avi converter
 

Ok being the cheap bastard that i am im looking for a free program to convert avi files to mpeg files. Seen a ton of free trials but none that stay free. I get the feeling this is the sort of software that people would stick a virus in as well so i dont really want to just guess and try them randomly and install who knows what on the computer. Have a few music videos and stuff like that that i would like to have on dvd. Any suggestions would be a great help.

Wow, there are lots these days. I usually use Nero. It's fast and easy, and the quality is good enough for the few jobs I do in this direction.

TMPEGEnc still does a better job. The current eval is limited to 14 days. Earlier versions would work perpetually if you somehow forgot to let your clock advance.

i have always hated nero never done a very good job at anything but crashing. And having just 14 days is kinda annoying. would be nice to have one that would last.

Hey, I don't go that direction too often. Nero recode does it when I need it and has yet to crash on me.

TMPEGEnc is very commercial, high-quality stuff. You can put together free combinations of tools but they won't be obvious. Lots of stuff out there at the $29 point. I'm not current enough on them to compare.