DVD to AVI

[cpres]

Hello to everyone. I am new to this forum and a semi new user to DVDFab. What I am trying to do is figure out the best method to use to convert my DVD to AVI and place them on my Tivo. I don't need anything very high quality since I am still running on a standard def TV, but I want something decent.
I was until recently using another program, and the biggest problem I ran into was the movies are of course formatted for 16:9 and my TV is 4:3 so they were quite distorted.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
As a side note, I have a AVI to Tivo converter so these files don't necessary need to be Tivo ready.

[ChillyK]

@cpres ... forget about AVIs for the TiVo (actually, forget about that container for anything).

The only format a non-hacked TiVo can play are the TiVo-compliant MPEG-2 files (i.e. VOBs within specific parameters - Google for details).

Basically, you need TiVo Desktop Plus (the paid version) to stream and encode on the fly from your Mac/PC. I have a friend that does this and it works really well over a good, wired network (I threw *my* TiVo in the trash, because I think streaming / encoding-on-the-fly is kitty wampus).

Tivo Desktop Plus will re-encode on-the-fly from:
Windows Media Video (.wmv)
QuickTime Movie (.mov)
MPEG-4/H.264 (.mp4,.m4v,.mp4v)
MPEG-2 (.mpg,.mpeg,.mpe,.mp2,.mp2v,.mpv2)
DivX and Xvid (.avi, .divx)

However, you should convert for MP4 (i.e. h.264) using default DVDFab settings for your file and MPEG-4). Those will yield the best quality and sound for the size (they will be about 1/3 the size of a DVD and will look and sound great).

And, when you get sick of TiVo, your files will have the greatest portability.