Avi2DVD is a new GUI that uses freeware tools to perform conversions such as AVI to DVD, SVCD, VCD or DVD to DVD, SVCD or VCD. The program is still in beta phase so it's a little buggy. For example, I haven't managed to get it to work with CCE SP 2.50 yet, but I hear it's possible with later releases of CCE. Avi2DVD comes with four encoders, QuEnc, FreeEnc, NuEnc and HCEnc. You have the option to use CCE also but you have to have it installed already. Of all the encoders I had the best luck and quality from HCEnc so I will choose that option for this guide. For such an early beta, it has some excellent features and has tackled one problem with other frontend tools; if you have a movie in two or more files, you can rename the files in a certain way so Avi2DVD will load in both and encode both, removing the need to merge files together first. But anyway, let's begin.

Introduction & Requirements

Avi2DVD - Download and install, (it's about 13MB). This will do most of the work.
DVD Decrypter - We will use this to burn a resulting ISO image.

For encoding to DVD, you would really want to have about 15GB free space. When Avi2DVD is done you will have a VIDEO_TS folder with your DVD files and an ISO image. There will also be some temporary files taking up some space. Also, it is worth mentioning that Avi2DVD will allow you to add subs (.srt or .txt).

Introducing Avi2DVD

Avi2DVD might look complicated at first sight but in reality it could not be more easier to use. As you can see the settings are set out in 4 steps, Input, Output, Encoders and Subtitles. The flags over these tabs simply change the language of the program on click. You can also see some options that can be ticked near the end of the program.

Shutdown when done has an obvious use and can be useful if you are encoding while you sleep. Close Avi2DVD when done has an obvious use. Hide External Applications simply means that when Avi2DVD launches a program it will minimize it, keep it out of view. However I don't use that option personally as I believe nobody should be using a computer during encoding anyway.

The Help button pops up some information on the program and some thank you's from the author. Go !!! begins a process but we're nowhere near that step yet. Add Job is a button we will need too. As you can see there is a Job Queue list, so we will have to add a job before we can start encoding. Modify Job then would allow you to edit the settings you chose for a certain job. Well, with that basic intro over it's not time to open your AVI file(s).

Avi2DVD Step 1 - Input Settings

First thing you need to do is click the Load avi/ogm/mkv button. However, if you have your movie on two or more files, you can open them all at the same time. Lets say your first half of a movie is your CD1 and your second half is your CD2. Name the first half 'video CD1.avi' and name the second half 'Video CD2.avi'. Now Avi2DVD will load in both halves. Don't worry, this also works for subtitles files. If you only have one file, then you don't need to rename, just load it in.

Now a bunch of information will come up. Under File information you will get details on the framerate (fps), Duration and Resolution. Also under Choose AudioStream a list of audio streams will appear (usually with AVI files there is only one, but if there is two, the choosing is up to you). The Aspect Ratio may have already been selected by Avi2DVD, but if it hasn't been, or has been chosen incorrectly, change this yourself. Also tick the Interlaced Source checkbox if your AVI file(s) are interlaced.

Now we are ready for step 2, which allows us to select our output settings. Click the Step 2 Output tab.

Avi2DVD Step 2 - Output Settings

For output, select DVD or SVCD. Choose Disk Size has multiple options based on the capacities of media that are currently available to buy, but for this guide the default option should be DVD (DVD-5 4.7 GB) unless you have a dual layer burner and DVDR DL media, in that case choose DVD (DVD-9 8.5 GB).Specify the language of the audio track then under Choose Audio Language.

Your Aspect Ratio setting is important, it should be the same as the source, or else you may end up with horrible quality results. Choose the Audio Bitrate based on the quality of the original sound. Avi2DVD will encode AC3 audio for better DVD player compatibility. If your source was VBR MP3 audio then abut 192kb/s or 224kb/s should be fine. If you had AC3 audio input, a little higher is fine but there's no need to go past 384kb/s.

Make ISO should be selected and you can set Name to whatever you like (this will eventually be the Volume Label of your DVD after you burn it). The only reason you might not want to select Make ISO is if you don't have enough space for it. If you unselect it, you will still get a VIDEO_TS folder with DVD files in it. Now another option is Pal Ntsc Conversion. This sort of conversion might cause your playback to be a bit jumpy or sticky but if it's absolutely necessary to choose one of the options (like if you are in North America and your DVD player/TV will not play PAL, only NTSC) then select one.

You can also set chapters to be automatically added every given number of minutes. Last thing is to choose an Output Folder. Click the small folder icon to choose one, make sure you select the folder and not the tiny plus sign beside it. No matter what folder you select, Avi2DVD will create a folder called Avi2dvd_temp in it. Now we are ready to have a look at encoder settings. Click the Step 3 Encoders tab.

