#1 ·
How to download a movie and prep it for home DVD playback.
Everything listed here is free, with the exception of Nero. Don't get it twisted—they aren't the only options out there, nor are they necessarily the absolute best, but most people use them. It's all a matter of personal preference.
The information provided here is extremely condensed. The goal is simple: to give you a baseline understanding of what tools can actually accomplish.
Everyone wants to download a movie or a series from the web to watch on their home DVD player or PC. These files use compression to shrink the data size for easier downloading.
The Codec is essential. Period.
There are two distinct types of data compression.
Lossless compression is the only way to go. It’s essential for archiving personal footage where you can't afford to lose any file size or quality. Large files, high-end visuals, perfect audio—you need it all preserved exactly as it was recorded.
Lossy compression is just encoding. It creates smaller files that are easier to transfer, though you sacrifice some audio and video quality. To actually view the file, you have to decode it—converting those zeros and ones back into an analog signal so our eyes can see the picture and our ears can hear the sound.
The problem arises when you try to play downloaded material on a home DVD player that lacks support for most modern formats. To ensure compatibility from the start, you must verify that the file is an AVI (Audio Video Interleave) encoded with either a DivX or Xvid codec. Essentially, an AVI contains audio and video split into blocks identified by FourCC. Both audio and video can be compressed—meaning individual frames no longer exist independently—and they require a specific codec to be rendered. Most standard DVD players today come with DivX and Xvid codecs built right in.
PC playback issues are virtually non-existent. If a video won't play, you simply force it to work by installing the correct Codec. If you lack the specific one needed, the only logical solution is downloading a comprehensive bundle like the K-Lite Codec Pack full, Standard, or Basic. Basic covers the essentials, Standard handles the common files, and Full includes everything. Period.
You can download it for free here: Check this link for the K-Lite Codec pack full: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...codec_pack.htm
You can find out which Codec was used to encode a video by using MediaInfo. MediaInfo - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/
Use VLC Media Player instead of a codec.
If you don't want to waste your time messing around with Codec installations, just install one of these players instead. They open almost every format imaginable.
VLC Media Player - Check this link out: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html
SMP—not worth the trouble. Check this link out: http://warnetcyber.blogspot.com/2010...-download.html
VLC Media Player. Use it. Check out http://www.videolan.org/. It works. Use it.
GOM is garbage. Use VLC Media Player instead. Download GMP here: http://www.gomlab.com/eng/GMP_download.html
Where can I download movies and series?
You can hunt down movies using Google or just hit up one of these excellent sites:
Movies. Check this out: http://oneclickmoviez.com/
TV series. Check out this link: http://oneclickseriez.com/. It works.
If we know exactly what we're looking for— Check out http://www.filestube.com/. It works. Look to the right. Select the file type we need—in this case, AVI.
How to join video clips together.
If you're dealing with RAR or ZIP files, just use WinZip to merge them. Simple as that. Check out this link for downloads: http://www.altools.com/Downloads.aspx
If you see files ending in .001, .002, and so on, most systems will mistakenly identify them as RAR archives, which inevitably triggers an error. In those cases, just use HJ Split instead. Check out this link for HJSplit: http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/
Sometimes, an overlay occurs where audio is recorded directly over the original sound track. It happens. The audio is in the wrong language.Sometimes you can strip that second audio track quickly and easily using AVI Trimmer.
Check this out: http://www.solveigmm.com/?Downloads
How to find, add, and edit subtitles.
Where to look?
For movies— Check out this site for subtitles: http://titlovi.com/
For TV series. Check this out: http://www.subtitles-online.com/index.php?selection=series
Important:
The subtitle file must match the video filename exactly. This is mandatory for PC playback and certain DVD players.
The subtitle frame rate must match the movie's FPS exactly.
If you see an SRT extension, that's a clear sign it's meant for a home DVD player.
The original filename is everything. Take "SeriesNameS01E16.HDTV.XviD-LOL" for example. It tells you exactly what you have: Season 1, Episode 16. You need that specific data if you want to sync the correct subtitles. Period. XviD—laughable. The name of the person who encoded the raw footage means we have to hunt down the subtitles ourselves—titlS01E16.HDTV.XviD—laughable..
Pay attention to the FPS—frames per second. It dictates how many frames the video displays every second, like 25 or 30. Most subtitles fail to specify this, which causes those annoying timing shifts. You can fix that using Subtitle Workshop. It's available at - Check this link for downloads: http://www.urusoft.net/downloads.php?lang=1
Recommendations needed. Now. Does the title have an extension? Subtitles. Get them. For watching on a home DVD player, it matters. For the PC, it doesn't.
