I have a DVD player that will play .mpg, DivX, and .mp4 files. Unfortunately, though it is a pretty capable little unit (it is also a SD set top box) the documentation is a bit sparse.
Can anyone advise me how to put multiple .mp4, or .mpg files on to a DVD. With compact formats like mp4 it seems wasteful to use a DVD per file.
If it plays DivX will it also play Xvid?
So is there a DVD authoring app which can work with DivX, .mpg, .mp4, and avi files?

I'm not sure, if I understand.
Why don't you burn multiple files into DVD, if your DVD player can play straight video files?

Hi Broni,
Yes I see why you don't understand, the question was a tad vague. I will be more specific and hopefully that will be clearer.
Example: I have 6 episodes of a TV series, in mp4. Total file size is 1.44gb. When converted to VOB with ConvertXtoDVD the resulting file is 3.86gb. Sure it will fit on a single DVD, but it has more than doubled the file size.
Part of the advantage of formats like DivX, mp4, compressed avi etc is small file size, and you can fit more on a DVD. So if I subsequently have a TV series of, say 12 episodes, and save as mp4, the resulting file size would allow the files to fit on one DVD. After conversion to VOB that may no longer be the case. DVD Shrink could make them fit, but squashing compressed files ... I am not sure if that is a good idea.
What I want to do is preserve the smaller file size, and author the DVD so that I have a menu, can choose episodes, and so forth.
I will contact the player's support line once the working week begins, in the mean time I was hoping a DAL user, (or mod!) could suggest an app or method of authoring a DVD with the mp4 files.

Why don't you burn multiple files into DVD, if your DVD player can play straight video files?

The player's specs say it will play mp4, so do you mean just copy the files to DVD? If yes, then what app to do this? Nero, which I have? It has a menu item "Make your own DVD Video."
I am relatively new to dealing with video files, and still pretty easily baffled. There are so many possibilities to choose from.
Anyway, I hope that is clearer.

The player's specs say it will play mp4, so do you mean just copy the files to DVD? If yes, then what app to do this?

You have to burn mp4 as data DVD, not video DVD (assuming your DVD player will play straight mp4).
Use CDBurnerXP and select "Data disc" (1st choice).
When you out it into your DVD player, you'll see a list of files, like in Windows Explorer folder and you can select a file using your DVD player remote.

Note. Some players use DOS code (8+3), so, if you have movies with longer titles, make sure, you rename them before burning.
Say, you have:
Very nice movie ep.1
Very nice movie ep.2

Rename them to:
1Very nice movie ep.1
2Very nice movie ep.2

Not sure what is happening here.
I downloaded the app (I like it, compact and does the job, no bloat like Scout, back up or wave editor, thanks), however no joy.
I tried the files as they were, and did not finalise the disk. Then tried them as they were and finalised the disk. Next I tried renaming them in 8.3 format (using mp4 as the 3 part).
Each of these resulted in the same "Unknown Disc" response.
Having wasted 3 discs I think I will phone the manufacturer's help line tomorrow and see what they suggest.
When I have news I will make another post.
Thanks for your help Broni, as ever it is appreciated.

Hey, no problem
Let me know, I'm curious...

Hi Broni,
Stuff to report.
I have just spoken to the manufacturer's help line, it appears that I need to use DVD+ disc. I have been using DVD-. So ... I need to go shopping. Otherwise your instructions were correct, it needs to be a data disc.
Oddly enough, I recently googled to find out what the difference was between DVD+ and DVD- discs. Compatibility seemed to be the major issue cited, but I don't recall anything as specific as the problem I have been having.
A quick look at a couple of websites shows that these are available, and something I did not think we would ever see, dual layer blank dics are now out there. Bit pricey, but all things new are.
I will go shopping, try the + discs and post with my results. I feel like I am half way there.

Keep me posted

Progress of a sort.
Even using DVD+R I get no joy with the mp4 files, it still reads "unknown disc"
With the avi files I got just the response that you described, which is to say that a list of files was displayed. As I only copied one file to the "experimental" disc I did not select which file, but it did display what was on the disc, and it played the file, so I assume if there was a choice it would have displayed them all.
Although the specs for the machine say it plays mp4, mpg, and Divx it displayed avi as the file type and seemed happy to play the file. The files I have read "filename DivX Xvid.avi. As I said I get confused over this issue of "containers" but now I just need to see if there is something that will convert mp4 to avi. Any suggestions, and is this a bad idea? All the audiophiles say not to convert from one lossy format to another, does this hold for compressed video formats? I TOLD you I was a neophyte.
I will call the support line tomorrow (they are all in their pyjamas atm) and try to find a method of playing the mp4 files, but I am happy with it playing avi as that is the more commonly encountered of the two. And after looking at the Wikipedia page for mp4 I got a headache.

I just need to see if there is something that will convert mp4 to avi. Any suggestions, and is this a bad idea? All the audiophiles say not to convert from one lossy format to another, does this hold for compressed video formats?

Let me know, what you'll find out from your 2nd phone call, but meanwhile...
Yes, you can surely convert almost any type video file to any other type.
Obviously, the most popular format is AVI and I converted all kind of other file types to AVI, since my standalone DVD player will play straight AVI only.

I went through number of converters and as for my final findings, you have two choices:
- free Media Coder: MediaCoder - more than a universal audio/video transcoder - MediaCoder official website
- not free Any Video Converter: Any Video Converter Pro - iPod video Converter, Video to iPod, video to PSP, MP4 converter, AVI Converter
I use the latter one and honestly, I don't see any quality change after conversion