Ski Videos

Does anyone know if .avi files can be recorded on DVD and then played
back with a DVD player? Do the files need to be converted to a
different format first? I have seen DVD players that play DivX files,
but not .avi files. If it can be done, is the picture and volume
quality good when you watch the videos on a TV?

It is possible. Just google "avi to DVD" to find a free program.
Expect the conversion to run 1-2 hrs on a top of the line system, or at
least 8 hrs on a medium speed system.

..avi just implies a container type, but doesn't specify the compression
format. DivX and XViD are two of the most common types. If you
downloaded your ski videos from the Denness BitTorrent tracker, then
they are XViD (or at least most are).

Most DVD players that say they will play DivX will also play XViD.
IMO, it is much easier to get a DivX/XViD compatible DVD player and
burn the avi files to a CD/DVD than it is to convert them to a standard
DVD format.

A few additions to my previous post:

If you do the conversion properly, you will not loose any quality.
That said, it is likely that the quality isn't suberb to begin with.
Expect the quality to be worse than on your computer screen (assuming
your TV is bigger than your computer monitor).

Originally Posted by

A few additions to my previous post:

If you do the conversion properly, you will not loose any quality.
That said, it is likely that the quality isn't suberb to begin with.
Expect the quality to be worse than on your computer screen (assuming
your TV is bigger than your computer monitor).

When I watch the races on TV, I hook up my computer to the TV via S-video cable and the quality is crystal clear. Then I just back up my races straight to DVD's and when I do watch them I pop them into my DVD drive and away I go. It only takes 10 seconds to set up my computer to the TV. That's the way I do it.
Cheers,
Adam

Another item that was brought to my attention recently:

If you do end up searching for a free conversion program, be aware of
the possibility of getting spyware along with the free software.

I have personally used TMPGEnc Plus (http://www.pegasys-inc.com) for
all my conversion needs. I've heard that Boilsoft's conversion package
(http://www.boilsoft.com) also works well. I believe that TMPGEnc has
more advanced features built in, but that also makes it more
complicated to use.

Making video conversion with this software Total video converter
http://www.effectmatrix.com

wrote:
Making video conversion with this software Total video converter
http://www.effectmatrix.com

Hmm seems like you've been doing some serious usenet spamming lately
advertising your product - 48 almost identical messages across various
newsgroups in the past month. Personally, I would never touch an
application that gets promoted like this for fear of spyware, etc.

For anyone interested: A DVD player that plays divX files plays the
vidoes just fine. I copy the fles onto a DVD as simple .avi files and
then I can play them on the DVD player on my TV with fair quality.
thanks for the tips, and thank you to the bitTorrent seeders!