# General > Technical Support >  DVD burner.

## 2little2late

Can anyone recommend any good dvd burning software? I have digital videos on my pc that I would like to burn onto dvd. I don't want software where I can burn it onto dvd and only watch it on my pc. I need one that I can put onto dvd that can be watched on a dvd player. Please don't recommend Nero as I have found this to be trash. I need one that will burn all file types.

What I can't understand though, when I have downloaded the videos onto my pc some are mpeg files and some are media audio/video files and it seems to be the latter I have trouble with burning onto dvd. How do I save them all as mpeg files? I have a Philips SPD3000CC external dvd burner which came with nero dvd burning software. (Evaluation copy).

Also I would like to delete the file from my pc as it is now over 2mb.

Someone please help as I am losing patience.
Thanks.

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## blueivy

> Can anyone recommend any good dvd burning software? I have digital videos on my pc that I would like to burn onto dvd. I don't want software where I can burn it onto dvd and only watch it on my pc. I need one that I can put onto dvd that can be watched on a dvd player. Please don't recommend Nero as I have found this to be trash. I need one that will burn all file types.
> 
> What I can't understand though, when I have downloaded the videos onto my pc some are mpeg files and some are media audio/video files and it seems to be the latter I have trouble with burning onto dvd. How do I save them all as mpeg files? I have a Philips SPD3000CC external dvd burner which came with nero dvd burning software. (Evaluation copy).
> 
> Also I would like to delete the file from my pc as it is now over 2mb.
> 
> Someone please help as I am losing patience.
> Thanks.


Hi 2little2late,

I know you don't want to hear this but I always use Nero for this. The Ultra edition comes with some pretty nifty tools. The free version you have is poor (I know it came with my external DVD burner).

Roxio seems to be quite popular although I think that's more down to the fact that it comes free with a lot of PC's. I don't like it at all as it's very basic and seems to want to do a lot of hand holding that I think causes more problems than it solves if you know what you're doing.

Forgive me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here buthe problems you are having with formats (and maybe even with Nero) is that your DVD's MUST be in MPEG2 format for them to be burned as a DVD Video that can be played in an external DVD player. You must also burn them as a DVD Video disk and not a DVD data disk (which are two entirely different things). If you can watch your DVD disks on your PC and not on your DVD player then you are probably burning them as the wrong format (ie. as a DVD data disk).

Now, how do you get them as an MPEG2?

You need to convert the files. Try Google for MPEG2 convertors. I have used MPEG2DVD in the past and while it worked most of the time, I just didn't like it. I'd also used AVI-MPEG (it converts lots of formats to MPEG) and it was good. This will also burn directly to a DVD for you which may allow you to get rid of Nero completely.

The one I liked the best was actually Nero Ultra (which is not the version you would have received with your burner - the free version - which I got with my external burner too - is poor). It took you step by step through everything and worked for me 100% of the time. I was also able to burn episodes of programs from the TV and put maybe three or four of them onto one DVD and put a really really simple menu (that just allows you to select the episodes). I'm not into mastering or creating fancy DVD's but the menu you can create is already preformatted, you just change the text. It was simpole and it worked.

Whatever software you get to convert your files to MPEG2, just bear in mind it can take a very VERY long time (I usually leave the PC on overnight to do it). The quickest I have seen is again Nero, takes about the half the time of the others but maybe that was just me!

What problems are you having with Nero?

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## pultneytooner

> Can anyone recommend any good dvd burning software? I have digital videos on my pc that I would like to burn onto dvd. I don't want software where I can burn it onto dvd and only watch it on my pc. I need one that I can put onto dvd that can be watched on a dvd player. Please don't recommend Nero as I have found this to be trash. I need one that will burn all file types.
> 
> What I can't understand though, when I have downloaded the videos onto my pc some are mpeg files and some are media audio/video files and it seems to be the latter I have trouble with burning onto dvd. How do I save them all as mpeg files? I have a Philips SPD3000CC external dvd burner which came with nero dvd burning software. (Evaluation copy).
> 
> Also I would like to delete the file from my pc as it is now over 2mb.
> 
> Someone please help as I am losing patience.
> Thanks.


The fastest program is winavi which will convert most movie filetypes to dvd but has periodical synchronicity issues.

That's one program, if you need more detailed information about the different filetypes and other softwares then I will post a more in depth explanation.
Divx and xvid are becoming more popular nowadays and most new players will play these no problem.

