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stlboi · Jan 17, 2007, 09:32 AM

Why is the quality so bad when I use iDVD to create a DVD using .avi files and what's the easiest way to fix this? Thanks!

~Tim

ashleyman · Jan 17, 2007, 10:11 AM

Get a .avi file with a higher resolution!!

stlboi · Jan 17, 2007, 10:20 AM

Well, it's an anime episode about 170 MB and looks really good on my computer, crystal clear. But then I burn it on DVD with iDVD and it looks a little uh not so sharp and clear.

macjakob · Jan 17, 2007, 12:54 PM

I haven't been able to convert a DivX/XviD so it looks good on DVD. It really sucks...

ashleyman · Jan 17, 2007, 02:00 PM

try converting outside of idvd?

macjakob · Jan 17, 2007, 02:11 PM

The same "jaggy" lines, crappy quality happens when you convert with Compressor (-> MPEG2, and then burn with DVDSP)

stlboi · Jan 17, 2007, 05:42 PM

I have tried ffmpeg and mpeg streamline and um Visual Hub. I have tried multiple things with these programs, like converting the .avi to .mpeg-2, mp4, um some other file types and they all look really good UNTIL I burn them with iDVD.

I use to burn the same type of file episodes with Nero 7 Ultra on my broken PC and the quality was excellent. I don't understand how Mac is advertised as this ultimate all-in-one machine that can do anything mostly with video, audio, music, movies type thing and this shi* is happening.

And also Mac OS X can't even look at websites that use activex. But that's a whole nother story.

Looks like I may have to upgrade my hard drive space and get bootcamp/windows xp, because there are just some things pc's are good for while you have a mac that is mostly just more fashionable.

dlefebvre · Jan 17, 2007, 06:05 PM

Recompressing a file from a lossy format to another is always tricky.
You could try it with Toast.

stlboi · Jan 17, 2007, 06:43 PM

Yeah, Ive tried with Toast as well. No luck. Still bad quality.

stlboi · Jan 17, 2007, 07:51 PM

Does anyone know what I need to do to Quicktime Pro for it to export .avi files to mpeg-2?

Uncle Skeleton · Jan 18, 2007, 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by stlboi

I have tried ffmpeg and mpeg streamline and um Visual Hub. I have tried multiple things with these programs, like converting the .avi to .mpeg-2, mp4, um some other file types and they all look really good UNTIL I burn them with iDVD.

iDVD was designed with DV in mind, so try converting to DV as an intermediate.

What resolution are your files (width x height, not file size)?

Try authoring the disk with ffmpegX and skipping iDVD altogether.

stlboi · Jan 18, 2007, 10:15 AM

They are 640 x 352. Also, I tried converting to .dv and iDVD won't accept them for some reason. I'll try again to be sure.

And what do you mean by authoring with ffmpegx? Thanks!

Uncle Skeleton · Jan 18, 2007, 01:08 PM

How to make a DVD with selectable subtitles with ffmpegX (MacOS X)

That seems to require Toast (which you have, so no problem), but the front page also says it can make a .img disk image file which can be burned from Disk Utility (pre 10.2: Disk Copy), which is free with your OS.

Many things use QuickTime to decode. Some things have options to do so. For this reason, you're better off if QT can decode your movie, but it's not necessary. If you want to do this, install the free codecs from perian.org, divx.com, and A52Codec - Trac

Did you test your .dv files in QT to make sure they're legit? ffmpeg has a spotty success rate with formats that aren't common among file sharers (DV, mov, mp4 etc vs avi, mpeg)

stlboi · Jan 18, 2007, 01:53 PM

I was able to convert the .avi to .dv, but the single file by itself was over 4 GB alone. Yeeesh. I tried it out in iDVD and it was still fuzzy.

stlboi · Jan 18, 2007, 03:11 PM

Uncle Skeleton,

I look at the ffmpegx tutorial, but I need multiple episodes on one dvd.

Uncle Skeleton · Jan 18, 2007, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by stlboi

I was able to convert the .avi to .dv, but the single file by itself was over 4 GB alone. Yeeesh.

Welcome to video editing.

I tried it out in iDVD and it was still fuzzy.

It's time for screenshots. Also, have you tried changing to the highest quality setting (last time I used iDVD this was done by only adding less than 1 hour of video to your project)? Are you letting iDVD encode them, or are you just looking at previews?

I look at the ffmpegx tutorial, but I need multiple episodes on one dvd.

Then paste them together first (QTPro or ffmpegX), or use DVDSP or sizzle to author a DVD with multiple titles. Toast should also be able to take DVD compliant MPEG-2 files and make a multi-title disk (without re-encoding).

stlboi · Jan 18, 2007, 08:53 PM

It's time for screenshots. Also, have you tried changing to the highest quality setting (last time I used iDVD this was done by only adding less than 1 hour of video to your project)? Are you letting iDVD encode them, or are you just looking at previews?

Yes, I have been trying with only one episode. Basically, 1 .avi episode, set at best quality, I let iDVD encode it and then save the disc image on my desktop and view it before I burn it. So far, all the disc images have been on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being best just like the original .avi file) a 6.

Then paste them together first (QTPro or ffmpegX), or use DVDSP or sizzle to author a DVD with multiple titles. Toast should also be able to take DVD compliant MPEG-2 files and make a multi-title disk (without re-encoding).

What do you mean by "paste them together first"?

stlboi · Jan 18, 2007, 09:57 PM

Well it appears Visual Hub can create good converts. I converted one .avi to .vob and played it and it looked good. So I tried converting 3 at once, hoping it would cram all 3 into that one .vob, but it didn't. Any way to put all 3 .vobs on one dvd?

stlboi · Jan 18, 2007, 09:59 PM

Holy crap, okay it did automatically stuff all 3 .vob's into one .iso. So now, I have 1 .iso with three episodes in there, any way I can create a nice menu with this .iso?

Daigoro · Feb 1, 2007, 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by stlboi

Well it appears Visual Hub can create good converts. I converted one .avi to .vob and played it and it looked good.

Funny, I was in a very similar situation. A friend from work told me I should wow him with how easy things are to do on a Mac. I figured out iDVD in no time -- even put together a decent menu from a template, and then burnt the avi file he gave me. It was not pretty.

So I found this thread and found VisualHub, burnt a sample, and WOW -- it look great on my widescreen TV! Not perfect mind you, but the source was 640 x 352.

Anyway thanks!

(No, I don't work for the vendor)