What am I looking for?

[ZombieFriedNuts]

Hello people I would like to convert mpeg and wmv files into what ever format it is that DVD’s use (so it can be played a DVD player) so I have three questions:
1) What is the format that DVDs use?
2) What type of program am I actually looking for a DVD encoder or a file converter or something like that
3) If you could recommend something I would be grateful

I did do a search but as you can see I don’t actually know what I’m looking for.

All hale you

[R'as al Ghul]

1. DVD's use the DVD format.
It depends on what your DVD-player is capable of. Mine can play divx, xvid, mp4, mpeg, avi's, mp3's, etc. No real need for conversion, just burn the files on a dvd and play it. Most players should be able to play at least mpg/mpeg.

2. If you want to create a real DVD from your files you need a DVD-authoring program. Here's a list of manuals and tools: http://www.videohelp.com/author
The site will answer all your questions, including conversion of wmv to something suitable.

3. You're welcome

[Blodrast]

Is this an actual DVD player, or do you mean DVD player as in a software package that plays DVDs ?
The standard for DVD players is, IIRC, mpeg2 with certain specifications.
There are DVD players that have some codecs, and will play divx and other formats as well, but not all DVD players support that.
However, for software DVD players, you can play anything you want as long as you get the proper codecs.

You don't necessarily need an authoring tool.
If you already have the movies/files in wmv and whatever format, you need a converter to convert them to whatever format you want, and then a dvd burning program to actually put them on a dvd.
For burning, you can use Nero (most popular, I guess), but most programs that can burn data DVDs will also be able to burn movie DVDs.
For converting, one of the most powerful tools is probably Vdub (Virtual Dub) - it's free and open source.

[ZombieFriedNuts]

Ok thanks for that, it is a actual DVD player, not DVD software .

[Ja'chyra]

I use NERO and it gives the option of creating an audio/video DVD for use with players or a data type DVD which can be used on the PC, I'm sure most programmes will do something similar.