Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Technical Help and How To's Computer clips to DVD?

Is there a way to convert LC clips (.avi, .mpg, .wmv) to DVD file formats to burn them onto a DVD?

You can burn them to a DVD as is. A lot of newer DVD players these days will understand and play those types of files.

You could, but that'd be risky if you're not sure your DVD player will be able to play it. You can look up your particular player at VideoHelp and see what other people have been able to play on it. It's also worth making sure your player can play burned DVDs at all; some won't recognize homemade DVD-Rs or DVD+Rs.

As for converting to a standard DVD format, there are a lot of ways to do that. If you use Nero or (I think) Roxio they should have a converter that will do it for you. Or you can be more meticulous and convert them yourself (paying more attention to quality). Again, I'd check out VideoHelp ; they have a list of articles explaining how to convert from one format to another.

Good luck!

Kaylle

I have a similar question but in reverse. How do you rip the dvd's onto a hardrive? I have DVDShrink, but I do not know how to use it. The DVD's are the actual DVD's. If there are any other details that are needed to answer my question just let me know. Thanks in advance for the help.

If you mean "How do I turn my DVD into files that play nicely on the hard drive?", then I think I can help. Though I have to warn you, everyone has their own method of doing it (using different programs). My method is to convert the files DVD Shrink creates with a little program called Mpeg Mediator. It's pretty straightforward to use, as long as you have a video codec installed (like divx or xvid), and an mp3 codec you can compress the audio to. It takes a bit longer than the file itself would take to watch, to convert, but then you have a brand spanking new video.

Anyone who has a method they think is better, feel free to give your advice!

DVDShrink "rips" the DVD files onto your hard drive. You can play those files with PowerDVD, etc, but they're not very convenient. The movie often gets broken up into smaller chunks, so you have to open several files, and a lot of programs won't be able to read them at all.

So you need to rip the files onto your hard drive and then convert them into a more useful format (a lot of people use DivX or Xvid). You need a conversion program to do that, which is what Doranwen was talking about.

For conversion software, there are a lot of choices and they seem to work better for some people than others. I know people who swear by AutoGK, but I have never gotten it to work for me. I'd never heard of Mpeg Mediator, but I tried that tonight and got an error. I've tried VirtualDub, GordianKnot, gui4ffmpeg, all of which work for some people but have given me problems. It seems to me that everyone just has to try several different programs and find one that works for them and their computer <g>.

I've been using Avi.NET lately, which I'm very pleased with. I've also used SimpleDivx in the past... Anyway, there are lots of options and you might have to play around until you find the best one for you. The best source of info I know on converting video files is again dvdrhelp.com\'s conversion section .

Good luck!
Kaylle

Hi Guys,

Thankyou both for the assistance with my question. As of yet I have not tried what you suggested but I am planning on doing it soon. My intention is to make a music video or two, but as you can see I am not very good with the computer and am not sure if I am ready to dive into that world. People say it is easy but we will have to see. If there is an expert on this matter who would like to take me under their wing and teach me I would greatly appreciate it. Warning I am going to need help from start to finish (literally).

Thanks again everyone.

PS - Kaylle I just went to the conversion help site you posted, uh what format am I converting from and to? See this is how computer illiterate I am. Was not joking.

OK final thanks again!!

New Question:

How do you make the hard drive copy play as if a dvd were in?

It is all in bits.

DVDShrink will produce .VOB files. You will probably want to convert them to DivX or Xvid, because these formats take up less space on your hard drive when you're finished.

You can play the VOB files individually, but they're usually only about 20 minutes long apiece. So you have to play one and then open the next one. Or you can get software that will "pretend" to be a separate disk drive on your computer. You can load a disc folder into it just like you would load a disc into a real, physical drive, and then you can watch it as if it were a real, physical DVD. (You can also use DVDShrink to burn to an .iso file, which most emulators can read, instead of several smaller VOB files, but software like PowerDVD cannot read an .iso file.) I've used DaemonTools in the past, which fortunately is freeware although it will give you the option to install some other things you don't need at the same time.

The downside of using an emulator is that you have to keep the entire DVD (up to 9 GB!) on your hard drive for the emulator to be able to load it. That's a lot of space to take up with one video. It's useful if you want to watch it once or twice and then delete it, but it's not particularly useful over the long term. If you want to store video on your computer for a longer period of time you'll want to convert it into a format that takes up less space (like DivX or Xvid).

Also, if you want to be able to watch it on a portable device (like a video iPod or Sony PSP), you'll want to convert it into a format that device can read. Most if not all of these devices cannot read VOB files.

I hope that helps!
Kaylle

I think it helps, but give me time to try it. Will WMV read .iso files? If so how do you get DVDShrink to burn in this format?

No, I do not believe WMV will read iso files. You'd have to convert it into something else or get an emulator like DaemonTools or AlcoholDVD.

What do you recommend to convert the files to in order to play them on WMV or PowerDVD (those are the two players i prefer using)? How do you convert files? And will it play as a whole video, not the choppiness I am getting at the moment? Bet you are thinking is this girl dum...LOL...When it comes to computers I am. I appreciate the help and thanks.

Now you're back to what I posted earlier, about converting from VOB files to something else. A lot of people use DivX or Xvid, but wmv works with most Windows players as well. Lately I've been using Avi.NET, but Doran suggested Mpeg Mediator, and there are lots of alternatives.

So you're converting from VOB to avi or wmv, most likely. (And yes, once it's converted it should play all in one piece as opposed to several small chunks.) If Avi.NET or Mpeg Mediator doesn't work for you, try looking at the video conversion section of dvdrhelp and some of the suggested tools there. There should be a section specifically for converting DVD to avi, wmv, etc (or it may say VOB to avi, wmv, etc; either term is the same).

Hope that clears things up a little

Kaylle