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Author Topic: How to Convert a movie with ConvertXtoDvd  (Read 19456 times)

oldfogy

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How to Convert a movie with ConvertXtoDvd
« on: September 23, 2008, 02:01:43 AM »

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How to Convert a movie file with VSO ConvertXtoDvd

I should probably first start by saying ConvertXtoDvd is not a free program,
but in my opinion is worth every penny that it would cost to buy.
"Especially as it will convert almost any type of movie file"

Apart from the initial setup, (As with any program) to convert a movie to DVD format is basically only a:
THREE (3) click process.

1. Open ConvertXtoDvd
2. Select and Open the movie file to be converted.
3. Press "Convert"

That's it, job finished.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The information below is only needed for the very first time after installing ConvertXtoDvd.
All of the settings you chose will be remembered for the future so there is no need to alter them again.

For this exercise I have used the Menu-bar to access any settings, but as you can see there are also toolbar icons down the middle of the screen that do the same job.

First Open ConvertXtoDvd: -
If the "Preview Panel" is not already selected, select the "bottom icon in the centre of the picture"
You should then see a screen similar to this one:

The first thing we need to do is check and set some of the settings
Any settings you change will be the "Master Settings" for all new projects unless you change them.

First click the "Settings" button on the menu bar followed by the "General" button.


Here we need to set the destination path for all our completed DVD's.
Now click the little folder icon beside the Working folder text box and select the destination where your DVD files should be stored.
As you can see, I have selected to put my DVD files into a folder and burn them later at: "F:\z New VOBs\ z Temp" (but you can choose anywhere you want).


Next select the "Menu Tab"
This tab is important if you wish to convert multiple movies and have them on the same DVD, then it is often useful to set a menu (which you will also have to create).
If you want to use multiple movies then set the menu settings here as appropriate.

I have not set one here mainly because I only convert one movie at a time and do not want a menu.
I have however selected Auto-start playback.
This means that the movie will automatically play when viewed without having to go through a movie menu. You may also wish to select this too.


Next, select the "TV Format" tab
It's important to set the correct video standard format for your region here.
Select either PAL or NTSC from the Video Standard drop down menu.
I would also suggest that you set the DVD Resolution and TV Screens options correctly for your TV and DVD Player.
If you are not sure, then setting it to automatic would be the best choice.


Encoding
Here you can set some of the most important features of the conversion, the target size for the DVD and the encoding quality.
I prefer high quality so have set the corresponding setting in the Encoding quality/speed drop down menu.
I would however suggest that you do not put this to low quality as the output could be quite bad.
If you wish to write the resulting files to a single-layer DVD then set the Target size drop down menu too 4250 MB
If you want it to fit on a full dual layer disk then select 8200 MB.
Do not use a custom setting unless you know what you are doing.

As you can also see, the Conversion priority setting is set to Highest, but I would suggest that you set this to Normal unless you want it to interfere with your other activities on the computer.
I also always select the Log engine messages option as it can be helpful diagnosing any problems (should any occur).


Burning
Next, if you want your DVD files to be automatically burned then check the box labelled: Burn result to DVD.
Below that you can see that there are two drop down menus.
In the first one select your DVD Writer and in the second select the speed at which it should write the DVD.
I would set this at 6x which takes on average 9 minutes to burn a 4GB DVD.
(Setting too fast a burn rate can and usually results in faulty DVD movies)
You can also set the default title for your DVDs to be burned with.

The other settings in this screen should be self-explanatory and can be set as you wish.
Simply hover the mouse cursor over a label for a description of the features and it's functions.
Unless you have a reason to change them, leaving them at their defaults will probably work just fine.
Once you are done here then click OK to close the settings window and return to the main screen.


Okay, thats taken care of the initial setup and should not need changing again.
"Don't forget any settings you changed will be the "Master Settings" for all new projects unless you change them later.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Now we need to add our video file(s) to the project to be converted so click "File" menu then "Add video file".
You will see a window like the following appear, now select any file/s that you wish to use in this DVD.
Once you've found your file(s) then click the "Open" button to add them to the project.
If you incorrectly add some files, "don't worry" - you can remove them later.


After you have selected your files you should notice that the main screen has changed to something like this:


Now, if you used a single video file you will see two trees.
The top one is the global DVD options and the second one is the options for the video we just added.
If of course you added more than one video file to be converted then you will also see a separate tree for each of those too.
If you click the little plus icon beside the DVD Options you will see the tree expand to something like the following:


Any individual settings that are changed from this point on will be disregarded when the program is closed.

From here you can also set any preferences for this DVD.
Select any items you wish to use and if you wish to change the non-checkbox items simple double click them.
If satisfied with the settings as they are, click the plus icon beside the Titleset 1 item and you will now see something that looks similar to this:


As you will note, there are multiple sub-sections here (that have the little plus icon beside them).
Most of these can be left untouched. However, if your movie needs to be "Deinterlaced" then you will find the option to do so under the Video sub-item.
If you don't know what that means then the odds are that you won't need it. (So leave it alone)

From here you can also add subtitles by right clicking the Subtitles item and selecting Add subtitle.
Obviously you will need the appropriate subtitle file to do this.
If you have a subtitle file, that has "exactly" the same name as the movie "and is in the same folder" except for the extension IE: (My Movie.avi & My Movie.srt) then it will have been selected and added automatically.
Once you are ready simply click the "Convert" button near the bottom of the screen to start the conversion.

You will see a progress meter that will indicate its progress.
(Which I have found to be quite accurate)

After the file has been converted, if you selected to burn this directly to a DVD, a window will appear giving you various DVD options.
You can set the settings to over-ride the defaults here or you can leave it and the program will automatically start the burning process with the default settings.


Finally, one last point worth remembering is,
Check-out the option in "Action" from the toolbar, this give you the option to either "Close the program or Shutdown the PC when finished"

edited to included "minor" layout changes.
« Last Edit: November 07, 2008, 07:41:29 PM by oldfogy »
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