Hi all, first and foremost great forum. Very informative. Well up to now I've been using ConvertXtoDVD to convert my AVI files into DVD format. But I've noticed that on all of my DVD conversions/burns there is always some sort of pixelation/artifacting, mostly in the particularly dark scenes. Scenes that show the night sky, dark walls, heavy shadows, solid colored walls, etc. I know that once I convert an AVI file into DVD format the quality will be worse than that of the original AVI file, but the artifacting/pixelation that occurs is somewhat unbearable and is very noticeable. I make sure to always use a high quality AVI video source, I'll get my hands on "dvd-rips" for example, and the quality will be severely worsened once burnt to DVD. Particulary the dark scenes, as explained above. There'll be little multi-colored blocks, pixelation, artifacting, etc.

So I'm now looking for an alternative. I'm a newby and I've only tried a handful of programs (ConvertXtoDVD and WinAVI to be precise) and I'm looking for a new alternative. It doesn't have to be an "all-in-one" solution like ConvertXtoDVD and WinAVI are. I don't mind using multiple programs in order to get the best quality possible. But keep in mind I am a newby. Thanks for any and all help, I appreciate it.

Before to change software, I suggest to check your media. Pixellation and playback problems very often are due to a bad burned media.

What discs are you using?

I'm using high quality DVD+R Verbatim disks. I've tried all kinds of media, it still happens.

What burner do you have? What firmware? At what speed are you burning? Also quality media can be bad burned

Anyway, you can use a better mpeg encoder to do these conversions. I suggest TMPGEnc Plus, a very good mpeg encoder. Then you must use an authoring software like TMPGEnc DVD Author to convert the mpeg file into vob, ifo and bup files.

This method is more time consuming, but TMPGEnc is one of the best encoders available.

I have an NEC 2510 burner. I usually burn at 2.4x times, I make sure not to burn the files too quickly to avoid problems.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it. Hopefully I can get more second opinions. Thanks for mentioning that it's time consuming, but that isn't a big deal (as long as it doesn't take a day or two hehe). I just want the best quality possible.

Before to check on other softwares, I suggest to consider again the bad burned media problem.

Burning a disc too slowly can give a coaster.

If you are using verbatim 16x certified media, burning these discs at 2,4x have a high probability to give a bad burned disc.

I suggest to burn at a higher speed. Verbatim 16x discs can be burned with excellent results also @18x, but usually 12x is the better speed for these discs.

Maybe you need also a new burner: I'm not sure that your current one is able to correctly write high speed certified media available in these days

I see. Well I still want to get new software, simply because I want higher quality conversions/burns, but thanks for the other suggestions. In the future I'll be sure to burn at 4x or a speed higher. Getting a new burner is out of the question, so that alternative is out. Can't thank you enough for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it.

You're welcome

As always, second opinions are appreciated.