Converting MPEG-2 to DVD video losslessly?

I have a number of large MPEG-2 format movie files on my hard drive
which were downloaded from archive.org. I would like to burn these as
video DVDs so I can watch them on a standalone DVD player. What I'd
like to do is one file per disc without any menus.

It's my understanding that MPEG-2 format files can be converted to
video DVD files without quality loss. Is that correct? If so, how does
one do it? Are there any good freeware apps that can do this?

TIA

"Igor" <nospam@donotreply.net> wrote in message
news:1v39e4pic1v39glim4r8vrr61344k08upb@4ax.com...
>I have a number of large MPEG-2 format movie files on my hard drive
> which were downloaded from archive.org. I would like to burn these as
> video DVDs so I can watch them on a standalone DVD player. What I'd
> like to do is one file per disc without any menus.
>
> It's my understanding that MPEG-2 format files can be converted to
> video DVD files without quality loss. Is that correct? If so, how does
> one do it? Are there any good freeware apps that can do this?
>
> TIA



dvd IS mpeg 2.



--
Gareth.

that fly...... is your magic wand....

On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:27:09 +0100, "The dog from that film you saw"
<dsb@removethisbitbtinternet.com> wrote:

>dvd IS mpeg 2.

So what do I actually *do* with the .mpeg file to turn it into a
playable DVD? Rename the extension to .vob? What about the .ifo and
..bup files that are usually produced when you rip a DVD? Are those
necessary?

BTW, you were great in that film I saw.

"Igor" <nospam@donotreply.net> wrote in message
news:45fbe415fthe4jt8a56s10ha5pua8d8iq4@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:27:09 +0100, "The dog from that film you saw"
> <dsb@removethisbitbtinternet.com> wrote:
>
>>dvd IS mpeg 2.
>
> So what do I actually *do* with the .mpeg file to turn it into a
> playable DVD? Rename the extension to .vob? What about the .ifo and
> .bup files that are usually produced when you rip a DVD? Are those
> necessary?
>
> BTW, you were great in that film I saw.


You have to use a DVD Authoring program like VSO ConvertXtoDVD, this creates
the menu's etc and creates the IFO and BUP files etc. Look up DVD authoring
programs

On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:18:29 GMT, "Netmask" <netmask@catlover.com>
wrote:

>
>"Igor" <nospam@donotreply.net> wrote in message
>news:45fbe415fthe4jt8a56s10ha5pua8d8iq4@4ax.com.. .
>> On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:27:09 +0100, "The dog from that film you saw"
>> <dsb@removethisbitbtinternet.com> wrote:
>>
>>>dvd IS mpeg 2.
>>
>> So what do I actually *do* with the .mpeg file to turn it into a
>> playable DVD? Rename the extension to .vob? What about the .ifo and
>> .bup files that are usually produced when you rip a DVD? Are those
>> necessary?
>>
>> BTW, you were great in that film I saw.
>
>
>You have to use a DVD Authoring program like VSO ConvertXtoDVD, this creates
>the menu's etc and creates the IFO and BUP files etc. Look up DVD authoring
>programs
>

I already own a couple of DVD authoring programs. The problem is, they
seem to re-encode the video, which takes time, degrades quality, and
shouldn't even be necessary with an MPEG-2 source file.

"Igor" <nospam@donotreply.net> wrote in message
news:39dee45nf7irga2dtt3s318kfe1nablrmn@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:18:29 GMT, "Netmask" <netmask@catlover.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Igor" <nospam@donotreply.net> wrote in message
>>news:45fbe415fthe4jt8a56s10ha5pua8d8iq4@4ax.com. ..
>>> On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 17:27:09 +0100, "The dog from that film you saw"
>>> <dsb@removethisbitbtinternet.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>dvd IS mpeg 2.
>>>
>>> So what do I actually *do* with the .mpeg file to turn it into a
>>> playable DVD? Rename the extension to .vob? What about the .ifo and
>>> .bup files that are usually produced when you rip a DVD? Are those
>>> necessary?
>>>
>>> BTW, you were great in that film I saw.
>>
>>
>>You have to use a DVD Authoring program like VSO ConvertXtoDVD, this
>>creates
>>the menu's etc and creates the IFO and BUP files etc. Look up DVD
>>authoring
>>programs
>>
>
> I already own a couple of DVD authoring programs. The problem is, they
> seem to re-encode the video, which takes time, degrades quality, and
> shouldn't even be necessary with an MPEG-2 source file.

The MPEG files must conform strictly to the VOB standards then for instance
if the audio track is say an ac3 and the bitrate conforms to the standard,
then VSO ConvertXtoDVD will make a stream copy of the audio. If the video is
also conforming the processing will not be as complex but it will still
have to re-encode to accommodate several audio tracks, subtitles and
graphics...even if they are not used in your case etc. So there simply isn't
a lossless way to convert any file to DVD format.... some processing is
inevitable

On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:08:08 GMT, "Netmask" <netmask@catlover.com>
wrote:

>The MPEG files must conform strictly to the VOB standards then for instance
>if the audio track is say an ac3 and the bitrate conforms to the standard,
>then VSO ConvertXtoDVD will make a stream copy of the audio. If the video is
>also conforming the processing will not be as complex but it will still
>have to re-encode to accommodate several audio tracks, subtitles and
>graphics...even if they are not used in your case etc. So there simply isn't
>a lossless way to convert any file to DVD format.... some processing is
>inevitable

So then the question becomes, Which authoring programs do the least
amount of processing possible? Any suggestions?

"Igor" <nospam@donotreply.net> wrote in message
news:8edje4hbvcn2l6cm5rt86md5f35bc3srtu@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:08:08 GMT, "Netmask" <netmask@catlover.com>
> wrote:
>
>>The MPEG files must conform strictly to the VOB standards then for
>>instance
>>if the audio track is say an ac3 and the bitrate conforms to the
>>standard,
>>then VSO ConvertXtoDVD will make a stream copy of the audio. If the video
>>is
>>also conforming the processing will not be as complex but it will still
>>have to re-encode to accommodate several audio tracks, subtitles and
>>graphics...even if they are not used in your case etc. So there simply
>>isn't
>>a lossless way to convert any file to DVD format.... some processing is
>>inevitable
>
> So then the question becomes, Which authoring programs do the least
> amount of processing possible? Any suggestions?

You are asking in effect "how long is a piece of string that's scattered all
over the floor" who knows? in otherwords it all depends on how accurately
each MPEG file conforms or departs to the DVD standard how any particular
software is going to react to a particular file. Actually questions that
start of with "what is the best or the least ........should be ignored as
they a meaningless everyone will have a legitimate opinion. You just have to
make a strategic decision based on your needs after some trial and error
experiments. For material like you describe from archive.org or DVB-T etc I
use ConvertXtoDVD and it gives me the results I'm happy with. Generally the
processing time is 1 hour.

If I'm doing a professional job ie being paid I use DVDLabPro with all the
bells and whistle, menus and backgrounds etc.

The one program I would never use again is NeroVisionExpress - IMO takes too
long, buggy, and quality not good.

MY advice is EXPERIMENT and find your own solution.