Mpeg Encoder For Converting Avi To Mpeg

hi everyone what's the best software for encoding avi movie files to mpeg..... need your help......

TMPGEnc seems to be the best in my opinion

the best i believe is tmpgenc it strictly converts to mpeg not directly to vcd,svcd or dvd...it takes a little getting use to but it has worked with every avi i have tried.. xvid,svcd to vcd etc it needs a little tweaking now and then to use certain file types but it works great... try doing a search about it on dvdrhelp for it and check out the guides on this link...

I also used the software u mentioned for converting my movie.. But it says that it will take a day to complete for a 700MB movie file...... is it true?????????? and when i stopped the encoding in the middle to see how the quality was. I opened the file in real player and then the movie came out perfectly but without any sound.......????? why help please..........