I'm appealing to the knowledge of the experts here. I'm producing a VCD for widespread distribution. Truth be told, it's a VCD-ROM, that is to say that there is PC content (7 files and 1 extra directory) on the disc as well as the VCD directories. As our potential clients will have a wide range of DVD players, we are interested in play on as many VCD-capable DVD players as possible. What would be your advice? Our current production model: . 2 NTSC 352x240 29.97hz MPEG-1 files exported from TMPGEnc 2.53 . Standard-compliant VCD authored in Nero 5.5.7.8, with PC content dropped into CD's root directory, and 1 .bmp file used as a menu . Burned to Staples CD-RW at 4x, finalized, on a QPS 24x12x10x 1394 burner . PIII 850+ MHz machines, Win2k I thank you in advance for your thoughts, and I'd be happy to report my discoveries in this process to the list. Sincerely, Conrad Rushing
Atleast according to our Klingon Agent the VCD authoring part of Nero leaves something to be desired. I'm not sure on the details, though, since I haven't had the chance to take a deeper look into the differences between different authoring software packages. Also I'm not sure if dropping PC content into the VCD's root complies with the White Book (VCD2.0, among other things) specification. That might cause problems on some players. You might be able to use the CDI-folder for storing that data. If you just want to make a very simple, straightforward VCD, then you can probably manage with Nero. It'd still be a good idea to take a test copy and see how it behaves on the DVD-players available in the stores.
You might want to check out VCDEasy, it's basically a front end for VCDImager.. You can read more about it and download it here.. http://www.vcdhelp.com/vcdeasy.htm
After some more R&D, all is going swimmingly. Thanks for the advice! One note: VCD-standard MPEG burned to CD-RW through Nero 5.5.7.8 (with PBC / menus) horks Sony DVD players sometimes, with the dreaded "c:13:00" error. However, I think I know the problem: because I was burning to CD-RW, I didn't think it necessary to finalize the disc. I intend to test my theory this afternoon at Best Buy's "testing station". I'm wondering how long it'll take them to throw me out; some guy sticking the same disc into all our players and peering at them, what's he doing?! I'll post my results. Thanks again. ~~ Conrad Rushing .: conrad@chrysoun.com
All is well in VCD town. I didn't record the model numbers, but JVC, Panasonic, Mintek, Sony, Samsung, and Pioneer all played well with my VCD + perks. Thanks for the help, and happy hunting. ~~ Conrad Rushing .: conrad@chrysoun.com
