K

kiran_sham

Junior Audioholic
Hi,

I have a few movies in my laptop that I downloaded from the internet. They are all in .avi format. I want to write these files onto a CD/DVD so that they play in my DVD player/recorder. But I did not find any freeware available that could convert avi to DVD format. All were paid versions and did not want to risk it now. I have an idea but not sure if this would work:

I am planning to connect my laptop to my DVD recorder using an S-video cable so that I feed the audio and video inputs to the DVD recorder and then write it to a DVD! Does anyone here know if that is a feasible solution? If not, can anyone give me a solution that would work?

The last time I connected my laptop to the DVD player using S-video, nothing came on TV. I didn't really care too much then to look into the problem. But does anyone know if I need to hit some keys to make sure that the audio/video is fed from the laptop to the DVD recorder?



thanks,
Kiran.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
If you have a current generation DVD burning program - Like Nero Burning ROM or something like that, it should do the conversion for you automatically.

Just say, in the main menu, that you want to create a DVD Video Disc (not a DVD ROM) and then grab the movies you want. It should then automatically make a title page and do the format conversion from .avi to mpeg and handle everything else.

Easy!
 
K

kiran_sham

Junior Audioholic
When you said "current generation DVD burning program - Like Nero", did you mean a software in my computer?

If so, then no, I don't have that with me. But if it is something regarding the DVD recorder, then I need to check. It is a new one that I bought, Panasonic ES10!
 
SilverMK3

SilverMK3

Audioholic
Assuming you've got a DVD burner on your computer, you can use the free trial-version of Nero 6.6 available here: http://ww2.nero.com/enu/neroue-prog.php. Make sure you get package 2 as well; it has Nero Vision Express, which is what you use to transcode video files and make DVD menus, etc. Its very easy to use, but takes a while to convert the video.
 
K

korgoth

Full Audioholic
you do know audio doesnt go through the s video cable right? youre going to have to get a microphone hook up that splits into rca or somethin.. it works but the quality is pretty bad.. if the s video isnt comin through you probobly need to mess with your video card settings, sometimes mine just needs to restart while plugged in.


id just recommend getting software to convert it to vob files.. it takes some researching but there are plenty of guides that take you step by step.. go into another forum.. www.afterdawn.com and search for avi to vob or somethin.

but again thats assuming you have a dvd burner on your computer. The best one is only 120 bucks,(plextor is the best quality, and at a good price.)

here is some software http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_tools/avi2dvd.cfm

if you dont have one then yeah thats the next best way, youll need audio jacks too though as well as the s video.
 
Last edited:
K

kiran_sham

Junior Audioholic
Some more problems...

Thanks for all your inputs and suggestions folks! I actually tried connecting my laptop to my DVD Recorder and that in turn to the TV. I now have a very strange problem. I see the wallpaper thats on my desktop on the TV as well (displays extremely clear with maximum resolution available), but nothing other than that!! The discs I play in my laptop are not displayed on my TV and not even the icons on my desktop for that matter are visible. Just the wallpaper!

Any idea? I am not sure if this would be the right forum for this topic though!

PS: I don't have a DVD burner in my laptop (this one is a bit old - DELL Inspiron 5100). But have got a CD burner though and hence the requirement to burn movies either on to a CD using my laptop (after converting to mpeg) or transfer the audio and video to DVD recorder and then write to DVD!

Thanks,
Kiran.
 
rgriffin25

rgriffin25

Moderator
I would have to say I think there is a better approach that you should consider. Buy an external DVD recorder for your laptop. It will include the software you need to convert files and it will avoid the whole connect the pc to your tv step. Plextor makes very good drives and the software that comes with it is very good! Not only will it be easier to use, the end result will be much improved.

Reasons to buy a new drive:
1. Simplify connectivity issues with TV
2. You can burn faster than 1X (approx 8X-12X)
3. Video and audio quality will be much improved.
4. The software you need is included with most drives available. (assuming it is not white box or OEM)

Reasons not to buy a new drive:
1. Cost

The choice is simple if you ask me. :cool:
 
K

korgoth

Full Audioholic
i think you have your card set to have 2 monitors.. instead of a "mirrior" monitor.

try moving your mouse over to the left or right when the tv is hooked up, if you see the mouse move off your laptop screen and onto your tv then you can still make it work fine..

you just need to open up the video, and move it over into the other screen then full screen it.
 
K

korgoth

Full Audioholic
yeah im almost posative this is the problem youre having.. thats actually how i like to set my video card up.. so that i can watch a full screen movie on the tv, while still browse and use the computer on the actual monitor.


if you dont need to record many dvd's then this way will work fine.. but if you like to back up a lot of dvd's then id recommend getting one for your computer.

externals are a little more pricey though,.
 
K

kiran_sham

Junior Audioholic
Hey, great! That is exactly what is happening right now! The cursor moves from one monitor to the other when I move it to the extreme right of my laptop monitor. I had noticed it earlier but forgot to mention it in my earlier postings. And yes, you are right, I don't have any plans of downloading too many movies and writing it using my laptop and hence don't plan to buy a new DVD burner.

I will try that option out this evening. Looks like that is going to work!! :)

thanks a bunch to everyone for their time and suggestions!
Kiran.
 
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K

kiran_sham

Junior Audioholic
Almsot there :)

Hey Jet...Perfect! That indeed was the problem! I am now able to watch movies from my laptop! I was amazed with the clarity of video I get. I don't have any cables yet to take the audio output from my laptop to the DVD recorder. Any suggestions?

One more thing: I just have a couple of movies to write to DVD. I have not heard people doing it this way but just want to give it a try. Do you know if the dual monitor issue causes any kind of a problem? Even if there are 2 monitors, I believe the audio and video signals entering the DVD recorder would still be the movie that I play in my laptop, even if I have other windows open and inactive! Am I making sense?

thanks,
Kiran.
 
M

Mega2000

Audioholic
here is an awesome website with tutorials on everything...

www.videohelp.com

i download a lot of AVIs off bit torrent sites. usually they are TV shows. but I use a free programs called D.I.K.O to convert the AVIs to DVD format. Once in that format(1 video file and 1 audio file) you can use Nero to author the DVD and burn onto a DVD-/+R/RW. here is a link to the tutorial....

http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/24/59/

another good program that is also free is TMPGEnc I use this program to convert almost any video file to DVD format.

I also use a pretty good authoring software called DVD Lab-Pro, but you can use nero too. Nero is cheaper.
 
K

korgoth

Full Audioholic
sounds like it will work fine then..

for your audio youll have to use your headphone jack. Buy an adapter at radio shack or wherever, that goes into the headphone jack and converts it into 2 rca audio cables.

i have a cheap one and it seemed to work fine.. but i did get a bit of background noise.. It's not even noticeable when you have audio playing .. only when there is silence. That should take care of your audio.

and i believe the component dvd burner will record whatever is showing on your tv monitor, so as long as it shows in full screen it should record fine. you can even browse the internet at the same time if you wanted. i wouldnt though because sometimes if you double click, it can make the video player revert back into half screen mode. Plus you wouldnt want to have any other audio clicks, or xp sound effects going into your dvd.

but yeah dual monitors should be fine. i dont see any problems.. just be sure to get an audio cable.
 
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