# AVI file to MPEG **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975 "2003-04-02T15:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/1 "2003-04-02T15:39:27Z")
Is there a way to change a downloaded AVI file to an MPEG file? ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/2 "2003-04-02T16:00:43Z")
Yes, there are software programs available to do this. [Here](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22avi+to+mpg%22&btnG=Google+Search) are some links to some of them. -lv ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/3 "2003-04-02T16:07:01Z")
Depending on _why_ you want to do this, you might want to think about it. If it’s an uncompressed .avi (huuuuuge file size), you’ll almost definitely want to compress it somehow. Converting to .mpg is one way. Also, if you want to make a video CD, it has to be .mpg. However, many .avi’s are now compressed with the .avi extension (DIVX files come to mind), and are much higher quality than mpg with a fairly comparable file size. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/4 "2003-04-02T17:13:05Z")
Step 1: [http://www.dvdrhelp.com/convert](http://www.dvdrhelp.com/convert) ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/5 "2003-04-02T17:41:37Z")
You’ll want to use tmpgenc. It’s a very handy little shareware program. Also, check out [http://www.vcdhelp.com](http://www.vcdhelp.com), for step by step guides on video conversion. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/6 "2003-04-02T22:58:10Z")
Most every format conversion follows this name format: oneformat2anotherformat e.g. AVI2MPG (That’s a real program) Some programs might do it automatically when you make a vcd, like Nero, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/7 "2003-04-02T23:41:41Z")
My wife has an AVI file from Kaaza (sp?) that we want to convert to MPEG so our DVD player can play it. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/8 "2003-04-03T16:50:18Z")
Your dvd player would have to be able to read vcds if you go the cd route & you’d need a dvd writer if you want to put it on a dvd. I would just drag the file to my data window in Nero & Nero should convert it, if its convertable. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/9 "2003-04-03T18:28:17Z")
Try MediaBlaze (run a Yahoo!) search. You get a 15 day trial IIRC. You can’t convert all the avi files from Kazaa. Some are really dodgy, in fact many avi files and mpegs generally are dodgy. I say this as a video editing professional - often I am given a corporate CD to import or convert a video clip to use as part of a feature or news story, and many times it is just impossible. And this is after attempts with several different professional software tools. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avi-file-to-mpeg/165975/10 "2003-04-03T19:43:11Z")
Well, I wouldn’t say “impossible.” I mean, there’s always a way. In a worst-case scenario, you could perhaps play the video on your TV using a video card with RCA or S-Video Out capabilities, record it on a VCR, then capture the VHS tape with a TV card. I would think that if your computer is fast enough, you could even skip the VCR step and play the video and capture it at the same time, but I’ve never tried, so I’m not sure.