Converting avi to DVD using Nero, (also converts mpg, bin and various other file types to DVD) Options

[tansydog]

This is a replacement guide as mysticwizard's guide no longer has any images (sorry mysticwizard)


You will need a full version of Nero 6 or 7 (some OEM versions don't have the DVD-video plugin included and so can't convert to DVD. If you only get the option to create a VCD then that is the case). You will also need to make sure that you have the required video and audio codecs to play the file or the conversion won't work properly.


My screenshots have been taken from Nero 6 reloaded, some things may look slightly different if you have a different version but it should be basically the same.


1. First open Nero Startsmart and choose the 'Make Your Own DVD-video option'


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2. Nerovision express 3 (or 4 in Nero 7) will open. Click on the 'add video files' and browse to whichever files you wish to convert. If you want to add a bin file then when you browse you will need to change the option from 'all supported video files' to 'all files'.


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3. If you have a movie which has been divided into two parts and you want to merge them back into one, Nero can do this. Simply click on both titles while holding down shift, this will highlight both. Then click on the 'merge titles' button. It will join them seamlessly (so long as they were from the same source to begin with). You can rename the merged title if you wish by highlighting it and pressing F2 then typing in the new title.


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4. If you want to create chapters in your video files then click on the video title and select 'create chapters' from the options on the right-hand side. You can set the chapter marks manually here, or choose autodetect. Once finished, click 'next'.


5. The default setting in nerovision express is to fit 2 hours of video onto a standard dvdr. Obviously this is too short for many movies, so you may need to change the encoding quality to fit more onto a disc. You need to click on 'more' down at the bottom and then 'video options' to access these settings as shown below.


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6. After clicking on 'video options' you will see a new box. Here under the 'general' tab you can change the video format from PAL to NTSC (if you are in an NTSC region such as the USA/Canada and download a PAL video you will need to change the setting to NTSC or it will not display properly on your TV).


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Then click the DVD-video tab, if you need to change the quality to fit more onto a disc then this is where you do it, under the 'quality settings'. If it is set on Automatic then it will automatically adjust the quality to fit the length of video required onto the DVDR. If you wish to do it manually, 'Standard play' is 2 hours, 'long play' is 3 hours, 'extended play' is 4 hours. Then click ok.


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7. Once your video files are added and you are happy with the quality settings, press 'next' down at the bottom right. This takes us to the 'select menu' screen. If you don't want to have a menu then select that option from the 'Menus to use' drop-down list.


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If you do want a menu, choose whether you want one just for the main titles or chapter menus too. Type the header you want into the box, then click on 'edit menu' to customise your menu.

8. Here in the 'edit menu' options you can customise your menu in many ways. You can change the layout, background (you can browse through your pictures and have anything you want as the background, not just their templates), text colour etc. There is also an option (shown in the screenshot below) to animate your menu so the thumbnails play short clips. Once you're happy with this, click 'next'.


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9. Now on the next screen you can preview your DVD and check it's working as it should. If you want to change anything then click 'back' and change it. If it's ok then click 'next'.


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10. Finally we get to the 'Burn options' screen. I would recommend selecting the 'write to hard disc folder' option so that the converted files are written to your hard drive rather than straight to DVD. This means that you can check them before burning and saves wasting a disc if it's gone wrong. The files can be burned easily to DVDR later using the 'burn dvd-video files' option from Nero Startsmart. If you do want to burn straight to DVD make sure you reduce the burning speed - the default is to burn at maximum, which is a bad idea for DVD video. I would recommend 4x speed.

Once you are happy with your settings, click on 'Burn'. Conversion will take quite some time - generally at least the length of time it would take to watch the video. It is very important that you do not use your computer for anything else during the conversion, no running torrent clients, surfing the internet or running instant messenger services. Video processing is a very power-intensive process and if your computer is being used for other things then video frames will end up being dropped, which knocks the audio out of sync.


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That should be it