Producing avi-files playable on a stand-alone DVD player

[Avi2DVD]

Hi,
I try to generate a DVD (or CD for short recordings) playable on my Panasonic DVD-HDD-recorder-player. The source are Video-ts-files. They stem from DVB-T recordings by VLC-Player software on my PC. The DVD or CD shall not contain a directory with VOB-files, just files like avi. I do not need an intro menu like commercial DVDs.

The Panasonic handbook tells me under 'Playing DivX discs': 'You can play DVD-R discs which contain DivX video contents that have been recorded on a computer.' and - regarding DivX discs - it says: 'File format is DivX, the files must have the extension DIVX, divx, AVI, or avi'. May be this ist relevant for my question.

My idea is to cut the ts-files on Avidemux 2.6.1, set Video Decoder: Lavodec, Video (and Audio) Output:Copy, and Output Format: AVIMuxer. Saving with the typed-in filename extension avi then results in the target avi-file which I burn with Windows (7) Explorer. However such a DVD or CD is commented by the Panasonic player with "unknown format".

What can I do better in this case? I asses my problem as elementary but all recherches and downloaded (eight) software tools led to nothing than a bunch of (no more) blank DVDs and CDs.

Kind regards
Avi2DVD

[zakk]

Your .ts files probably contains MPEG-2 video, so you have to reencode using a DivX codec. Just changing the extension is not enough.

[Avi2DVD]

Does that mean changing the Video Output attribute to Mpeg2(ff) and then save as *.avi?
Or is another software necessary like VLC-Player which contains conversion options?
And:
Has Auto in the top bar to be set on  dvd first?

[zakk]

no you need to change the video AND audio output AND container to .avi
See if your hardware plays xvid or try a sample.

you can also do copy/copy with mpeg video container with Avidemux 2.5

[Avi2DVD]

My Avidemux 2.6.1 allows eleven options for Video Output from Copy ... null. The Audio Option allows ten options from Copy ... Vobis, and the Output Format has nine options from AVI Muxer ... Video only. I guess  AVI Muxer is the Output Format to choose. But what are the avi-options for Video Output and Audio Output?

[zakafreakarama]

You need to encode the video with any DivX-compatible codec. DivX is the commercial brand of a codec that implements the MPEG-4 ASP standard, AKA MPEG-4 Part 2 and MPEG-4 Visual. In Avidemux you have either Xvid or Libavcodec (MPEG-4 ff). Both are good, but Xvid is generally better AND faster. The audio in your files is probably AC-3 (Dolby Digital) or MP2. You can probably keep it as is. But the video must be re-encoded. For maximum compatibility with DivX, don't use Qpel or Global Motion compensation, and use no more than 2 consecutive B-frames. Plus, some old standalone players only support H.263 quantization.

These are 2 very useful reads:

http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/doku.php?id=tutorial:dvd_to_avi

http://www.avidemux.org/admWiki/doku.php?id=tutorial:standalone_mpeg-4_players

[Avi2DVD]

Thanks for all advices!

The solution I needed is:
1. Use Avidemux only for removing unwanted parts of the *.ts. Convert *.ts to *.avi by saving without any parameter changes.
2. Use VLC-Player for converting from *.avi to *.avi. Set Profile on Video for DixX compatible players using MPEG-4 codec.
3. Burn the new *.avi by Windows explorer under the option For CD/DVD-Player (Mastered).

This results in a DVD playable on my standalone player.

[zakafreakarama]

Glad that you found something that works, but you'll sooner or later find that this method is far from optimal. VLC is great for streaming and fast conversions, but is not intended for high quality encodes nor for archiving. It encodes at a fixed bitrate, with a single pass, and with that preset it uses "DIV3" as the video codec, which is actually Microsoft's MPEG-4(v3), the same as the old DivX3 codec. The audio gets converted to MP3, also at a fixed bitrate.

With Avidemux you can use the much better Xvid, encode in two-pass mode, have better control over quality, file size and settings, plus you can use variable bitrate for the audio. And you don't need to use any other software.

[Avi2DVD]

I would love to use more of Avidemux' competence if anyone would be so kind to show me the click and edit path through it. There is much to adjust but a layman can't gues what and how. Trial and error only results in a heap of wasted DVD's.
Given ts files, the target remains to burn avi files on a DVD that plays on a standalone DVD player.

[zakafreakarama]

I could do it if you have the patience to wait and read through the documentation (with screen caps) that I could send to you.
It's not that hard when you understand the encoding parameters.

It'd be worth it, since you'd get files with the approppriate quality level and mostly without compression artifacts. The problem with the method you chose is that the video bit rate remains constant. Quiet scenes will look great, but when the action starts (if it ever does) you'll see a lot of blocks on screen. You might have seen this in some DVB sports broadcasts, especially when there is rain involved. That's because there is no smart bit rate decision involved (i.e., 2-pass encoding), and the bit rate remains constant, wether it is enough for effective compression or not.

First of all, we should know what audio and video standards do your .TS files use. I suggest you download MediaInfo and analyse your .TS files with it.

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

Do it and then post the output here. Choose the "Text" option (View>>Text), then copy the output and paste it here. I bet they're MPEG-2 video (interlaced) and MP2 audio if you're in Europe, and AC-3 audio if you're in the Americas...

[Avi2DVD]

Your cooperation is highly appreciated.
Here is the media info:

General
ID                                       : 61943 (0xF1F7)
Complete name                            : E:\VLC-Stream-Recording\24_hours.ts
Format                                   : MPEG-TS
File size                                : 28.3 GiB
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable

Video
ID                                       : 69 (0x45)
Menu ID                                  : 1 (0x1)
Format                                   : MPEG Video
Format version                           : Version 2
Format profile                           : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP                    : Yes
Format settings, Matrix                  : Custom
Format settings, GOP                     : Variable
Codec ID                                 : 2
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Maximum bit rate                         : 15.0 Mbps
Width                                    : 704 pixels
Height                                   : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Active Format Description                : Letterbox 16:9 image
Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
Standard                                 : PAL
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Top Field First
Compression mode                         : Lossy

Audio
ID                                       : 68 (0x44)
Menu ID                                  : 1 (0x1)
Format                                   : MPEG Audio
Format version                           : Version 1
Format profile                           : Layer 2
Codec ID                                 : 3
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : -970ms

It is a rather long file. So I split it into approx. 1 hour portions by Avidemux.

In the meantime I bypass VLC-Player by selecting Mpeg4 ASP(xvid4).

My patience is prepared. So don't hesitate to send relevant material.

[zakafreakarama]

Pretty much what I expected. Except that it says "letterbox 16:9". Does that mean that there are black borders up and down the frame?

[Avi2DVD]

Pretty much what I expected. Except that it says "letterbox 16:9". Does that mean that there are black borders up and down the frame?

I can't tell. It is the 24 hours file. I never saw it on TV, only on the PC screen with VLC-Player.

Enclosed is the media information of a DVD-R which contains four avi-files which stem from the 24 hour file. The DVD does not play (unknown format, my problem). I have added a colum giving the media information of a CD-R which does play (only the deviations including the easy to explain). Maybe you can draw conclusions from the comparison.

[zakafreakarama]

Do your files look like this:




or like this?:




Also, are they sports broadcasts that need special extra-fluid motion, or film material?

[Avi2DVD]

Clearly two times no!