[wayneo73]

Originally Posted by Mulder

All you need is a cd burner to make a slide show that will play on a DVD player. You would burn it as a VCD. Keep in mind some DVD players do not play VCDs. As far as software, Ulead Disc Creator or a host of others will create slide shows. I don't know why you are getting an error, but I would post that in a new thread--probably in the hardware forum.

i'm thinking now it may be because there was more on the cd than the slide show... some folders or files? would that be a problem?

also, when you say vcd, that's a format not a type of disk. my dvd player will recognize cd-rw's... can i use those?

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by wayneo73

i'm thinking now it may be because there was more on the cd than the slide show... some folders or files? would that be a problem?

also, when you say vcd, that's a format not a type of disk. my dvd player will recognize cd-rw's... can i use those?

As to question 1, that shouldn't make a difference with a CD-RW because your burner will just prompt you to erase what's on the CD. However, if you are using a CR-R, then that would cause a problem because those are not rewritable. Just use a brand new CD-RW to make sure it works.


As to the 2nd queston, VCD is a format (MPEG-1) whereas DVD is another format (MPEG-2). And yes you can use CD-RWs if your DVD player plays them--that just means it is rewritable. CR-Rs are more universally recognized by DVDs, but if yours works, then it doesn't matter unless you want to give the DVD to someone else who has a player.

[grammadreams]

This post is great! Just what I had been hunting for a while ago.
Not sure I understand one thing though (atleast for now-may have more questions once I try it. lol). Was wondering...if 4 min. =1 GB does that mean 4 min. wouldn't fit on a 700 MB CD? or would it compress some when I go to put it on CD? Or am I missing something in what you wrote? I may need to replace my CD/RW anyhow so would want to get what I can get the best use out of without paying an arm and leg.
Thanks

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by grammadreams

Was wondering...if 4 min. =1 GB does that mean 4 min. wouldn't fit on a 700 MB CD? or would it compress some when I go to put it on CD? Thanks

The 4 min= 1 GB refers to AVI, which is uncompressed. When you burn a VCD to a CD, it will compress it significantly, so you'll get a lot more than 4 minutes. I forget now how much it is, but I recall about an hour or so of MPEG-1 (VCD format) on 700 MB CD.

[LeeBerlik]

I am following all of your suggestions. But now I'm having a heck of a time with Cinema Craft Encoder Basic. My 2-and-a-half-minute AVI movie is over 500,000,000 kB (I think kB is the right unit-- I'm not at my home computer now to verify). It had been my understanding from a forum at videohelp.com that encoding AVI to MPEG-2 is a process that takes several hours and results in a MPEG-2 file approximately twice the size of the AVI file. But when I hit the "Encode" button, Cinema Craft creates a file of much smaller size (around 70,000,000 kB, I think) and does it in a matter of a few minutes. That can't be right, can it? I want to burn a DVD of the best quality image possible, and I'm concerned that I've inadvertently hit some kind of "ultra compression" option placing a value of encoding speed over quality.

Speaking of options, I am overwhelmed by all the technical options in CCEB. I have no idea whether I need "2-pass VBR" or whether I need a separate audio track, for example. Is there any chance you could tell me how to set up the encoding options for my AVI file? The User Guide that came with CCEB is extremely unhelpful for a novice like me. Thanks again!!

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by LeeBerlik

I am following all of your suggestions. But now I'm having a heck of a time with Cinema Craft Encoder Basic. My 2-and-a-half-minute AVI movie is over 500,000,000 kB (I think kB is the right unit-- I'm not at my home computer now to verify). It had been my understanding from a forum at videohelp.com that encoding AVI to MPEG-2 is a process that takes several hours and results in a MPEG-2 file approximately twice the size of the AVI file. But when I hit the "Encode" button, Cinema Craft creates a file of much smaller size (around 70,000,000 kB, I think) and does it in a matter of a few minutes. That can't be right, can it? I want to burn a DVD of the best quality image possible, and I'm concerned that I've inadvertently hit some kind of "ultra compression" option placing a value of encoding speed over quality.

Speaking of options, I am overwhelmed by all the technical options in CCEB. I have no idea whether I need "2-pass VBR" or whether I need a separate audio track, for example. Is there any chance you could tell me how to set up the encoding options for my AVI file? The User Guide that came with CCEB is extremely unhelpful for a novice like me. Thanks again!!

Well, 1,000,000,000 bytes is equal to 1,000,000 kilobytes, which is equal to 1,000 megabytes, which is equal to 1 gigabyte. 500,000,000 kb can't be right because that would equal 500 Gigabytes It's probably 500,000,000 bytes, which is 500 Megs or half a gigabyte.

