Playing an avi or mpeg file on my TV via my DVD player

English Multimedia
#1

I have a 630Mb .avi file called lisbet.avi that I’d like to play on the home TV set by putting it on a DVD disk in my DVD player attached to the TV.

I’ve converted it to an mpeg 2 PAL dvd file with this command:
/usr/bin/ffmpeg -i /home/john/Desktop/lisbet/lisbet.avi -y -v 0 -f mpeg2video -target pal-dvd /home/john/Desktop/lisbet/lisbet.mpeg

I’m only guessing that this is an Oz sort of file. It transformed to a 3.5Gb mpeg file lisbet.mpeg.

Then I guessed that maybe it would play on my TV if I copied it to a DVD disk. The DVD disk I copied it to does play on Linux & windows computers. When I load that disk to my DVD player, the machine goes into “loading” mode but doesn’t go any further. So that’s not the way to do things (as I suspected).

What steps are required to get a DVD disk that plays on my DVD player?

#2

Easiest way John is devede

Load the original .avi
Get the advanced view
Check the original bit rate because devede will default to 5001. You can cut that back to 2500 easily and that will still be above the original bit rate (probably).
I usually get 2 movie length files or 4 x 1hr files per DVD

devede will convert and spew out a .iso
which you know what to do with

PS: You can change the menu background by adding more images to the devede directory.

#3

There are many ways to do this.

1. Create mpeg compliant file: What I typically do is take the original avi and convert it to an mpeg compatible format with the application “tovid”. ie

tovid -dvd -pal -normalize -quality 8 -in original-file.avi -out output-file

tovid will add the extension for the output file.

2. Quality check #1: Then after that is done I confirm the “output-file.mpg” is dvd compliant by a quality check.

idvid output-file.mpg

3. Then I create a custom xml file (call it mydvd.xml) for dvdauthor. … something like:


<dvdauthor dest="/home/swerdna/homedvd" >
 <vmgm/>
 <titleset>
  <titles>
   <video format="pal"  resolution="720x576" />
   <pgc pause="0" >
    <vob file="/home/swerdna/output-file.mpg"  />
     <post> jump title 1;</post>
   </pgc>
  </titles>
 </titleset>
</dvdauthor>

The above is a very simple example. One can do much more.

4. Then I run dvdauthor to create the video_ts directory:

dvdauthor -x mydvd.xml

that will create the video_ts and audio_ts directory under /home/swerdna/dvd/dvd

**5. Quality check #2: **I then use vlc to check the quality of the video_ts with something like:

vlc /home/swerdna/homedvd/dvd/video_ts

that should play.

6. Burn the dvd. Then I run k3b, select create a video-dvd option, and I drag the contents of the video_ts directory into the corresponding video_ts directory in k3b.

And then I burn the dvd.

This gives me control over every step of the process.

Because I do this so infrequently I tend to forget steps, and so I typically burn the 1st time on an RW DVD. And I test the RW in a DVD player.

7. DVD cover/label. If that works, I burn more permanently on a printable DVD ( +r or -r) and I also print a nice cover/label directly on the DVD.

Or one could simply use something like devede and pass all detailed control to an application. I’ve never used devede myself for at least 2 or 3 years, so I do not know how much it has progressed.

#4

Thanks Carl. That went quite smoothly. The resulting DVD I can put in either a Linux or a windows computer and it auto-plays. But when I put it in the DVD machine, it says “loading” for a few minutes then it says “bad disk”. Hmmm… I selected the defaults, because it is too complicated for me to select options. Is there anything I should look out for that’s different between a computer (where the product plays) and a DVD machine (where it won’t load)?

#5

@oldcpu, I’m giving your method a try too, will report back

#6

The player itself. We have three in the house, only one plays every single DVD. But I have a workaround, if a DVD must be played on one of the other 2 and will not at first: Create a DVD through devede, “push” it through k9copy, burn the generated new ISO to disk, works anywhere. Never had/took the time to find out the differences between the k9copy generated copy and devede’s output.

#7

@swerdna
Region setting?:
It just works for me, so I can’t really say.

#8

Tried that method. It was straightforward to push the iso through k9copy and generate a new iso and burn that to a DVD with K3B. But the result was the same: it plays in a windows machine and in a Linux machine but alas not in my DVD player.

You will be wondering if the DVD player works: yes, it plays DVDs purchased locally.

#9

If you ask me, I smell rotten fish.
It should just work John.

Guess it’s too late to dump this player back in the store?

#10

Well thanks guys. All your methods/advices worked to produce different versions of DVDs. They all worked in windows and Linux computers. None worked in the DVD player. So I think Carl is right and there’s a Danish product in the DVD drawer.

To-day I’ll take the latest to a friend’s player and see if it plays and report back.

#11

I took it to a friend’s DVD player, and my recording works there. Sorry to lead you all around the ring, but at least I now know three ways to make a DVD.

I’m off to buy a new DVD player.

Thanks

#12

I’m off to buy a new DVD player.
:wink:
Like I said, ‘Stinking Fish’

#13

So now a new DVD player – and all the disks work on it. But it is interesting that oldcpu’s method has the sound and video out of synch while the DeVeDe method is in synch, probably because I set the DeVeDe to create 10-minute chapters.

Anyway, thanks all.

#14

Did you do the quality checks I noted? Typically if the sound is out of synch it is picked up in the quality check. Then I use avidemux in one of the intermediary stages to resynch the video/audio.

#15

Yes I did. I didn’t see anything to cause me to pause. But I must confess the check #2 I only let run for about 15 seconds and that was of course just the beginning (no talking there) so I guess that’s where I slipped up.

#16

It does read like devede will be easier, especially if it limits the occasions when audio/video is desychronized. I typically convert videos where synchronization is not critical (ie home movies with music sound tracks). But I have also converted music videos , where it is important to keep the audio/video synchronisation, and on occasion there I have had to resynchronize.

#17

Just nosy:

Is the new one also able to play Xvid/Divix without any transforming/with small changes form a CD/DVD or just from a USB-Stick?
Good luck :wink:
pistazienfresser

#18

The specs list Divx as an accepted type of disk

#19

So you should be able to play data discs, no need to make a fancy dvd;)

#20

I suppose that means I can use a dvdrw and put movie files on there – what formats?

And it’s got “usb compatible” on the box and a usb port, does that mean I can put my library on a usb drive and simply plug it in (again, what formats?).