Avi>mpg>dvd

[justyn]

G'day all,

I've downloaded a few episodes of my favorite TV show and it's recorded in 16:9 .avi format.
The only software I have had any success with is "Intervideo WinDVD creator" to convert to .mpg while retaining audio, no other software gives a file with any audio. Unfortunatly this software is only capable of outputting 4:3 and it inserts black bars top and bottom of the screen.
The problem is that when I try to encode to a DVD file I am stuck with a 4:3 movie - or a distorted 16:9, neither of which looks any good on my 16:9 tv.

Is there a way for me to restore the 16:9 .mpg file, or even better - is there some better method of converting 16:9 .avi to DVD without losing the audio?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Anole]

Based on your title, I got an answer all ready for you.
Turns out, I'm not sure if it will help or not.
I have used WinAVI (http://www.winavi.com/en/video-converter/video-converter.htm) in the past, to convert various formats to mpeg, but haven't dealt with the aspect ratio problem.
I do see it's got some capability, so either it or one of these other programs (http://www.videoredo.net/msgBoard/showthread.php?t=2399) might be worth a test-drive.

[zaphod7501]

You didn't mention what programs that you have tried (?) but I've used gui4ffmpeg to convert everything from .avi to 1080i transport streams and haven't had any failures. A few that wouldn't start had mismatched or incorrect frame rate headers that AVImux was able to correct. (ie 29.9706 instead of 29.976 or mixed 23.976/25.00) gui4ffmpeg only gave a cryptic error but "file information" in AVImux showed the discrepancy.

[bits]

Give 'SUPER' a go....it is freeware and seems to do a good job of converting just about anything to anything. You can see what others think of it over at videohelp.com

[justyn]

Thanks for the replies!
After a bit more searching and experimenting I found "virtualdubmod" will open the .avi and report the audio errors that were causing the prolems, simply opening the .avi and "save as" .avi (different name) resolves the obscure audio problems, then TMPGENC processes the file without any problems.
It might be a nasty way to go about it, but it works.