How do you create a DVD that can play in a DVD player from regular .avi videos?

whited · 04-09-2008, 06:14 PM

Alright, so I have .avi videos and I want to create a DVD that can play in my DVD player.

I am running ubuntu, and I have K3b installed already. When I try I see that 700 mb of the 4.7 gb will be used, and I am worried that will not work.

Thanks for any help
Brian

David the H. · 04-09-2008, 06:37 PM

Making a dvd is a three-step process. You must first convert the video to a dvd-compliant mpeg2 format. Then you have to 'author' the dvd, that is create the file and menu structure that makes it playable. Finally, you have to burn the structure to disk.

k3b is good for ripping dvd's to avi, but it can't do the reverse. It doesn't have authoring capability. The most you can do with it is step three, burning a dvd file structure created elsewhere to the final disk.

You can do the steps separately if you want; using something like mencoder, ffmpeg or avidemux to convert the video and a program such as dvdstyler to author the dvd, finally burning it with k3b. But it can be a complex process to get the video and menu requirements right, so I don't recommend it for beginners. There are plenty of tutorials available on the web though if you want to do it that way, so google it.

If all you want is a simple playable disk and you don't intend anything fancy, there are a few all-in-one programs available, like tovid and devede. I suggest you check them out.

gilead · 04-09-2008, 06:45 PM

I use mencoder to convert the files to .mpg and then I use dvdauthor to create the DVD file structure. Once that's done, I use mkisofs and growisofs to create an iso and burn it.

Since I'm mostly just dumping out some stuff from my camera to give to a relative to look at, the following script does all I need:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
#
# Convert all of the .avi files (d/l'ed from camera) in a directory to
# mpg format for burning to DVD
#

# Settings
WORKING=./output
VOLUME=$(/usr/bin/date '+%F')
APPLICATION="Family videos"
PREPARER="Steve <steve@somewhere>"
COPYRIGHT="Copyright 2008 Steve"
ISO=dvd.iso

# Encode the .avi files to .mpg 2 format
for i in *avi;
do
  ORIGINAL=`basename $i .avi`
  NEWNAME=${ORIGINAL}.mpg
  /usr/bin/mencoder -oac lavc -ovc lavc -of mpeg -mpegopts format=dvd:tsaf \
  -vf scale=720:576,harddup -srate 48000 -af lavcresample=48000 \
  -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg2video:vrc_buf_size=1835:vrc_maxrate=9800:vbitrate=5000:keyint=15:trell:mbd=2:precmp=2:subcmp=2:cmp=2:dia=-10:predia=-10:cbp:mv0:dc=10:vstrict=0:acodec=ac3:abitrate=192:aspect=4/3 \
  -ofps 25 -o $NEWNAME $i
done

# Create header for dvdauthor.xml file
echo "<dvdauthor>" > dvdauthor.xml
echo "  <vmgm />" >> dvdauthor.xml
echo "  <titleset>" >> dvdauthor.xml
echo "    <titles>" >> dvdauthor.xml
echo "      <pgc>" >> dvdauthor.xml

# Populate dvdauthor.xml file
for i in *mpg;
do
  echo "        <vob file=\"$i\" />" >> dvdauthor.xml
done

# Create footer for dvdauthor.xml file
echo "      </pgc>" >> dvdauthor.xml
echo "    </titles>" >> dvdauthor.xml
echo "  </titleset>" >> dvdauthor.xml
echo "</dvdauthor>" >> dvdauthor.xml

# Remove old DVD file structure, then create the DVD file structure
/usr/bin/dvddirdel -o $WORKING
/usr/bin/dvdauthor -o $WORKING -x dvdauthor.xml

# Create the DVD table of contents
/usr/bin/dvdauthor -T -o $WORKING

# Populate ~/.mkisofsrc
echo "VOLI=$VOLUME" > ~/.mkisofsrc
echo "APPI=$APPLICATION" >> ~/.mkisofsrc
echo "PREP=$PREPARER" >> ~/.mkisofsrc
echo "COPY=$COPYRIGHT" >> ~/.mkisofsrc

# Create and burn the stuff
/usr/bin/mkisofs -dvd-video $WORKING > $ISO
/usr/bin/growisofs -dvd-compat -speed=1 -Z /dev/hdc=$ISO

No doubt there are other ways to do it, depending on what other things you need to do...