Problems converting MPEG files into anything else

I've got a bunch of really huge MPEG files on my computer (250MB each, or so) thanks to a TV Tuner card. It's an ATI TV Wonder VE if you care. Anyway, the raw files refuse to be converted into DivX, XVid or 3ivx. I don't know what's up with it, but it's really quite frustrating. I used a trial of Dr.DivX a year ago in an effort to try and get it done fast (I was going to school in a week), but of course it can't be used to edit the videos. So I know the files are perfectly fine, and they still play just fine as well. But neither the files compressed using Dr.DivX nor the MPEG files can be converted at all, which makes editing them particularly difficult . I'm trying to use VirtualDubMod and/or Vidomi (XP Home, not *nix).

Can anyone help me? Is this related to how ATI's Multimedia Center software encodes or the encoder it uses? If so, is there a utility available to fix the problem?

I'm rather frustrated. As it happens, I'm heading back to school in a week, so it's the same frustration as last year. It's not the end of the world if I can't get them all done, as SSH and VNC take care of being able to do it remotely, but I would like to get it fixed.

Thanks

Z

hmm..i have an ATI wonder VE also...i go AVI first then mpeg, or my new fav, WMV9. why your having those problems, i would guess its a codec issue, especially if u have the ACE MEGA codec pack. that totally F'ed my comp up. I use ulead for video EVERYTHING though and its quite costly.

As for your sig, i have OSX.2 running IE For mac, and it shows bart getting punched really really fast.

Seems to be only Mac users see it . . . Problem with the videos is that they're already in MPEG, so getting them into AVI will probably be a problem . . . I can't see why Dr. DivX works and a regular encoder with the DivX plugin doesn't work . . .

Z

if ur going to go MPEG to Divx ....good luck..its gonna take a long time, plus, ive noticed the audio becomes VERY out of sync, plus your losing pic quality.

i go uncompressed at first...do my editing...then compres as a wmv9 or divx...or XviD...delete the AVI...

Boy do I know how long it takes 'Course my computer finally got over 25fps after a reasonable overclock to 2350MHz . . . Now I get closer to 40. Don't know if dual channel would help any, but I've considered it, since 2*128 performs about as well as 1*512. Any thoughts on how to get what I've already got converted?

Z

lol uhh yea, get a friend witha duallie to do it

As I said in my first post, it's not a matter of how long it takes, it's that it WON'T convert. Every program I try to use comes up with an error. I get around 42fps now, which is perfectly fine for me, since I'm not going to be here. I'm just looking for a codec or a different program that will actually work.

Z

hmm...im not sure then....i just use ulead or premeir and dont edit anything..and let it just render...

Have u tried windows movie maker?

get tmpgenc, its by far one of the best video conversion programs on the market. im assuming you just wanna view whatever you capped on the puter since your not gonna burn a vcd with the mpgs, if this is the case you definitely want to get the latest xvid codec (much better that crappy divx, no clue why people still mess with divx) and ac3 audio codec to use with a program like tmpgenc xpress 3.0. you can find full tutorials, link, and help from videohelp.com

Thanks . . . I've been using XVid, actually, but it doesn't work any better than DivX on Vidomi or VirtualDub . . . I'll give it a shot, though. I tried WMM a while ago, but it took way too long to do stuff . . . does it allow a person to use a codec other than wmv?

Z