If we only have access to... Subtitles. Use them. We can do this. Convert to SRT. There are various programs out there, but one stands out for being incredibly small and precise: Subtitle Tool. Check this out: http://www.tomzavodny.cz/program/index_en.php Open the subtitle file in there and just hit play. Determine the frame rate from a video file. Then we save that as an SRT file.
Convert Mexican subtitles to American English.
The program won't capture the actual meaning; it just spits out nonsense. You can manually edit the dictionary to adjust it if you need to switch from American to another dialect.
B3S SubTranslator. Use it. Check out this link: http://blue3systems.wordpress.com/ But first, you need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. Get this: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en.
Automatic subtitle searching. Done.
It is possible using the Sublight program. Download Sublight here: But first, you need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. Get this: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en.
Video repair.
Sometimes the AVI index gets corrupted, making it impossible to seek through a movie. You might be able to fix this error using DivFix++, though it isn't a guaranteed solution. Download link here: http://divfixpp.sourceforge.net/download.php
Movie database.
For organizing your movie and TV show collection—use Personal Video Database. http://www.videodb.info/forum_en/
Converting one video format to another. Done.
If you want to transfer a movie to your phone or convert a YouTube video for DVD playback—or whatever else you can dream up—use Format Factory. Check out this site: http://www.formatoz.com/index.html
DVD burning.
Nero isn't used much anymore. The procedure is basically identical regardless of which burning program you choose.
People get confused because they think watching a movie on a home DVD player requires burning a standard DVD or VCD. That's wrong. If your player supports DivX formats, you simply burn the movies onto a DVD as DATA files. A typical DivX movie is about 700 MB, while a series episode is around 350 MB. You can fit 5 or 6 movies, or roughly 12 episodes of a show, onto a single DVD as Data. When you pop it into your player, the menu will let you choose what to watch. Simple.
This is absolutely CRITICAL. When recording movies and series. We're recording with the absolute minimum possible. It’s usually about the speed. Either 4x or 6x. Pick one. Recording at lower bitrates will ensure better loading speeds. This prevents film stuttering and freezing mid-playback.
Everything listed here is free, with the exception of Nero. Don't get it twisted—they aren't the only options out there, nor are they necessarily the absolute best, but most people use them. It's all a matter of personal preference.
The information provided here is extremely condensed. The goal is simple: to give you a baseline understanding of what tools can actually accomplish.
Everyone wants to download a movie or a series from the web to watch on their home DVD player or PC. These files use compression to shrink the data size for easier downloading.
The Codec is essential. Period.
There are two distinct types of data compression.
Lossless compression is the only way to go. It’s essential for archiving personal footage where you can't afford to lose any file size or quality. Large files, high-end visuals, perfect audio—you need it all preserved exactly as it was recorded.
Lossy compression is just encoding. It creates smaller files that are easier to transfer, though you sacrifice some audio and video quality. To actually view the file, you have to decode it—converting those zeros and ones back into an analog signal so our eyes can see the picture and our ears can hear the sound.
The problem arises when you try to play downloaded material on a home DVD player that lacks support for most modern formats. To ensure compatibility from the start, you must verify that the file is an AVI (Audio Video Interleave) encoded with either a DivX or Xvid codec. Essentially, an AVI contains audio and video split into blocks identified by FourCC. Both audio and video can be compressed—meaning individual frames no longer exist independently—and they require a specific codec to be rendered. Most standard DVD players today come with DivX and Xvid codecs built right in.
PC playback issues are virtually non-existent. If a video won't play, you simply force it to work by installing the correct Codec. If you lack the specific one needed, the only logical solution is downloading a comprehensive bundle like the K-Lite Codec Pack full, Standard, or Basic. Basic covers the essentials, Standard handles the common files, and Full includes everything. Period.
You can download it for free here: Check this link for the K-Lite Codec pack full: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...codec_pack.htm
You can find out which Codec was used to encode a video by using MediaInfo. MediaInfo - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/
Use VLC Media Player instead of a codec.
If you don't want to waste your time messing around with Codec installations, just install one of these players instead. They open almost every format imaginable.
VLC Media Player - Check this link out: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html
SMP—not worth the trouble. Check this link out: http://warnetcyber.blogspot.com/2010...-download.html
VLC Media Player. Use it. Check out http://www.videolan.org/. It works. Use it.
