Convert .SMI / .SMIL files to DVD / MPEG (I want to capture a stream from a DVD)

Hi,
I downloaded WM 11 thinking it would be able to capture the Real Player .smi stream from a dvd.

It would only capture from the net which surprised me.

Is there a program which can capture .smi from a dvd to my hard drive ???

stable.

What's the reason of capturing files from a DVD when you can just copy them to your HD???

Hi,
I received a dvd which our meditation centre watches.

Only someone has to bring in their computer and set it up as the dvd has real player .smi files.

I want to capture the stream from the dvd and then covert to mpeg.

I tried saving the real player file to my comp (by using realplayer save file option) to convert it but it saves as an empty folder !
Even looking for "all files" it seems empty.

If i check the properties it says there is 300mb in the folder but i can't convert what my Xilisoft program or
Nero can't see.

So i thought i could capture then convert so we can watch the mpeg on the dvd player.

The dvd is my only source.

Is there a .smi capture program that can source from dvd or is there another way of going about it?

thanks,
stable.

Usually to convert Real Media files to MPEG you may use the following software:

1. Video converter to convert Real Media files to MPEG

2. DVD burning software that can burn Real Media files to DVD directly.

In your case it really depends on what kind of .smi files you have.
Usually .smi files are simple text files describing audio/video stream and subtitles sources. You may try to open them with a text editor to make sure this is your case.

If your .smi files have links to Real Video files only, then you're lucky 'coz you can simply use the 2 ways described above.

If they also link to subtitles that you wanna see on a DVD, then you should use screen capture software to capture from the Real Player.

I've also seen .smi files that were actually .rm files with wrong extension. Such files can be safely renamed to .rm files for the latter video conversion. And they can be easily ditinguished from .smi text files by the file size. Text files are usually of a size less than 1 kb.

Hi Stream Recorder,
Thanks for the informative reply.
I solved the problem of recording the .smi files by first playing them in Real Player and then burning them to cd( a hard drive option is not available)
From the cd i was able to use as a source for xilisoft and start converting to mpeg2.
There were a bunch of options i wasn't familiar with such as bit rate, resolution, and others, i did a google search and gave it my best shot.
My dual core cpu's were running at 100% so conversion pushes the present technology to the limit!

The conversioin was still taking place at 12.30 midnight so i aborted it, the two .rm files had expanded to 850 mb in mpeg2 format each by that time.
I tried playing the incomplete, aborted versions using PowerDVD and they did play ! though with skips, the picture and sound were good!
I guess 1.5 hours og mpeg2 would turn into 1.6GB ??

I will try again today.


stable.

Originally Posted by stable

I solved the problem of recording the .smi files by first playing them in Real Player and then burning them to cd

Sorry, I didn't really get why were you playing them and then burning to a CD.

Originally Posted by stable

I guess 1.5 hours of mpeg2 would turn into 1.6GB ??

Usually a 4.7 Gb DVD-Video Disc has up to 2 hours of MPEG-2 video. But I've seen more than 4 hours of video on such a disc, so it really needs some testing to be done to get the quality you need.

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

Sorry, I didn't really get why were you playing them and then burning to a CD.

That was how i could turn the .smi into .rm as the saved playing file becomes .rm.
The .rm i can convert to mpeg2.

Usually a 4.7 Gb DVD-Video Disc has up to 2 hours of MPEG-2 video. But I've seen more than 4 hours of video on such a disc, so it really needs some testing to be done to get the quality you need.

That gives me a ballpark figure to work out the quality and size of the finished file ! , thanks.