im sorry if this is stupid, but is a mpeg1 the same thing as a vcd? and is mpeg2 the same as svcd?? so will i be able to burn a mpeg1 or mpeg2 file on a cd-r and be able to see it on a vcd supported dvd player?
No, it's not a stupid question. Yes, MPEG-1 is the standard .MPG format for VCDs that all PC can watch (e.g. with WMP or BSPlayer), and MPEG-2 is used in SVCDs and DVDs (but its name on DVDs is .VOB instead of .MPG) and can be watched by PCs only if they have a special software installed (PowerDVD? I never tried it).
Therefore, making VCDs with MPEG-1 files and SVCDs with MPEG-2 ones is the best, quickest thing. Alas, TMPGenc cannot load MPEG-2 files (I find its M2V plugin lousy with respect to the final movie quality) so if you need to modify them (e.g. to add subtitles, to clip screen) it's another issue, but making a plain (S)VCD with them it's the easiest way to do (VCDGear is able to detect if the file is of the right type and will give you a warning if you want to make a VCD image starting from a MPEG-2 file).
About 'watching them', SVCD have only this problem: not all DVD players support SVCD format (all of them support VCD format). I'm not able to list all DVD players that support SVCDs, just try with one. If you need to make a MPEG-1 from a MPEG-2 file, the easiest way I know is:
1) load the file with Virtualdub-MPEG2 ( http://fcchandler.home.comcast.net/stable/index.html )
2) Save it as AVI (use DivX or Xvid multipass and you won't lose quality - you need at least one of these good codecs).
3) convert the Virtualdub's output AVI to a MPEG-1 Video-CD (PAL/NTSC) with TMPGenc
If you need to merge the two MPEG-1 you create (because MPEG-1 movies need less CDs then MPEG-2 movies) you can use TMPGenc's ----> MPEG Tools --> Merge & Cut (use as type: MPEG-1 Video-CD).
Hi.
I am totally confused about VCD creation..
I have a avseq01.dat under VCD folder which obviously is a VCD (PAL version). But when I used TmpGnc, it converted it into xx.mpg which is not a true VCD (it plays in PC but not in DVD).
Now what? Should I VCD EASy (vcdgear is very unfriendly) to create a xx.mpeg???
whatelse is involved. steps would be helpful
thanks
Sorry, AVSEQ01.DAT is a 'riff file', not a 'true MPEG'. Read http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/113405 and post anly if you've problems really uncovered by this forum (or its 'sticky' threads).
one more thing though, do you know if the resulting VCD would have a smaller size than the original mpeg1?? or would it have the same? since i thought it'd be the same because it is the same mpeg1 format.. but which is it?
The 'true MPEG' will be some MBs less than the 'ripped riff file'. The final VCD image size will depend on the program you'll use to make it (VCDEasy, VCDGear, Nero..) but you can assume about 10 MB larger than the original movie (more or less...).
