dvd burner which compresses?

[iironjade]

I have been using a roxio program in windows that offers the option to compress disc content to fit on a standard dvd disc. I cant seem to find an option in Brasero to do this so was hoping someone would direct me to a program that will do this that I can download.
Thanks
Perry

Brasero is just a burner so it can't compress anything. You need DeVeDe to make a disc image (.iso). DeVeDe has an "adjust disc usage" button which will create the correct size image image. The burn the image to a disc with Brasero. Oh and in addition, Roxio sucks.

[newW2]

Well you can find it in the synaptic package manager .....
or you can try this site:
http://linuxappfinder.com/package/devede

[iironjade]

deeveedee sounds fine could you refer me to a download site that works, I have tried several but cant seem to open the package once i get it, says there is an error while loading the archive. Does this mean it has a problem or does it mean i need to know how to do something tricky?

DeVeDe is available either via Synaptic Package Manager or Mint's own Software Portal. Installing it any other way is often asking for unnecessary trouble.

[iironjade]

Thanks folks for your advice and information I now have a ver that will open. Now i did look at some instructions to operate it but there seems to be a problem in that while i have a disk in the player and it is registering as being, devede is not seeing it.Is there something I need to tweak?

DeVeDe will not do anything with a disc, it just creates a dvd image from your original video file which can then be burnt to a disc with any burner which takes your fancy.

[iironjade]

ok, perhaps I expressed myself poorly. When i looked at the online directions the screen shot shows the 'unsaved structure' has a title and file/s of the target to be copied. I have nothing. How do i get them into this page, or in other words how do I open disk player?

Forget about disc players for now. Assuming you've installed DeVeDe, select the disc type you wish to make, click"ok" and you'll see two panels. The left one will let you create a title by clicking on "properties", the right on will let you add your file. Click on "add" and you'll see a panel with a bar at the top labelled "none" and with a file icon at the far right. Click on the icon and find your file (make sure you know where it is firs)t, click open, click ok and repeat until you've added all you need. if it's too much for the disc, click "adjust disc usage" to fit it all in. There are other buttons which will let you change menu, tv standard or add subtitles (you can explore those at your leisure) but the defaults are usually ok. Click "forward" and select a place to create the image (desktop is usually the best) and the conversion will begin. It will take a while..
When it's complete, right click on it and pick a burning application.

[iironjade]

Hi thanks very much for this, I just did a dry run and think i understand how it works now. I cant understand why the site I looked at claimed this didnt need any real instruction. When you're used to programs written for MS one gets used to things just working (or not). Just out of curiosity however you mentioned in an earlier post that Roxio 'sucked.' Generally speaking It did all, or most of what devede does a lot simpler and quicker. The only thing i can think of that is a drawback is that it doesn't burn slow enough. What other advantages does it have?
But this is in no way a complaint or criticism of your taking the time to explain the procedure to me, thank you very much, I do appreciate your patience.
Perry

The very first dvd burner (for Windows XP) I bought came bundled with Roxio. It was usable but slow and badly laid out, but the main drawback was that whenever I came to use it again it wouldn't recognise the burner without reinstalling. The novelty of that wore off quite quickly, believe me. When I complained to the burner makers they said they also thought Roxio was rubbish and sent me a free copy of Nero. As a result I wouldn't wish Roxio on anyone although I know some people love it.
The Linux Mint applications are much less complicated and give better results than any of the commercial programs. Even Linux Nero is rubbish: it only burns and doesn't convert. Even at £13 it's overpriced.
The Windows applications do allow you to create fancier menus etc. but I'm not bothered about that, so DeVeDe, Brasero and/or K3b are perfect.
It's true that you do need a while to get into the Linux way of things but Mint is about as close to Windows as we're likely to get and some of its free stuff is much better the MS versions.
Any more problems please ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

[iironjade]

Thanks for this, interesting. Yes I quite agree with you re nero. Roxio, or at least the roxio i have has actually been OK for me, basic little program that it is. Possibly my problems have been less with Roxio, which 'generally' works quite efficiently, but perhaps more with dvd43 which i have been using as a de-encypt device. Generally this works well too, but is not infallible, there seem to be a very wide range of encryption programs and poor little dvd 43 isn't quite up to all of them. And yes the 'linux way' is considerably different, and I am really toying with it at the moment using a dual boot with XP. I figure once xp goes the way 98 went I will no longer play with MS. So I realise that its a matter of perseverance.
I do have another project that i could do with some advice on - recording from input radio, record, tape. Any suggestions for a program?
Thanks for your input.
Perry

Never done any of those so I can't say but if you're going to put VHS on to dvd I'd suggest buying a dvd recorder rather than faffing with a pc. It's much less stressful.
There are various add-ons for Firefox which allow you to download, convert and record audio and video. Download Helper and the associated Ask toolbar might be of some use.