Making DVDs

nightingale_3

Hi there

Hoping for some simple advice.

What is the best tool for making/burning DVDs from downloaded files - the files usually say they are xvid. I bought DVD Santa and it worked a few times with avi files but now keeps saying it has encountered an error and needs to close when it is an xvid file. I am not vey technical !

thanks

DrSmutt

i use nero Vision Express.

your problem sounds alot like a codec issue.

download the K-lite basic codec pack and install it.

http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm

Cricri

If you have a Nero licence (many burners come with a free licence), I'd use NeroVision Express. I got very acceptable results, it's very easy to use, and I got a 100% success rate.

emmaroids

yea, nero vision express is my choice.
its so simple to use and will do all your converting for you.

mike33_2

Hope you can help me drsmutt,im having a few problems copying dvds meaning i use neroexpress and when ive downloaded a film it plays fine from my harddrive in any format picture and sound
,well nearly every format not sure about rar files yet but when i copy onto dvd theres no problem with picture but the sound i sometimes lose altogether or its very muffled also ive downloaded ace mega codecs pack which was recommended by someone which said can play anything with it.
By the way how do you copy rar downloaded film files.

BexTech

You need winrar to unrar the file back into the original files, it's like a type of ZIP compression.

johngc

have a look at this site. It gives you help and guides on converting all types of video from one format to another. It also lists useful programs including many free ones.

I would also stay away from codec packs personally. The best thing is to just have the codecs you need. If you install packs you run the risk of having codecs that conflict with each other, especially if you have installed codecs from other sources before intalling the pack.

mike33_2

Thanks for your help guys.

DrSmutt

mike33 wrote: »

Hope you can help me drsmutt,im having a few problems copying dvds meaning i use neroexpress and when ive downloaded a film it plays fine from my harddrive in any format picture and sound
,well nearly every format not sure about rar files yet but when i copy onto dvd theres no problem with picture but the sound i sometimes lose altogether or its very muffled also ive downloaded ace mega codecs pack which was recommended by someone which said can play anything with it.
By the way how do you copy rar downloaded film files.

Avoid rar film file they tend to be fakes and passworded.

are the films you download of good quality, if they say anything about cam/telecin good chance the audio/video will be poor.

look to see what codec it uses with Gspot.

i have had a lot of problems with nimo codec pack so i find its best to avoid it.

johngc

DrSmutt wrote: »

Avoid rar film file they tend to be fakes and passworded.

Sorry but this is not true. Rar is a compression method and nothing to do with the film. You are probably downloading from a P2P network where you tend to find a load of rubbish and fake files anyway.

Try reading up on newsgroups / newsreaders and nzb files if you really want to download films.

DrSmutt

you miss understood me i ment what you said. rar compression is a tweaked version of the hoffman compression algorithm (binary weighted trees).