Ok, I have a couple questions. First off; once you have an .MPG that is compatable with DVD/SVCD/VCD format what is the best way to burn it? Which brings me to my second question...When you burn a VCD or SVCD format disc I noticed you get a few different directories on it. In my experience I have seen EXT , SVCD , MPEG2 ? , and MPEGAV ?. What exactly do the files within them do? Also are they the same from disc to disc or are they written according to the info in the actual movie file? What about the actual movie file, is it always called either AVSEQ01.MPG or AVSEQ01.DAT (assuming there is only one actual movie file on the disc) ? And why is it sometimes a .DAT and sometimes a .MPG? Please forgive my ignorance on this subject. Thanks in advance to anybody who replies!
"Ok, I have a couple questions. First off; once you have an .MPG that is compatable with DVD/SVCD/VCD format what is the best way to burn it?"
For a short answer, there is no "best way." You can use several programs to burn a video file. If you manage to acquire a DVD burner, you will probably get some software with it that will burn your movie. Good programs to use are VCDEasy or Nero Burning ROM.
As for the different files and directories. These make up the VCD/SVCD/DVD Format. You should never have to work with them directly, any (S)VCD creation program. The actual movie file should be .DAT, I think (expert confirmation requested).
"Please forgive my ignorance on this subject."
Don't worry, we are all beginners at one point. Hope this helped! -Alex
Comp 1: Dell Inspiron P4 2.4Ghz / 512 MB RAM with 24x CD-RW and Firewire In, SVideo Out running XP Pro
Comp 2: Dell Dimension P3 550Mhz / 384MB RAM with old 2x CD-RW running XP Home.
That's helps a bit but brings up another question. I have used several programs that claim to burn either a VCD or SVCD format CD that will be compatible with a stand-alone DVD player. Well all the ones I've used re-convert the movie (which sometimes takes up to 2 hours and even more on occasion) and leaves me with a disc that my DVD just spits out at me. ANOTHER FRISBEE! So after much frustration I find myself asking, "Why do I bother converting with TMPGEnc if my final .MPG (which should be 100% SVCD compatible) just gets converted again?" It's a funny thing too that my DVD player (Samsung DVD-P231) won't play any "VCD" discs I put into it but will play "SVCD" format. When the disc is good the LCD will show "CVD" and on the actual TV display it shows "CVD 2.0." The format for SVCD is actually larger in resolution than CVD so this doesn't make sense to me. Logic tells me that if it can read outside of the true CVD specs that it would accept VCD too but it doesn't. I'm playing more with DVD2SVCD v.1.2.1 build 2 right now and I'm hoping it will give me some good discs with good quality. Also I wish the whole process of converting my movies wouldn't take so long. It really sucks when you wait sometimes up to 6 hours to learn that your final file is junk then having to tweak the settings and start again.
Be sure to use the right bitrate for audio and video to make increase the possibility it will work.
For VCD I suggest you use video bitrate 1150kbps and audio 224kbps as well as resolution 352X288.
For SVCD video 2376kbps audio 224 and resolution 480X576.
You can try better settings two but use this and try if it works and if it does then adjust them by little each time to get the best working result.
Last but not least, your player might says it plays SVCDs but you have to check it out. Have a look at the list at http://www.dvdrhelp.com to see if your one supports them.
