Converting AVI files to MPEG

[arceeguy]

Is there a tool built into Windows XP that will convert AVI files to VCD or DVD compliant MPEG1 or MPEG2 files?

If not, what is the best software package that will do the task.

(I'm finally sitting down and editing some videos)

[Minion]

The BEST you can get is Adobe Premiere. I have to warn you though, it's hard to learn. I'm still learning it myself.

[TheJANG]

XP's Windows Movie Maker seems to only save WMV's, from what I can see.

I personally use and recommend Sonic Foundry's Vegas, having bounced off of Premiere's slowness and limited abilities several times. It's quite expensive, though. Unfortunately I don't know the reasonably-priced segment of the market at all.

[MetalMan]

I did a search on the internet for "AVI to MPEG", and found a free avi-mpg or mpg-avi converter. Forgot the name though, no longer need the software.

[bubba069]

Take a look here, http://www.boilsoft.com/ , they got just about every thing you are prolly looking to do and a pile cheaper than Adobe Premiere

[SuperPede111]

I'm downloading a file converter right now...but i'm not sure if i'm gonna have to pay for it or if it's free...you might want to do a search on www.sourceforge.net

[arceeguy]

Yup - Movie Maker will only render AVI's to WMV files. (makes sense, given where it comes from)

Premiere is just too darned expensive for the hobbyist like myself. Luckily, I found that my FireWire card came with ULEAD Video Studio - which can compress to VCD or DVD compliant MPEG files.

Thanks for the responses!