[PK72]

I am on Leopard OSX, latest. I want to burn movie DVDs. Which is why I am trialing Toast.

I care about subtitles, so right now, I am using ffmpeg to encode AVI files and the subtitles found on sites like subscene[dot]com, and then I take the encoded mpeg file and "Toast" it. But:

1. This takes a lot of time, approx 2 hours or so, between ffmpeg encoading, and then toasting.
2. The ffmpeg thing adds stupid borders around the entire picture, so it's not full screen.

So I wanted to ask - on Mac oSX what is a good way to burn movies into DVD movies? I have the AVI or Divx movies on my hard drive which is what my mactheripper does with my DVD movies. I just want a simple way to put those videos in a widescreen format along with subtitles. Why is this so difficult?

Thanks for any pointers!

[pseudonym]

See here:
http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=35597

I believe Toast 9 behaves the same way as Toast 8 in this respect.

[PK72]

Thanks. I will try to make it as that. I do have perian installed. But another problem: how can I get Toast to burn a DVD in *exactly* the aspect ration and video quality as I see it on my iMac? The DVDs that Toast is burning are pathetic in quality. When I just play the AVI file on my 24inch iMac, the subtitles show up vividly and the colors are superb. But the Toasted DVD has very weird aspect ratio (squished picture) and the quality seems to take a beating. I have checked the preferences and found nothing to this effect -- what do I need to change? It's taking me nearly 2 hours to burn a DVD and when it comes out subpar, it's a waste of time and a DVD each time. Thanks for any pointers!

[pseudonym]

Whenever I am experimenting to see what kind of conversion will produce the best results, I always use a DVD-RW or DVD+RW for testing.
To tell the truth, if you have a decent quality avi or DivX file, you are better off leaving it alone. You cannot improve your movie through conversion. Instead, consider a Phillips DVD player that can play DivX files (and will most often load the subtitles as well).

My 2 cents on the subject.

[ReiMan]

I'm sorry, but I have tried every which way to make this work. I am using Toast 9 and I installed Perian but do not see where it is making any difference. What is it supposed to do? I have tried converting it to a DivX file and played it in Quicktime. I have burned it three times - twice as an .avi file and once as a DivX file -- and no subtitles.

What am I missing here?