Converting DVD to AVI?

dpriest · Post by **dpriest** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 4:06 pm

I have a couple of DVD's that I want to put into Videostudio so I can put them on 1 DVD, so I wanted to convert each DVD to an uncompressed AVI to maintain DVD quality, and then just compress it in Videostudio. I have been using Roxio Creator 2009 to convert it, but it takes a 60 minute DVD which is 3.6gb and encodes it with DIVX to an AVI file which is 467mb, and unfortunately, I cannot control the compression. I also have the option to convert the DVD to an mpeg-4 file. Which would be the best way to proceed at this point? I don't know too much about mpeg-4 files in terms of quality and if Videostudio can work with it. Also, is there a program that can convert the DVD to an UNCOMPRESSED Avi?

Thanks in advance.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 4:40 pm

DVD's are MPEG-2 files, so converting them to AVI will not maintain the DVD quality. It may, in fact, do just the opposite.

Simply import the DVDs into VS, do any editing that you want, and burn to DVD. If you have SmartRender turned on the only rendering that will take place will be your edits and your quality should remain very good.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:40 pm

Apart from agreeing with Black Lab in every respect, it is also not clear from your question how big the two separate DVDs are. If you have, for instance, 2 x 1 hour DVDs and want to have them on one, then you will need to, in effect, halve the bitrate to squeeze both into the same space on a new DVD. This will also cause quite noticeable loss in quality, but can't be avoided if space is more important to you than quality.

Moreover, if this is what you are trying to do, it would be better to use Roxio for the operation -- though I don't know the name of the exact module in the Roxio suite as I don't use it. Nero has a similar feature, and I am 99% sure that Roxio does as well.

dpriest · Post by **dpriest** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 1:23 am

Each DVD is 1 hour long. They are training videos for cycling, so the quality doesn't have to be outstanding. What is the maximum video bitrate I can do for 2 hours of video to fit on a standard 4.7gb dvd? Is it 6000kbps? Also, do you recommend converting to mpeg-2 using roxio, or importing with VS? I have never imported a dvd to VS, so can I control the compression rate?

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 1:37 am

VideoStudio has its own import from DVD module
Importing VOB files

To ascertain the quality levels please view
What bit rates should I use?