As to the compression, that sounds right. CCEB is going to encode a 500 Meg file pretty quickly (probably in about 3 or 4 mintues). A much smaller file is created when you take uncompressed AVI or DV AVI (which is compressed to about 1/4th the size of uncompressed AVI) and encode it to MPEG-2. That's the whole point of the encoders, otherwise they'd never fit two hour movies on a DVD, even using both sides.

And as to all the encoding options, you could spend hours and hours figuring that all out. I always just stick with the defaults and have had very good high quality results. As I said in the firs post, CCEB does not have near as easy a user interface as TMPGenc, which is why I would recommend that to a new person just starting out.

Have you purchased CCEB? If not, try TMPGenc. The 3.0 Express actually has a wizard that guides you through the process and I would just stick with the defaults on that.

[Mulderator]

Here are screen shots of TMPGenc 3.0 Express as you go through the Wizard:







Just choose the output (i.e., DVD, VCD) and accept all the defaults. You've got lots and lots of learning to do to tweek all those different choices for encoding. I would say don't worry about it if you are getting good high quality videos using the defaults.

[LeeBerlik]

Fantastic advice. Much more helpful than what I received from Cinema Craft technical support. THANK YOU!

[Mulderator]

bookime, I split your post out as a separate thread and put it in hardware as it is actually a hardware problem:

http://forums.techguy.org/t259799.html

[YungMike]

i would like to know is it possible to use only nero to make a vcd file i have 2 files .avi of the same movie 1of2 and 2of2 i cant put them together on a cd cause its to big
i really dont comprehend all those other programs if u know a tutrioral link where i can learn step by step is it possible that i have to get a dvd instead of regular cd's in order for it to work

[Sheza20]

I have been trying to burn a good clear DVD from my camcorder using Intervideo WinDVD Creator 2, the program is easy enough to use, but the DVD video is not clear like when you copy it to VHS ( which I did to make sure it wasn't the camcorder) The DVD plays OK and sounds OK but the picture is very grainy and all movement when panning a room or something seems 10x's faster. We live in Florida and just went threw Hurricane Charley. Well we video'd everything before the hurricane for insurance and then after with all the damage and I just cant get a descent copy to DVD. We video'd during the whole storm and really want to have all of it on DVD to send to Friends and Family in the northern states being they have never seen anything like this, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by Sheza20

I have been trying to burn a good clear DVD from my camcorder using Intervideo WinDVD Creator 2, the program is easy enough to use, but the DVD video is not clear like when you copy it to VHS ( which I did to make sure it wasn't the camcorder) The DVD plays OK and sounds OK but the picture is very grainy and all movement when panning a room or something seems 10x's faster. We live in Florida and just went threw Hurricane Charley. Well we video'd everything before the hurricane for insurance and then after with all the damage and I just cant get a descent copy to DVD. We video'd during the whole storm and really want to have all of it on DVD to send to Friends and Family in the northern states being they have never seen anything like this, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

That's probably because of the MPEG encoder you are using. Go back and read the first post in this thread and use one of the MPEG encoders I suggested to encode the DVD, then burn it and see if you get the same problem.

[statetrav]

You can use Nero to create VCDs and it works very easily.
There are many programs out there that will create VCds. With Nero, you click on the burning portion, mark it to create VCD, click and drag the mgp files to the far left side of the screen, add all you want to.........you can go in and change how long a gap between files.....when you are ready, drop a CD in and hit burn. It will create a disc that plays automatically thru when inserted into the DVD player (if able to read VCD format, you have to look and read closely as not all players can do that). Will play the first file and move to the next. You can use your dvd player to jump ahead and behind in playing as well. I liked this version before getting my DVD writer.

[vietknight]

I am pretty stupid to have to post this, but I do use the computer often. WHAT is the big difference between a DVD disk and a Cd-R? I aw that Mulder posted something about using DVD drives to brun them, but I guess you are referring to burning DVD-R's. I was wondering, if I use a normal CD-R and burn mpegs and mpgs onto it using Nero, to make Vcds.

My second question is how much like on average can you put in a VCD cd... I hope that's not too confusing, well what I'm trying to say is how many minutes are allowed. Would it be the same for like say if you were to use a 80min CD-R, that means you have 80mins of Video footage able to record on it. (like dose it work like it does when you burn music) BTW, Mulder, is a genius. If this question is somehow a repeat , I am very sorry to have posted it. (keeping in mind, this is my 12th year, damn hw! hehe)

Thx ya'll

Cheers,
VK

[esther]

l have another problem: l burned my movie from my camcorder directly on a dvd using a dvd recorder. ls there a programme that will let me edit the movies from the dvd?? lt plays very well on my pc.