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## 2little2late

Surely, when I download my videos onto my pc I should be able to save as mpeg2 shouldn't I?

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## pultneytooner

> Surely, when I download my videos onto my pc I should be able to save as mpeg2 shouldn't I?


I'm afraid not, they will download in the same format they started in.

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## 2little2late

I have just downloaded a trial version of wmv convertor and gave it a go although  have yet to try a burn to dvd. The convertor seems quite good. How much is the Nero ultra edition to buy and also an mpeg2 converter?

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## blueivy

> The fastest program is winavi which will convert most movie filetypes to dvd but has periodical synchronicity issues.
> 
> That's one program, if you need more detailed information about the different filetypes and other softwares then I will post a more in depth explanation.
> Divx and xvid are becoming more popular nowadays and most new players will play these no problem.


Hi pultneytooner,

Remember that DivX is not free. There is a limited free version of it that kindly puts a banner over your video. Older DVD players don't support it (neither do a lot of 'branded' DVD players)

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## blueivy

> I have just downloaded a trial version of wmv convertor and gave it a go although  have yet to try a burn to dvd. The convertor seems quite good. How much is the Nero ultra edition to buy and also an mpeg2 converter?


Nero 7 Premium (which is the same thing from what I can see) is $59.99 from Nero.com.

I noticed WMV Convertor only converts from WMV to MPEG2 which may not be much use if you download an AVI or MPEG1 video. I'd look for something that does all formats. Pultneytooner recommended WinAVI which (contrary ti it's name) will convert more than AVI's. I have also used in the past but cannot for the life of me remember anything about it so can't comment. Try it as there is a trial download available that is 'fully functional except some limitations'. 

I'd try a few different convertors as I said, I've had problems with some of them just stopping, not finishing the conversion, corrupting the conversion or just being damn slow!

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## pultneytooner

> Nero 7 Premium (which is the same thing from what I can see) is $59.99 from Nero.com.
> 
> I noticed WMV Convertor only converts from WMV to MPEG2 which may not be much use if you download an AVI or MPEG1 video. I'd look for something that does all formats. Pultneytooner recommended WinAVI which (contrary ti it's name) will convert more than AVI's. I have also used in the past but cannot for the life of me remember anything about it so can't comment. Try it as there is a trial download available that is 'fully functional except some limitations'. 
> 
> I'd try a few different convertors as I said, I've had problems with some of them just stopping, not finishing the conversion, corrupting the conversion or just being damn slow!


Tmpgenc plus is a very reliable encoder and will give you a dvd compliant mpeg in 2 to 3 hours.
Also I should have mentioned about divx not being free but I think most divx players will play an xvid encoded movie as xvid is an open source codec based on divx.

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## blueivy

> Tmpgenc plus is a very reliable encoder and will give you a dvd compliant mpeg in 2 to 3 hours.
> Also I should have mentioned about divx not being free but I think most divx players will play an xvid encoded movie as xvid is an open source codec based on divx.


Tmpgenc is $100 though which I think it just a bit steep! I did look at it but the version I was looking didn't have the ability to convert anything but MPEG1. It seems to be the DVD Xpress that allows conversion of other formats. A lot of people swear by this app.

I was looking at XVid and from what I can see they are developing it with additional features over and above DivX. If they keep it up it will be forking too much that a DivX player won't recognise it. I saw a forum post that suggests that while a DivX player will play an XVid encoded video, the video needs to be hacked slightly (to add fourcc).

Have you used it to record a XVid DVD and play it on a DivX player?

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## pultneytooner

> Tmpgenc is $100 though which I think it just a bit steep! I did look at it but the version I was looking didn't have the ability to convert anything but MPEG1. It seems to be the DVD Xpress that allows conversion of other formats. A lot of people swear by this app.
> 
> I was looking at XVid and from what I can see they are developing it with additional features over and above DivX. If they keep it up it will be forking too much that a DivX player won't recognise it. I saw a forum post that suggests that while a DivX player will play an XVid encoded video, the video needs to be hacked slightly (to add fourcc).
> 
> Have you used it to record a XVid DVD and play it on a DivX player?


You can download a free program and it's a simple case of changing the 4cc header from xvid to divx.

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## blueivy

> You can download a free program and it's a simple case of changing the 4cc header from xvid to divx.


That's easy enough! :Smile: 

I'm about to transfer my wedding videos from tape to DVD so will look at XVid again as it's looking good. Thanks for putting me onto it.

