Converting a WMV format to DVD format ? (email, crashing, install)

[irman]

When you have a DVD that contains a movie (any movie),
and you look at what is *on* the disk,
you find two directories.
1 - a directory called *AUDIO_TS*
2 - a directory called *VIDEO_TS*

There is nothing in the *AUDIO_TS* directory.
In the *VIDEO_TS* directory are several files.

These:
VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO
VTS_01_0.BUP
VTS_01_).IFO
then a series of
VTS_01_1
and subsequent, (like VTS_01_2 , etc)
depending how big the movie is.

I have a video file, made with MS Movie Maker, that is called (as an example):
My_Movie.WMV

How do I convert this file to the format as shown above ?
In other words, after conversion and burning onto a DVD,
the file structure looks just like the example above ?

TIA

[Charles]

Windows has a DVD maker built into Win 7.

One thing I don't like about it is you can't create an image first and burn it to DVD in a subsequent step. That's why I use Pinnacle Studio 15 to create DVDs. I can create the image first and ensure it is created properly without crashing for example.

Here are some links to free DVD makers:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...48293060,d.eWU

[Skunk Workz]

Since you made the original with Windows Movie Maker, my suggestion is to go back to the project and use the functions in WMM to create a DVD (it should be one of the options).

[irman]

Thanks.

[thecoalman]

1. What is the source of this file? Is it from a Camcorder?
2. You edited it in WMM?

If this is from a camcorder WMV has it purposes but it's a playback format and is only for final output if for example you wanted to share the file with your friends.

[thecoalman]

1. What is the source of this file? Is it from a Camcorder (list the camcorder type etc)?
2. You edited it in WMM?

If this is from a camcorder WMV has it purposes but it's a playback format and is only for final output.

[karlsch]

This works extremely well: ConvertXtoDVD - AVI to DVD Video Converter to burn on DVD

[irman]

@Coalman:

The original movie was done by a professional place who did conversions form VHS tapes to DVD.
Because they are *home movies*, a lot of *let's take that out* stuff.
So I copy the whole disk (all of them almost 4.2 Gb !) to the HD. Then edit with WMM.
After it was all edited, the final result is a *nnnn.wmv* file.
Now I want to put back on DVD, so everybody in the family can play on their DVD players
(not necessarily on a computer)

I tried using Flip Disk or maybe it was called Disk Flip.
After burning on DVD, the player says:
*This disk can not be played on this DVD player.*

Hence my question about how to do in other ways.

BTW, Flip disk does put it in the format as I mentioned in original post.

Anybody can explain to me why the small *chapters* on the the original DVD,
can be played on any computer (I think) with Windows Media Player ?

When you edit in WMM, all those chapters in the original movie,
with the names of *VTS_01_1 , and subsequent, (like VTS_01_2 , etc)*,
are like separate *movie clips*.
Makes it easy to create separate small movies or one with chapters or whatever.

I checked into *Pinnacle* and that is a rather pricey programme ...
Must be a really good one !

I have not been able to try out some of the other suggestions yet.

P.S.
The original VHS movies are over 25 years old !
The quality of the DVD formats is *not half bad for VHS tapes that old *
We were really happy about that.
We have stills, that show me or my wive taking those videos,
and the camera looks like you are a professional TV reporter.
I remember that thing having a separate player and power supply,
where you needed a small wheeled cart to transport that set-up ...
The movies are of our kids when they were babies and teenagers etc. ,
about 8 years time span. I am surprised we kept that camera that long.

Today, I do the same thing with my grand children and everything fits in my shirt pocket !!!

[Skunk Workz]

I'd try DVD Maker (it's part of Windows 7).

You should be able to find it in the start menu, and then follow the wizard to add your WMV file.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by irman

@Coalman:

The original movie was done by a professional place who did conversions form VHS tapes to DVD.

Unfortunately often these "professional" places are just using cheap off the shelf VHS decks and DVD recorders. DVD uses MPEG2, this is not a very good format for capture but is fast way to capture video yourself. VHS has a lot of noise and since these are home movies it will be hand held with a lot of movement, that's not ideal for encoding directly to MPEG2 since the encoder has to allocate a lot bitrate to compensate for noise and movement.

How , many hours of footage on a disc? Hopefully it's one hour which means at least they used the highest bitrate.

If you're not too far into this I'd suggest going to plan B. If you have a mini-DV camcorder plan B may be sitting right there. If that is an option post the model of camcorder you have and I'll look it up to see if it's capable of analog capture.

So I copy the whole disk (all of them almost 4.2 Gb !) to the HD. Then edit with WMM.

What you want to do there is use a tool like VOB2MPG, that will rip the entire disc to your computer as an MPEG2 file. This is really quick process becsue it's just stripping out the DVD stuff and just copying the video file on the disc.

I can't tell you if you can do this properly with Windows DVD maker because I refuse to install it, it's part of the Live package and it installs the newest version or Windows Live email which I do not want. <sigh> I'd suggest getting Corel's Movie Factory, this is a DVD authoring program and it has limited editing features too.

DVD Authoring - Corel DVD MovieFactory - Formerly by Ulead

You're going to import your MPEG video into Movie Factory that was created with VOB2MPG, I haven't used it it years but there is setting in there to use the video files settings for output. There is two reasons why it's important, firstly it's much faster because there is no conversion of the video. The only thing that gets re-encoded is where you made edits. The bulk of the video is the same video you had on the DVD disc.

The second reason this is important is since there is no conversion there is no loss in quality, unnecessary conversion should be avoided at all times especially when dealing with MPEG2.

As I said I have not used it in while and you may be able to skip the VOB2MPG export and do it directly in Movie Factory.

I tried using Flip Disk or maybe it was called Disk Flip.
After burning on DVD, the player says:
*This disk can not be played on this DVD player.*

This may actually be the disc itself, some players will not play +R, -R and in some cases neither. Most newer payers shouldn't have trouble. You can look up compatibility here:


DVD Player and Blu-ray Player Compatibility List - VideoHelp.com

I checked into *Pinnacle* and that is a rather pricey programme ...
Must be a really good one !

I'm out of the loop but Pinnacle wasn't a very well like program by most, actually despised by some. Note that Movie Factory is primarily for making DVD's, there is ton of options for menus etc. There video editing program Video Studio is more focused on editing video but will create DVD too but no where near the options in Movie Factory.

The quality of the DVD formats is *not half bad for VHS tapes that old *

If it's done right it should be just as good as the VHS, the problem is an amateur may not be able to spot the issues I can. If done by a real pro depending on what issues the tapes have it can be a slight improvement to a dramatic increase in the quality. Often these improvements can only be done in the analog realm and that requires some fairly expensive equipment. These services aren't cheap and no I'm not offering them either.