WMV to MPG, with good quality, so I could see the movies in a DVD Player

[Enrique15]

Greetings, members of this forum.

I have problems trying to convert WMV and AVI movies to MPG format and get them with as good quality as the original file, so I can see them in television using my DVD Player.

I used this software:

--> WinAVI-Video-Converter
--> WinMPG_VideoConvert
--> Context Convert

One of my hobbies is making Music Videos using Windows Movie Maker. Of course, the files created are .WMV format, and in my dvd player I only get to hear the sound, but no video.
And with AVI files I don't even get the audio.

That's why I wanted to convert them into .mpg format files, which my dvd player can read perfectly.

The problem is that trying with those programs, I get:

--> Files much GREATER than the original one (for example, the wmv file is 25 KB, and the mpg converted one is 200 KB).

--> Files have worse resolution than the original file (image quality isn't as nice as the original video)

--> The movie speed is slower (is like if the 30 "frame-per-second" decreases to 15 frame-per-second).


I tried and tried, but I couldn't get a nice "converted file" to use.

So I come here, to ask the experts.

What software do you know (that you have used and recommend) that can suggest me to convert wmv and avi files into mpg files, getting as much image quality and equal speed as the original file..... and more importan, that doesn't grow so much in size (for example, from 20 KB to 300 KB or even 6 GB).

I know that maybe I'm not doing a perfect job converting those files cause I'm not an expert, but I tried the best options in the programs I used, and the files I got weren't good enough.

And the more I worry about is the size. Because if, for example, I plan to cut a movie with Movie Maker so I can save it in a normal CD (700 MB), and I want to see it on TV.... because movie maker gives me a "wmv" file, I want to convert it to mpg.
But of course, a GOOD mpg file....

Because if I cut the movie in half for example, 450 MB each, and convert each half to get a 800 MB converted file, of course I don't get any use of it.

Get my point ? I hope I made myself clear so you could understand my problem.

I'll wait your suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Regards.

[reboot]

Files much GREATER than the original one (for example, the wmv file is 25 KB, and the mpg converted one is 200 KB).

Because mpeg-2 for dvd has a different compression than wmv or avi.

Files have worse resolution than the original file (image quality isn't as nice as the original video)

Garbage in, garbage out. WMV has very tight compression (as do poorly encoded avi's), thus the quality on the TV (usually a much larger screen) suffers a lot.

The movie speed is slower (is like if the 30 "frame-per-second" decreases to 15 frame-per-second).

Is this on the computer or on the TV?

Generally, nobody uses wmv except for putting videos on the web.
Usually the aspect ratio is less than optimal (320x240) and resizing to 720x480 mpeg-2 dvd spec (or even 480x480 SVCD can be worse!) results in crap. Do not ever upsize, unless it's absolutely necessary.
Get a good encoder. Canopus, mainconcept, CCE, or even the tediously slow Tmpgenc.
If you get no audio or video on the computer, it's because you don't have the right codec's installed.
Time to start reading some guides I think.
Don't use WMM, get a good editor.

[Enrique15]

Thanks reboot for answering.

But it's seems I failed to make myself clear in some things.

For your question:

Is this on the computer or on the TV?

I'll be more specific this time:

1. All what I said before was after converting and watching the movies in the "computer". I didn't even try to record the files in a cd to watch them on TV, because of the bad quality I already saw on the computer. So, for you to know, everything is in computer.

2. I've read about wmv being a poor encoder, but when using Movie Maker to create my music videos, I made those videos using scenes of "640 x 480" movies. So I make my music videos mixing scenes from different movies. And when I make the videos, even if it's "wmv" format, the scenes keep the same quality as they have in the original movie from which I took them.
And I can notice it even more when I used a DVD quality movie. The "wmv" file made with Movie Maker has the same quality as the DVD movie.

3. As I told previously, the videos I use are "640 x 480" resolution, 30 fps. And the videos I make in Movie Maker are the same characteristics: "640 x 480 resolution, 30 fps". I use a quality called: "Video for local view, 2.1Mbps". It's one of the best qualities I can get with Movie Maker, with a file size not so big as a DVD movie (instead of 1 GB, the size are near 50 to 60 MB). And the scenes maintain their DVD quality.

Of course, all this is testing the videos in computer. I haven't tested them on TV, but if I tell you that in computer they have good quality, I know on TV they'll look the same, because I have some "mpg" videos in my computer that look the same when I watch them on TV.


