I've recently built a new PC and re-installed all the usual stuff: Nero, TMPGENC etc, etc. and I'm having loads of problems converting .avi files to VCD's.
Using TMPGENC, I choose to create a NTSC VCD, select the avi or xvid (approx 1hr, 700mb) then hit next and it is estimating the file size to be 2167mb !!! It is also stating the original file info to be 216 mins !
What's happening here, am I missing something simple?

I can't even get much joy with Nero. It encodes the file OK but more often than not it freezes at 6%....

I would appreciate any help with either of these.

Cheers !

Can anyone help me??

If you haven't yet got them , get Gspot or Video Inspector. These will give more detailed info about the avi file.
I've had this situation before, only once or twice, & I'm not to sure just how I got around it. You could probably load the file into VirtualDub & trim either the start or end of the file if that's what's causing the problem and resave it or do the same editing in Tmpgenc.
Try the AVI repair program found at this link - it might help although I've not tried it myself - just now found it on Google (avi header problem) - http://www.pk3.org/Astro/index.htm?software_utils.htm

Webrits,

Tim-C is right, G-Spot is spectacular to start, helps with seeing if a video is "corrupt" and where (audio or video). I religiously use WinAVI Video Convert (http://www.winavi.com)....It is forgiving, fast and versatile (many file types)...Not quite as many settings as other converters when going to DVD, just what you need. 1) Go to www.winavi.com/codec.html to resolve the excluded DVD/SVCD filter (not included in download) 2) Put it in \filter directory of WinAVI installation. In options, "Enabled DirectAC3" is default checked. Uncheck this (although it still encodes in AC3...). I used to have problems w/ audio and video being out of sync, but this seems to resolve issue. I also use a program called Video ReDo to cut/recompile (VERY FAST), yet VideoRedo is GREAT for previewing your .vobs and .mpgs (VCD/SVCDs).

IMPORTANT TO KNOW: When using WinAVI to convert anytype to DVD/SVCD/VCD/MPEG-1 or 2, you can convert by desired size (u CAN split if desired), or by desired quality (u can also split here). With VCD/SVCD you can choose desired quality (Highest, higher, medium, lower, lowest). Medium comes out to usually less than original filesize, higher=same or bigger, highest=a little to quite a bit more than original. Test it out (it's a fast program) and c what's best for your desired size output. The only reason I say not to use desired fit/size option is because I got some "skippy" results. I was using a laptop at the time, you just have to test it. I have used both options on my current machine and have had great results all around (just uncheck the Enabled DirectAC3!!).

Hope this helps!

TMPGEnc hates VBR audio and will often react as you describe. Not the only possible cause, but very likely. It's advisable to extract the audio to WAV first and use that as the audio input to TMPGEnc. (Also make sure Direct Show has top priority in VFAPI Settings).

Open the file in VirtualDub (it may complain about the audio, click OK). Then: Audio -> Full Processing Mode
File -> Save WAV

Only takes a few minutes. Consider the other suggestions above also. Good luck.

This is worth your time:

http://www.videohelp.com/tmpgenc.htm#problems

>>> then hit next and it is estimating the file size to be 2167mb !!! It is also stating the original file info to be 216 mins !

If the input AVI were not corrupt, this would non be absurd at all. A minute of mpeg-1 (VCD) becomes 10 MB large (80' VCD movie - 800 MB - fit on a 80' CD-R), therefore 216' --> 2167 MB is perfectly correct. You'll have to split the file in 3 files/CD-Rs: movie_CD1.mpg, movie_CD2.mpg, movie_CD3.mpg.
The problem is the transformation 1 hr AVI --> 216' mpeg.