actually, SVCD is MPEG2...

and yes pooh74, .avi files will not play on most all DVD players, unless you have one capable of playing divx files, which do exist...you will also need to check what your DVD player does play, as many do NOT play SVCD files, only VCD (which is of much lower resolution)

as for DVD format, you will need to convert to said format before you burn..as Aaron has tried to suggest, check out http://www.videohelp.com/ , that is where I learned a hell of a lot about video files and how to deal with them