How to Play VIDEO_TS Files

Marquis writes, "I downloaded a file from a torrent and it has 5 files in it VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.BUP; VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO; VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_0.VUP; VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_0.IFO; VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.VOB May i know what are this files and what kind of format is this?"

It sounds like the torrent you downloaded is a pre-built DVD of some kind. The directory structure for DVD movies typically puts all the movie content and menus in a VIDEO_TS folder. The VTS_01_1.VOB is an MPEG-2 file, which means you could play it on your computer assuming you have DVD player software installed (something like VLCPlayer or PowerDVD Ultra). The torrent was likely packaged with the intent that you would burn the files to DVD to watch on a set top DVD player. Here's an easy way to burn it for set top DVD playback.

Burn RealMedia RMVB Movies to DVD

Richie asks, "How do I convert RealPlayer files to whatever so I can put them on a disc to view on my DVD player?"

There are several ways to go from RealMedia files like RM and RMVB to DVD. The way to get the best looking DVDs is to first convert the RMVB files to AVI and then use a DVD authoring software tool like Nero Vision or MyDVD to add the AVI file to a disk. If you have Windows Vista, you can also use the DVD Maker app included in Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate. The MPEG-2 encoders in any of those tools are better than what you might find in free DVD authoring software. If you're simply looking for a fast solution for converting RMVB to a DVD playable on your set top DVD player, there are faster methods using a free DVD converter.

SoThink Movie DVD Maker

Free DVD authoring software is hard to come by. Many of the free apps I've found are buggy. SoThink Movie DVD Maker is among the best of the free solutions available for DVD authoring. The app converts most formats, including AVI, MPEG, WMV, MP4, RMVB, MOV, and 3GP to DVD. Basic video editing features like trimming clips and combining smaller clips into a larger movie are also supported. When your video is ready for DVD you can burn straight to disk. The default video format is PAL, so if you are authoring home movies created in the US, you'll need to change the defaults for NTSC support. This is especially useful in combination with something like Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP, which includes no DVD burning support. While the app will work with Vista, the Vista DVD Maker application has a better burning engine and far more features for authoring DVDs. [Windows 2k/XP/Vista $0.00]

Letterboxing Video for DVD Authoring

Chris writes, "We have tried Sonic and Roxio to transfer our digital camera movies to DVD. The movies burn to DVD OK, but when we play in our DVD player on TV screens, the movies are pixilated and not clear... is there some way to correct this problem? If I am understanding the 160 box in the bottom of the camera's movie screen window, our recording pixels may be set at 160 x 120 (compact). Any hope for making to big screen? Or is there a way for the video to only play at 1/4 the size instead of full screen - thereby hopefully keeping integrity of video?

160x120 video is never going to look good on a television screen. The resolution is simply too low. What Sonic does when it authors a standard definition DVD is size the video to fit at a standard full screen NTSC television (or PAL television if you're authoring a PAL disk). That means your 160x120 video is getting stretched to approximately 4 times it's original size. You're on the right track with attempting to play the video at 1/4 the size of full screen, but you need some additional tools to make it work.

HD-DVD Authoring for Home Movies

How to make an HD-DVD using standard 4.7GB DVD media or 8.5GB dual layer disks.

After shooting numerous hours of high definition video footage, I've been itching for a way to create some HD-DVDs. There are no HD-DVD burners on the market at the moment. And media seems to be in scarce supply. Sure, I could shell out $700 for a Blu-ray burner, but then I'd need to spend another $600 for a player that conveniently connects to my television (like a PS3, for instance). At least I can use the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player with Windows Vista or my 360, and there's now an HP HD-DVD player in the wild as well. When I found out Pinnacle added support for HD-DVD burning to Pinnacle Studio Plus, I was thrilled. Better yet, they do it by burning to standard 4.7GB DVDs or to 8.5GB dual layer disks.

Convert PAL DVD for PC Playback

Sam asks, "How do I convert a PAL DVD made in Europe to NTSC?"

I've experimented with a handful of ways to convert PAL format video to NTSC, with none of them yielding perfect results. If you have a friend in Europe who sends you a DVD created in the PAL format, you might have problems playing it back if you don't either have a DVD player with PAL support or a computer that knows how to playback PAL format content. One way around this is to convert the PAL DVD to either a digital file on your PC or converting the file to an NTSC compatible DVD.

Convert PAL to NTSC with VirtualDubMod

If you want to create a video file that can be burned as an NTSC compatible disk, you need to convert the file you just created with VLC Player. PAL DVD video is typically 720x576 at 25fps. NTSC is generally 29.97fps and 720x480, but in this case we're going to cheat a little in making a file. A commonly supported video format is 24fps at 720x480. Slowing down the 25fps video from the PAL file to 24fps gets you a viewable result without too much complex math. To make this conversion, we need another video app called VirtualDubMod.

Making DVDs from Digital Camera Videos

Erin writes, "How do I get video from my digital camera to play on a DVD. I am using Kodak EasyShare software to burn the videos to a DVD-R. It seems they are burned but I cannot play them unless I click on each mov file in my computer HELP?"

Kodak EasyShare burns movie files to DVD as a data disk. This is great for creating a backup of your movies to store on DVD, but doesn't create a DVD playable in your set top DVD player. To create a DVD for playback in something like a set top DVD player, you need to use DVD authoring software when making the disk.

Make Your Own DVD Movie

Keith writes, "How do I make DVD to play on my home DVD player?"

To make a DVD that plays on your home DVD player, you need DVD authoring software to convert the video to the file format for the DVD, as well as add menus and chapters (if you want those features). There are a number of software applications available for DVD authoring. My personal favorite for authoring DVDs is Sonic MyDVD, which is available as both a standalone application as well as part of the
Roxio Easy Media Creator 9 authoring suite. Here's how to make a DVD using Sonic MyDVD.

DIKO

With plenty of DivX and XviD video content available for download, there's also a common need for converting those video files to DVD. DIKO is one of the easiest solutions I've found for converting DivX video to DVD. You essentially point DIKO at an AVI and the app sets up the video for authoring. Choose from an authored DVD with no menu, or menus generated from one of two bundled menu generation apps. The app supports approximately 2 hours of video on an SVCD and 10 hours of video on a DVD, although, I recommend against this because the author's idea of good quality and mine are apparently quite different. It installs a few free apps, like AVISynth and VirtualDubMod, providing an efficient polish to these otherwise complex tools, making DIKO a solid solution for turning your digital video collection into DVDs. [Windows 9x/2k/XP $0.00]