Avi2DVD Step 3 - Encoder Settings

Avi2DVD gives you the option to use five different encoders. QuEnc, FreeEnc, NuEnc and HCEnc are all completely free encoders. CCE however is not free but if you are lucky enough to have it, then click Locate CCE and point Avi2DVD to the executable file in the installed directory. However, As I said already, I have had no luck with CCE SP and Avi2DVD yet.

I have select HCEnc because it's one of my favorite encoders. It produces excellent quality and is quite fast. I suggest you give it a try. Under Profile is fast, normal, good and best. In my opinion, this should always be best. If you want good quality, then you have to sacrifice encoding time, it is simple as that.

As for Matrix, this could be daunting for new users so I won't cover the extra options. However if you would like to find out about the other alternatives then I would suggest you visit Doom9 as they have some threads dedicated to the topic. HCEnc on best is going to perform 2-pass encoding so it is going to take hours of your time but it will be worth it. I suggest encoding while you sleep. I highly recommend you do not use your computer during the entire process and make sure you don't have a screensaver on or a scheduled task as both will slow the encoding to a crawl. Now lets look at the subtitles options. Click the Step 4 Subtitles tab.

Avi2DVD Step 4 - Subtitles Settings

So as you can see you can add three sets of subtitles. To add a subtitles files (srt or txt) simply click the Subtitle 1 button and locate the file. Now if there are two files (if you already had your movie in two halves you might have two separate subs files) then do the same thing as you did before when adding the video. Name the first half something like 'subs CD1.srt' and the second half something like 'subs CD2.srt'.

Now Avi2DVD will use both so you do not have problems with subs. You can add up to three separate subtitles streams. The options simply ask you to specify a language for the selected stream, a font, font size and character set. Remember if you are trying to change the options for a second subtitles stream, you have the click the Options 2 tab, and Options 3 if its for a third stream.

Well now you have made all your settings, we are about ready to begin.

Avi2DVD Step 5 - Add Job and Begin Process

Now you must add the job to the queue. This is simply done by clicking the big Add Job button. This makes batch encoding with Avi2DVD very easy as it will do the jobs as you have them in order in the Queue. Once you have the job in the Job Queue list, simply click the Go !!! button to begin the process now.

The Process

The amount of time the Avi2DVD process will take place really depends on you source files, what encoder you are using and basically how fast your computer is. After the Process you will be left with loads of files, but all we need is an ISO file that was created. It is usually called DVD_Image.iso. Launch DVD Decrypter and to burn it.

Launch DVD Decrypter and select ISO Write

DVD Decrypter is primarily used to rip DVDs. It can rip all the DVD files or just one set of them or it can rip them all as an ISO image. These three options are changeable modes in DVD Decrypter. File mode will allow you to rip whatever files you want from the list (usually all). IFO mode allows you to select an IFO and rip all the DVD files associated with it. However ISO has two separate modes.

ISO Read will allow you to rip the entire DVD to an ISO image and ISO Write (which is what we need) will allow you to burn an ISO image to a blank DVDR as long as it is not too big. To select ISO Write, either click Mode --> ISO --> Write or simply hit the W key on your keyboard.

Select Source, Output Target and Write Speed

Now we will do this in order. To select your Source file (dvd.iso in my case) click the tiny folder icon under source. Now browse to the folder you saved the ISO file into with Folder2Iso and select it, then click Open. Now it should fill in in the source field and some information on its label and overall size will appear under source.

Now you have to select your DVD writer (Destination). If you have any virtual drives running (from Alcohol or Daemon Tools) then make sure that they aren't selected by mistake. Test Mode will test to see if it will burn properly, if you are a little low on media this might be a useful option to select. Verify will verify the written data afterwards. Both options are entirely up to you.

Now all that is left is to select your Write Speed. Make sure you don't pick an option that is faster than your media is capable of. If unsure, MAX should be an OK selection but if you are still paranoid then check out the media information that's right over the Write Speed settings. In my example picture, we see that Max Supported Write Speed is 2x so I have went right ahead and selected it.

Burn the DVD

Now all that's left to do is to burn the DVD. Click the big button that show's a HDD an arrow and a DVD disc and the burn should begin after a few moment. You have the option once again to select Verify after write. There is also the option to delete the original ISO when finished and the option to have your computer automatically shutdown when the process is finished.

So that's pretty much it. The time the burning process will take depends on your computer, burn speed and DVD burner but in most cases it shouldn't take too long. Once the image is written you can go ahead and test out your DVD.

Finally

Now you should have a pretty good idea of Avi2DVD and remember this program is still an early beta right now so it could completely change with time. I'm sure it will only get better.