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## saxovtr

did you not get the link i sent to your email?surely i never typed it wrong again lol http://www.dvd-photo-slideshow.com/

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## pultneytooner

Here is a fully fuctional, free version of tmpgenc, it has a 30 day mpeg2 licence.

Link

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## 2little2late

Is nero ultra7 also a dvd ripper? Also, would a copy of nero7 ultra work just as good as the original programme?
290036048418	(Item number on ebay)

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## pultneytooner

Nero won't rip a  dvd to your HD as such and it will only copy a dvd straight to a blank dvd providing that it doesn't have a copywrite encryption.

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## 2little2late

Are there any recommended dvd rippers available?

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## blueivy

> Are there any recommended dvd rippers available?


Never tried it but I know of quite a few people swear by DVDXCopy

I'm not an expert in this as I've never actually done it, but I have discussed it with a number of people in the past so don't what you want from that!

The problem you have with DVD ripping is the DVD itself. Some DVD's are double sided. If you rip them then you need to either burn them back to a double sided DVD using a burner that supports that OR you need to get some software to delete all the junk from the DVD that you've just ripped (subtitles, extras, games etc.) and alo maybe compress the DVD (reducing the quality) so that it fits on your one sided DVD. Somebody who is into this will be easily able to tell you what software will compress and delete (as the name of it completely escapes me).

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## pultneytooner

> Never tried it but I know of quite a few people swear by DVDXCopy
> 
> I'm not an expert in this as I've never actually done it, but I have discussed it with a number of people in the past so don't what you want from that!
> 
> The problem you have with DVD ripping is the DVD itself. Some DVD's are double sided. If you rip them then you need to either burn them back to a double sided DVD using a burner that supports that OR you need to get some software to delete all the junk from the DVD that you've just ripped (subtitles, extras, games etc.) and alo maybe compress the DVD (reducing the quality) so that it fits on your one sided DVD. Somebody who is into this will be easily able to tell you what software will compress and delete (as the name of it completely escapes me).


There is a freeware program that will do all that and it's called dvdshrink.

Here's the link

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## 2little2late

Thanks blueivy and pulteneytooner for all your help and advice.

Hopefully this will solve my problems.

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## blueivy

> There is a freeware program that will do all that and it's called dvdshrink.
> 
> Here's the link


That's the ONE! DvdShrink. I knew it was free I just could not remember what it was called ...

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## 2little2late

The dvd I ripped and burned will not play on my pc. Any other dvd will play using power dvd. What am I doing wrong? Have I got the settings wrong in dvd shrink, could it be my dvd burner or should I just admit defeat and give it up as a bad job?

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## blueivy

> The dvd I ripped and burned will not play on my pc. Any other dvd will play using power dvd. What am I doing wrong? Have I got the settings wrong in dvd shrink, could it be my dvd burner or should I just admit defeat and give it up as a bad job?


Will it not play at all now or is it just not playing the sound? Power DVD will play MPEG2 files from data DVD's. If it's nto playing at all on your DVD player, t could be that you burned it using the wrong format and while Power DVD sees the video file and plays it your DVD player won't.

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## 2little2late

Thanks for everyone's help. I still can't burn any dvds so I have decided not to waste anymore time and have decided to give it up as a bad job. Only problem I have now is, I am stuck with a dvd rewriter I will never use.

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## blueivy

> Thanks for everyone's help. I still can't burn any dvds so I have decided not to waste anymore time and have decided to give it up as a bad job. Only problem I have now is, I am stuck with a dvd rewriter I will never use.


Ripping and then burning a DVD is not a straightforward job but once you get it nailed it's pretty straightforward. When I was burning videos onto DVD's I wasted loads of them before I got it right, now it works pretty much first time every time. I'd keep at it if I were you but obviously that your decision ...

If you want to sell the DVD Burner try the Classified section or eBay ...

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## 2little2late

Yippee! I finally have sound on my dvds. The problem? I only had the scart leads in the wrong sockets at the back of the dvd player. My dear wife swapped them over last night and, Hey presto! I have just ripped and burned a dvd and everything is fine. Do I feel stupid?

Thanks to everyone who helped.

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## blueivy

> Yippee! I finally have sound on my dvds. The problem? I only had the scart leads in the wrong sockets at the back of the dvd player. My dear wife swapped them over last night and, Hey presto! I have just ripped and burned a dvd and everything is fine. Do I feel stupid?
> 
> Thanks to everyone who helped.


That was a bit of a Homer moment ... DOH!

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