DVCam to DivX

[Darth Bubba]

I've been trying to rip movies of my son's soccer games to DivX, so that I can put them on CD-R for other Soccer-Dads to watch. So far I've been able to capture the games from tape to HD as .AVIs (12+ gigs per game), and convert those .AVIs to DivX. But the problem is, the picture quality degradation is pretty bad. I've seen DVDs processed by DivX and put on CD-Rs with acceptable quality reduction, so I know it can be done. My DVCam is a Sony TRV-230, and the picture is nearly commercial broadcast quality when I send the signal to the TV via SVHS cable. Does anyone know how to do this properly?

Using Adobe Premiere 6 to capture and Dr. DivX 1.02 to process the .AVI to DivX.

Thanks, DB

[NooNoo]

Darth its all about bitrate....

The fewer the bits the less quality you have. Also the screen size that you pick has an impact on the full screen playback. You may be better looking at converting to vcd....

www.dvdrhelp.com has shedloads of tutorials - its where I learnt most of my home movie "skills"

[Archer]

You can also try many of the conversion apppliations available such as Avi to VCD (http://www.avi-vcd.com/) ,Replicant or burning applications such as Nero (http://www.nero.com/en/index.html) will probably convert and write it for you.

[NooNoo]

Originally posted by Archer
You can also try many of the conversion apppliations available such as Avi to VCD (http://www.avi-vcd.com/) ,Replicant or burning applications such as Nero (http://www.nero.com/en/index.html) will probably convert and write it for you.

Having played with nero mpeg2 encoding - it stinks!! Seriously the freeware apps out there do a much better job. I have yet to get my mits on nero 6 and see what that does though.

[CeeBee]

TMPG Encoder does a great job converting from DV-AVI to MPEG. However if you want good quality try to use a DVD-burner, there is a huge difference in quality!!! If you make a VCD the quality is comparable to some lower-end VCR playing some used tapes. SVCD is another choice, but not all DVD players will play the CD.
Of course, I assume that you are using the 1394 "FireWire" port to transfer the movie.

[addict]

You might want to try Ulead DVD Movie factory. It works great, converts avi, mpg, to VCD, SVCD, and DVD. Very easy to use and they have a free trial on there website.

http://www.ulead.com/dmf/runme.htm

[CeeBee]

Originally posted by addict
You might want to try Ulead DVD Movie factory. It works great, converts avi, mpg, to VCD, SVCD, and DVD. Very easy to use and they have a free trial on there website.

http://www.ulead.com/dmf/runme.htm
Even at 6000kbps MPEG2(DVD) the block structure is obvious when using the Ulead codecs. Maybe if you make a VCD that can't be noticed since the image is low quality anyway. However I must admit that Ulead tools are easy to use, and DVD Workshop does a great job with pre-encoded files.

[cyberhh]

I would reccommend installing a Divx 5.0 codec and using TMPGEnc or Virtual DUB to do the conversion.

Check this:
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/avi2divx.htm

Also you can try the doom9.org forums or the dvdrhelp forums.

I would suggest that you try SVCD for the conversion. SVCD is an MPEG2 codec and I have had better luck with SVCD compatibility than VCD. For ease of use the SVCD/VCD cannot be beat - just throw it in your dvd player and go if it works great if not oh well, but no software to download, it is easy to copy if the families that you give copies to want to send a copy to the grandparents, whatever.

[cyberhh]

I would reccommend installing a Divx 5.0 codec and using TMPGEnc or Virtual DUB to do the conversion.

Check this:
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/avi2divx.htm

Also you can try the doom9.org forums or the dvdrhelp forums.

I would suggest that you try SVCD for the conversion. SVCD is an MPEG2 codec and I have had better luck with SVCD compatibility than VCD. For ease of use the SVCD/VCD cannot be beat - just throw it in your dvd player and go if it works great if not oh well, but no software to download, it is easy to copy if the families that you give copies to want to send a copy to the grandparents, whatever.