MPEG4 & AVI formats - ? What do they mean?

[oceanauk]

Can anyone please put into laymans terms for me the following info. I have just bought a DV camcorder which records in Mpeg4 format at 30fps via the in-build compression software then when I download it to my laptop (I'm using Windows XP) the format is AVI.  Because of this I cannot download onto disc and play on my TV via my DVD player (since it only reads Mpeg format).  Why does it not just download from my camcorder to my laptop in the mpeg4 format?  Following on from this query, can I then convert AVI to Mpeg without losing the quality - is there a recommended conversion software?  I have tried admittedly but it didn't work (the sound and play were completely distorted  - I had converted to both Mpeg1 and 2 - does the 30fps make this difficult?  Thanks if your taking the time to read/answer this!!!!!  Oceanauk x

[bluka]

oceanauk

I too am struggling with this, although for differnt reasons (I have a media player that requires certain types rather than a DVD player)

So far I have got to the point of working out that AVI is the file format which is a "container".  Mpeg4 is a "codec".

Containers can hold various codecs. In your case it sounds like the camcorder is using the mpeg4 codec to compress the file and stores it in an avi container.

As for watching on your DVD player, I would have thought your camcorder would have come with software to burn your files onto a DVD in the correct format for DVD players. Again no expert, but I undestand these are MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 files that converted to DVD structure files .VOB and .ifo

As you have found, this isn't avi or mpeg4 (although newer DVD players are about to start supporting them).

Hope this helps at least a little.

PS just out of interest, I use QuickTime Pro or ImTOO Encoder for conversion of file formats and Nero for DVD burning.

[Thunderchild]

u can use the ad on package nero vision to install program that will take the avi files and make them into mpeg2 in DVD structure and hence play them

[stevie21]

You should be able to easily find software which will convert from avi to mpeg and shouldn't lose any quality at all. My DVD player doesn't play avi files either although it will play mpeg files even if I burn these as plain data discs (or VCD or DVD).

mpeg files are generally larger than avi which is why the latter are common for files which are downloaded.

[alunrw]

An excellent programme to convert one type to another (AVI to Mpeg/Mpeg to Avi/either to DVD) is WinAvi

Heres the info http://www.winavi.com/

[TEAK36]

There are so many different conversion programs available, its confusing.I ended up with several programs which all basically did the same job, but with varying degrees of quality.In the end I purchased Nero from Ebay, and it is the only program I use now.It automatically converts the files during the burning process.