD or otherwise use iDVD to burn them.

By the way, if VOB files are simply MPEG2 (which is what I thought originally), why doesn't iMovie let me open them?

[Uncle Skeleton]

Why don't you just watch it on your computer?

Toast is really worth the money. It's great.

Don't even think about using iApps for this stuff. They are not suitable.

[amjohnst]

I'd rather watch it on my 42" plasma.

Toast may be great, but I hate to spend the money to buy it for something I might do just two or three times the next few years.

I didn't buy iLife to burn DVDs, but the idea that I might not be able to do this with iLife really surprises me. This project seems to be something that iMovie and iDVD really ought to be able to do, ya know.

And for all I know, they can do it. I just don't know how to get iMovie to import this #$@&*! avi encoded with xVid. Criminy.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by amjohnst

I'd rather watch it on my 42" plasma.

Does your plasma have a DVI or VGA port? Just hook it right up to your computer.

Toast may be great, but I hate to spend the money to buy it for something I might do just two or three times the next few years.

Toast is good for everything, not just burning VIDEO_TS folders. Does Finder still make you wait while it copies to a temp partition before it actually burns? I admit I haven't even tried it in a while, but Toast hasn't done that crap in like 6 years. I think they call it on-the-fly burning, and once you try it you'll never even think about using the Finder again. Also you won't be limited to the retarded 660 MB Finder does (does it still do that?), and you won't have your computer's file system hijacked while Finder does whatever it is it thinks it has to do without being threaded. Finder has no business doing things like burning media and FTP. These features are pure bloat and it absolutely kills performance, which is clear the minute you try specialty apps like Toast.

I didn't buy iLife to burn DVDs, but the idea that I might not be able to do this with iLife really surprises me. This project seems to be something that iMovie and iDVD really ought to be able to do, ya know.

Technically you could get by with them, but you won't like all the work involved and the results will be lower quality. You have to get QT to read it, which in your case means an extra re-encode since it obviously doesn't work as is (You did try the Divx.com component didn't you?). Once you get it iDVD to open it (it opens QT movies but not QT compatible non-mov (or dv) files, so open it and save-as in QTPro if you can), it will letterbox it for you to make it 4x3 (while encoding it to MPEG-2), and you'll have to decode the audio to aiff just so iDVD can re-encode it back to ac3. This will all take loads of time, and reduce quality. Then (and maybe this is just me), iDVD even after finishing encoding takes like 4 hours to burn a DVD when the drive can finish it in 15 minutes. I have no idea why.

Why all this fuss? Because you're fighting against the design of the app. An epiphany moment of understanding software is that software design is primarily about one thing: hiding complexity from the user. Apple is a master of this very difficult task, which is what makes it possible for grandma to be able to do something as insanely complex as film, edit, author and master a DVD on her own. The cost of all this amazing simplification is that you lose flexibility. Flexibility and simplicity are a two ends of the spectrum, get more of one and you lose more of the other. iApps obviously go for maximum simplicity. Therefore they excel at one task at the expense of others. Equally obviously, they are going to make that one task be shooting home movies of your grand kids, not letting you use 3rd party open source software to encode movies you download off the grey market. Or to put it simply, don't even think about using iApps for this; they are not suitable. But whatever, you can do what you want, it will just take forever and look mediocre.

IMHO (damn, I swore I would never use those tacky acronyms...)

[badidea]

Originally Posted by amjohnst

FFmpegX generated a folder with VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders (and, as you guessed, the AUDIO_TS was empty). I tried burning the DVD simply using the Finder. So, maybe that's why it borked.

I'd rather not buy Toast simply to burn one DVD. Can't I use iDVD to do that? Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to open up the VIDEO_TS folder in iDVD or otherwise use iDVD to burn them.

By the way, if VOB files are simply MPEG2 (which is what I thought originally), why doesn't iMovie let me open them?

iMovie doesn't let you open those files because iMovie only opens what Quicktime is able to read - and for MPEG2 you need Apples MPEG2component which costs extra (someone correct me if I am wrong - I have never used iMovie or iDVD before)!
Check this App, maybe it can help you - I think the finder burns only HFS format (even on a DVD) but DiskUtility might be able to burn your DVD image in UFS format...
Check also MissingMediaBurner to burn your DVD...
...or even better, check this list for a burning app that might help!

[Jacke]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton

iApps obviously go for maximum simplicity. Therefore they excel at one task at the expense of others. Equally obviously, they are going to make that one task be shooting home movies of your grand kids, not letting you use 3rd party open source software to encode movies you download off the grey market. Or to put it simply, don't even think about using iApps for this; they are not suitable. But whatever, you can do what you want, it will just take forever and look mediocre.

That is true. As soon as you start doing something else than shooting with your own DV-cam, editing and burning a DVD, like putting a DivX movie on a video-DVD you really should look toward stuff like ffmpegX, Toast or MissingMediaBurner.

[Lucky8]

Popcorn can burn VIDEO_TS folder onto DVD.
Can Toast convert .avi to VIDEO_TS?

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Lucky8

Popcorn can burn VIDEO_TS folder onto DVD.

Yes, so can Toast. You're making things harder than they are.

Can Toast convert .avi to VIDEO_TS?

Just drag your avi into the Video pane, then burn.

[Lucky8]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton

Yes, so can Toast. You're making things harder than they are.

Just drag your avi into the Video pane, then burn.

I got Popcorn but not Toast and I need to burn some .avi files onto DVD.
Can I just get ffmpegX and convert the .avi files to VIDEO_TS and burn them onto DVD using Popcorn?