So, in conclution:

--> If you say "wmv" is a bad encoding, and there's nothing I can do to get small size files when converting a wmv video into "mpg" (to get them with sizes near the original "wmv" files), I'll have to accept that fact.
But at least, I'll like to know about a converter program that allows me to get a "mpg" file with the same image quality as the wmv file. Because, like I said, I use DVD quality mpg videos in Movie Maker, and I get wmv files, with the same DVD quality in the images. And that's what I'm looking for in a "mpg" file I'll get from converting the wmv file.

--> Besides the "equal image quality" in the converted file, I'll like to get the same SPEED in the video.

--> In a simple phrase: "I want to have my WMV music videos converted to MPG".
With this I mean that I only want the format to change. Not the image quality, nor the speed, nor the resolution size......
That's more important to me than the file size (that if you tell me there's no way to avoid encreasing the Bytes size, I'll just have to live with it).


So, after telling you this, I hope you can understand better my experience.

I'll wait any suggestions.

Regards.

[reboot]

1.) Good, now it's easier to make suggestions.
2.) 640x480 sucks. It's nowhere near DVD spec, thus the encoder must resize each pixel, in each frame. Result=garbage.
3.) 30fps is also not DVD spec. 29.97fps (NTSC) or 25fps (PAL) are. When going from 30fps to 29.97fps, the encoder must change the framerate. To do this, it either drops frames, or blends adjoining frames together. Result=garbage.

You cannot compare apples (.wmv compression) to oranges (mpeg-2 compression). Mpg's are bigger. Live with it

Now, here's some suggestions.
Firstly, the obvious is to NOT use WMM to edit and make your .wmv's
As a last resort, you could possibly save them as DV-AVI.
Make sure you save them in a proper aspect ratio, thus 720x480/576, not 640x480!
Make sure you save them in the proper framerate, thus 29.97, 25, or 23.976 then encode with 3:2 pulldown.

I would immediately stop using WMM, and get something like Vegas, Pinnacle, or other good NLE, and save your files properly, then encode in a good standalone encoder (Canopus Procoder Express, Mainconcept, CCE, or even the terribly slow Tmpgenc), then author and burn.

[Enrique15]

Thanks a lot, reboot !!!

You've cleared my point of view, specially about the "640 x 480" issue.

It's just that I used that aspect ratio because as I told you, I make music videos, which I share with people over the internet, and to do things easier for them, I try to make the files small enough so everybody can download them in a short time (I prefer to have them with a "640 x 480" that makes the file to be 40 MB, than making them "720 x 480" that will make them be 70 MB, almost double size). That's why I used "640 x 480".

And maybe is not so bad for sharing the files on internet, don't you think (because I get them smaller).

But for what I want, to save them in cd so I can watch them on TV, it's better to use "720 x 480" as you have told me. So I'll make it that way.

I used Movie Maker because the program splits the files in many small scenes, so it's easier for me to select the scene I want. Because I tried other programs, but with them I had to cut all the movie myself (because those programs show you the movie complete, not in cut scenes as in Movie Maker).
So, that's an advantage I see in movie maker.

Does this programs you suggest use the "split scenes" technic used in Movie maker, so it will be easy for me to select just some scenes I need, instead of having me cutting everything myself ?

It would be great to know that out there in the internet are programs that make the same as Movie Maker, but with a DVD quality (or near it).
And most important, if I can get files not too big, so I can save them in a normal cd (because at the moment I don't have a DVD recorder )

Thanks a lot for the great help.
Regards.

[reboot]

For sharing files on the net, any size will do.
Make them 1/4 D1 at 352x240 if you like. At least that's DVD spec, although smallish.
Aspect ratio has very little to do with file size. No matter if it's .wmv or .mpg, the bitrate is what matters!

There are lots of programs that can do scene detection. Most good NLE's can do it, and give you the option of making chapter points. Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Studio, and probably 50 more...
I usually let DVDLab Pro do the scene detection, and add chapters that way. It even has frameaccurate indexing, but that doesn't help you if you're not burning DVDR's.

If you want to burn to CD, then encode the files to SVCD. Using standard bitrates, you can get about 50 minutes per disk, so most movies take 2 disks. Lower quality stuff could be done VCD, which has a set bitrate of 1150kbps, you cannot change (usually), unless making a non-standard mpeg-1.
Author them in Nerovision Express or VCDEasy to get chapters and menus.

See if you can save your files from WMM as DV-AVI.
Make sure the aspect and framerate are correct!!!
They take up more room, but have better quality than .wmv
They won't require resizing, nor framerate adjustment during encoding, and should give a better finished product.