Burning a DIVX file to DVD

Wezoin

So, I'm trying to use Power Producer Pro to burn a DivX file (It's Loose Change, so it's freely available and I'm not breaking any laws) to DVD. My problem is it wont let me use DivX files, although it will allow me to use almost any other format.

My question is, whats a good free way to transfer a DivX file (60minutes long) to a format I can burn to DVD?

OR Alternatively,

How can I burn a DivX file straight to DVD?

Chief1138

you can't burn a DIVX file, strictly speaking, to a DVD, you have to transfer it to DVD (MPEG I guess?) format first...do a google search and you'll find links for like a million programs that will do it, though I'm not aware of any off-hand that don't require you to buy a license after the trial period ends. But if you just want to burn the one file, it shouldn't matter.

fforde

You are looking for VirtualDub. You probably want to convert it to MPEG-2, which is the standard compression used on DVDs. There are a lot of specifics that you need to get right too such as frame rate, resolution, etc. But from what you posted it sounds like the app you have will take care of those details.

If you continue to have trouble you may check out http://www.afterdawn.com , it is a great resource for A/V related stuff.

bombardier

Use this program: http://freedownload.softonic.de/windows/vsoDivxToDVD_setup_0.52.99.exe

The guide for said program: http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/98/59/

The software is freeware.

JohnnyCache

Could someone maybe rap for a little bit about just why divx won't go straight on a DVD and what format you SHOULD be burning DVDs with?

Man I have hell times trying to get video from many sources onto one DVD, or even sometimes to load in the same editing project.

fforde

JohnnyCache wrote:

Could someone maybe rap for a little bit about just why divx won't go straight on a DVD and what format you SHOULD be burning DVDs with?

Man I have hell times trying to get video from many sources onto one DVD, or even sometimes to load in the same editing project.

Ok, so you have many different "codecs" out there. Codec is short for Compression/Decompression, and basically the purpose of a codec is to reduce the size of a video file, because uncompressed video takes up rediculous amounts of space. Any video file you get your hands on will be compressed using some sort of codec, be it MPEG-2, DIVX, H.264, or whatever. When the DVD format was originally specified they decided to go with the MPEG-2 codec because at the time it was pretty much the best you could get, or at least they felt it offered the best quality vs. file size pay off. Because the official DVD specification requires MPEG-2 encoding, that is the only type of compression that normal DVD players understand.

Fast forward to today, there have been advances in video compression algorithms. DIVX and H.264 are the two most popular codecs right now and they offer considerably better picture quality per bit rate than MPEG-2. Basically the picture looks better and the file is smaller. But the DVD specification can't be changed because then all these older DVD players would suddenly stop working.

So the reason most files you have now adays have to be converted to be put onto a DVD is because they are encoded with a more modern codec. You have to convert the compression algorithm to something that a DVD player knows how to read. Hope that all makes sense.

Darth_fluffy

You could always buy a DivX DVD player if this is something you think you're going to encounter frequently. It will save you hours of converting from format to format and you'll save money on blank DVDs.