I have used Popcorn 2 in the past for copying dvd discs which I own and have had no problem with this simple task - I insert the disc into my drive, and then drag it onto the popcorn window and everything goes smoothly. However, I have received a movie with a title .avi at the end and would like to know how to copy it onto a dvd disc. It is on the hard drive of my intel iMac not on a disc. Whenever I try to drag the file onto popcorn, I get the message that it not an acceptable image file. I have no technical knowledge of dvd copying except for the simple process I described above. Is there any way I can make a DVD disc copy of this .avi file to view on my TV using my DVD player or do I need a product like Toast?

The AVI needs to be encoded into MPEG 2 format and then authored into a VIDEO_TS folder. Popcorn 2 cannot do that. Popcorn 3 and Toast 6, 7 and 8 can do this.

Thanks tsantee. I assume that the instructions for this procedure are clearly outlined in the newer version of Popcorn and in Toast so that a pitiful novice like me can have success.

It's pretty simple. Add you AVI to the correct setting in Popcorn 3 or Toast, fix up the menu the way you want and burn your DVD (or Save as Disc Image if you want to preview it in DVD Player before burning your disc). One thing you should get is the Perian 1.1 codec available at perian.org. Many AVIs require that codec be installed or you won't have any audio on your DVD.

Thanks again. I do have Perian installed in my System Folder. I must have had a problem viewing some videos in the past with Quicktime and somehow found out about Perian. If I decide to go ahead with a purchase I am leaning toward Toast 8 rather than Popcorn 3 - I suspect that Toast is a more comprehensive product (it costs about twice as much as Popcorn so it must be) . What's your advice regarding Toast vs. Popcorn assuming that I will be doing a bit more work with video/DVD?

Get Toast. It has more capabilities than Popcorn 3 although Popcorn 3 does a few things easier than Toast. Roxio's been sending me emails about super sale prices on Toast 8 lately. So get on their email list and watch for some sales.

Great! I will purchase at the special sale price. Much appreciated.