was thinking about trying Haiku for the first time, and wanted to know if they are any programs for converting an avi file into a dvd?
I do not think that there is a program in Haiku to do that yet. There is a program for Linux (and obviously Windows and Mac).
If you are looking for software you can look at:
http://www.bebits.org
http://www.haikuware.com
You have to convert the avi file to a mpeg2 file…
I think the Mediaconverter can do that…
but not sure because there are not all video decoders available at the moment.
They have to be compiled for Haiku first.
I believe b-moggie does what you want but it doesn’t work properly on Haiku.
There are programs to rip dvd & to convert from one video format to another,
ie: dvdrip, handbrake, mediaconverter, etc.
I haven’t had the chance to really test out dvdrip & handbrake on Haiku but I believe they work.
Why would you like to do that anyway? The conversion will give you a bigger file with worse quality than the original and most DVD-players support avi files any way. Waste of time and space imo, just burn the avi to the dvd directly without converting it.
AVI is just a container - it doesn’t dictate the codec used for audio/video.
I highly doubt most DVD players can play an AVI encoded as DivX for example.
Almost every DVD player sold in the past years decodes MP4 (divx,xvid,etc.). Only if you’ve got a quite old device, you’re in trouble with e.g. xvid avis. Of more concern could be if a standard compliant video DVD (with vobs, ifos etc.) isn’t the saver bet for the future.
OTOH, in 10 years, if there are any DVD playing devices around and would still know how to play MP4 or MP2, could it read your old, decaying DVD-R… 
Concluding to the problem at hand: I don’t really see a need to convert (MP4) avi to (MP2) video dvd. If your player can’t handle MP4 dvds, get another one (alongside it, if you want) for 40 EUR.
Regards,
Humdinger
[quote=umccullough]AVI is just a container - it doesn’t dictate the codec used for audio/video.
I highly doubt most DVD players can play an AVI encoded as DivX for example.[/quote]
I know very well that avi is container format, (a bad one too, mkv is way more flexible and useful) but 99% of all avi’s are encoded as divx/xvid wich are supported by allmost all DVD-players. Even the cheapest DVD-players support divx/xvid avi’s without problem.