# DVD format?



## livefortoday6491 (Apr 25, 2009)

I have an old film in .avi format. Please can you tell me what format I need to convert .avi to, to play on my DVD recorder, I have tried MP4 without success. Can anyone please help?


----------



## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

Whats the make and model of the DVD - is this attached to a TV or part of a computer

do we need to identify the software to play on the PC or convert to a format to play on a TV

this free program
http://www.dvdflick.net/
will take the AVI format file and create a DVD which can be played on TV DVD players

if you looking to play on a PC - then windows media player will support the format


> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316992
> Audio Visual Interleave (.avi)
> Versions of Windows Media Player that support this file type:
> Windows Media Player 7
> ...


----------



## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

etaf said:


> this free program
> http://www.dvdflick.net/
> will take the AVI format file and create a DVD which can be played on TV DVD players


I'm guessing the OP is looking for a OS X solution, not Windows. (since in Mac section  ).

livefortoday6491, etaf asks some important questions we need to know first.

You said, " to play on my DVD recorder".
Usually just computers have recorder, and units attached to TVs are just DVD Players.

Assuming you meant a TV based DVD Player, you need to convert the video to a compliant MPEG-2 stream and burn the video with the correct video and file structure DVD payers expect.

On OS X there are several applications that can do all the work for you such as iDVD, Roxio Toast, Wondershare's DVD Creator and DVD Creator. (Several on Mac App Store)

A few gotchas:

1) Not all DVD Players play all types of recordable DVD media. Check the specs for yours to makes sure it can use DVD+R, or DVD-R or both.

2) Some DVD Players can play specific format videos without conversion into a "DVD".
You'll need to check the specs for your DVD Player and in this case you will likely need to burn the disc in ISO9660 or Joliet format to use that feature.


----------



## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

> A few gotchas:


 - plus the one to read the forum before answering !!!!! 
Thanks for that *Headrush*
my bad


----------



## livefortoday6491 (Apr 25, 2009)

I have discovered the answer which might help others. From avi you convert to DivX or VOB. The latter I have not seen a program which converts to it. If anyone finds one I would like to know?

Thanks for your help.


----------



## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

livefortoday6491 said:


> I have discovered the answer which might help others. From avi you convert to DivX or VOB. The latter I have not seen a program which converts to it. If anyone finds one I would like to know?
> 
> Thanks for your help.


Not all DVD players support DivX BTW.

VOB is not a video format per sa.
It is a container object that holds various MPEG formats plus additional other info that DVD players can use.
You can check out more at the wikipedia page for VOB.

Here's program the can help: http://homepage.mac.com/major4/

Additional help: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090222014336811 (may be outdated)

Of course the easiest method is using iDVD or Roxio DVD Creator which does all the conversions and structure setup for you, but unfortunately not free.


----------



## Jamkas (Sep 28, 2011)

By DVD recorder do you mean DVD player?

Would you like to put this .AVI file on a disk?

There is a free open source application that will convert your file and burn it onto a DVD with really no effort. It is called Burn. Using the application is quite self explanatory.

Now if you just want to convert the file I recommend an application which can also be used to rip DVDs. It is called Handbrake.

These two applications should be everything you need. As for what format you should convert your AVI file into I would need more information as to what this "dvd recorder" is and what it supports.


----------



## livefortoday6491 (Apr 25, 2009)

dvdflick is a Windows program


----------



## livefortoday6491 (Apr 25, 2009)

Burn looks just the job thanks


----------



## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

livefortoday6491 said:


> Burn looks just the job thanks


Burn is a good program, forgot about that one.
Both Burn and ffmpegX (which I mentioned above  ) use ffmpeg as the backend to create the appropriate DVD files needed for burning.

If you want to get more than basic menus etc, you'll need one of the paid apps.



Jamkas said:


> Now if you just want to convert the file I recommend an application which can also be used to rip DVDs. It is called Handbrake.


Handbrake is a great program but not the program you want to use for conversion to a DVD friendly format.


----------



## livefortoday6491 (Apr 25, 2009)

Tried DivX converter but the DivX file was not accepted by my Panasonic DMR-Z28 although it is listed in the accepted playable formats. Can anyone suggest why it does not get accepted?


----------



## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

livefortoday6491 said:


> Tried DivX converter but the DivX file was not accepted by my Panasonic DMR-Z28 although it is listed in the accepted playable formats. Can anyone suggest why it does not get accepted?


DivX by itself doesn't mean anything. There are several revisions, profiles, etc.

If the actual format of the audio and video inside the DivX container does not match the ones your player supports, it won't play it although it is Divx.

*Edit: * Looked up manual for your model. What resolution is your video you are trying to record?


----------



## livefortoday6491 (Apr 25, 2009)

I cannot find what the resolution is as the info is not forthcoming


----------



## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

livefortoday6491 said:


> I cannot find what the resolution is as the info is not forthcoming


You can find out using an app like MediaInfo, either here: http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en or in the Mac App Store.


----------