GOM is garbage. Use VLC Media Player instead. Download GMP here: http://www.gomlab.com/eng/GMP_download.html
Where can I download movies and series?
You can hunt down movies using Google or just hit up one of these excellent sites:
Movies. Check this out: http://oneclickmoviez.com/
TV series. Check out this link: http://oneclickseriez.com/. It works.
If we know exactly what we're looking for— Check out http://www.filestube.com/. It works. Look to the right. Select the file type we need—in this case, AVI.
How to join video clips together.
If you're dealing with RAR or ZIP files, just use WinZip to merge them. Simple as that. Check out this link for downloads: http://www.altools.com/Downloads.aspx
If you see files ending in .001, .002, and so on, most systems will mistakenly identify them as RAR archives, which inevitably triggers an error. In those cases, just use HJ Split instead. Check out this link for HJSplit: http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/
Sometimes, an overlay occurs where audio is recorded directly over the original sound track. It happens. The audio is in the wrong language.Sometimes you can strip that second audio track quickly and easily using AVI Trimmer.
Check this out: http://www.solveigmm.com/?Downloads
How to find, add, and edit subtitles.
Where to look?
For movies— Check out this site for subtitles: http://titlovi.com/
For TV series. Check this out: http://www.subtitles-online.com/index.php?selection=series
Important:
The subtitle file must match the video filename exactly. This is mandatory for PC playback and certain DVD players.
The subtitle frame rate must match the movie's FPS exactly.
If you see an SRT extension, that's a clear sign it's meant for a home DVD player.
The original filename is everything. Take "SeriesNameS01E16.HDTV.XviD-LOL" for example. It tells you exactly what you have: Season 1, Episode 16. You need that specific data if you want to sync the correct subtitles. Period. XviD—laughable. The name of the person who encoded the raw footage means we have to hunt down the subtitles ourselves—titlS01E16.HDTV.XviD—laughable..
Pay attention to the FPS—frames per second. It dictates how many frames the video displays every second, like 25 or 30. Most subtitles fail to specify this, which causes those annoying timing shifts. You can fix that using Subtitle Workshop. It's available at - Check this link for downloads: http://www.urusoft.net/downloads.php?lang=1
Recommendations needed. Now. Does the title have an extension? Subtitles. Get them. For watching on a home DVD player, it matters. For the PC, it doesn't.
If we only have access to... Subtitles. Use them. We can do this. Convert to SRT. There are various programs out there, but one stands out for being incredibly small and precise: Subtitle Tool. Check this out: http://www.tomzavodny.cz/program/index_en.php Open the subtitle file in there and just hit play. Determine the frame rate from a video file. Then we save that as an SRT file.
Convert Mexican subtitles to American English.
The program won't capture the actual meaning; it just spits out nonsense. You can manually edit the dictionary to adjust it if you need to switch from American to another dialect.
B3S SubTranslator. Use it. Check out this link: http://blue3systems.wordpress.com/ But first, you need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. Get this: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en.
Automatic subtitle searching. Done.
It is possible using the Sublight program. Download Sublight here: But first, you need to install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. Get this: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en.
Video repair.
Sometimes the AVI index gets corrupted, making it impossible to seek through a movie. You might be able to fix this error using DivFix++, though it isn't a guaranteed solution. Download link here: http://divfixpp.sourceforge.net/download.php
Movie database.
For organizing your movie and TV show collection—use Personal Video Database. http://www.videodb.info/forum_en/
Converting one video format to another. Done.
If you want to transfer a movie to your phone or convert a YouTube video for DVD playback—or whatever else you can dream up—use Format Factory. Check out this site: http://www.formatoz.com/index.html
DVD burning.
Nero isn't used much anymore. The procedure is basically identical regardless of which burning program you choose.
People get confused because they think watching a movie on a home DVD player requires burning a standard DVD or VCD. That's wrong. If your player supports DivX formats, you simply burn the movies onto a DVD as DATA files. A typical DivX movie is about 700 MB, while a series episode is around 350 MB. You can fit 5 or 6 movies, or roughly 12 episodes of a show, onto a single DVD as Data. When you pop it into your player, the menu will let you choose what to watch. Simple.
This is absolutely CRITICAL. When recording movies and series. We're recording with the absolute minimum possible. It’s usually about the speed. Either 4x or 6x. Pick one. Recording at lower bitrates will ensure better loading speeds. This prevents film stuttering and freezing mid-playback.