About to give dvd2svcd a try!!

[ShorN]

I have just ripped and converted a dvd to vcd successfully. The dvd was moulin rouge, and ive put it onto two cds using tmpg with the KVCD templates and dvddecrypter and moviestacker and for the audio, prog called headache. This produced two mpeg files,one was 600mb the other 500mb. The quality was really good but there is still room for improvement due to the extra space on the cds.

This was quite a long winded way of converting and the one step idea behind dvd2svcd has convinced me to give it a try!

My questions are, am i likely to get as good quality as the kvcds?
and roughly how long should the whole process take to convert a 100 minute Pal DVD to two cds.?

Any help on this would be great thanks!

[shuq]

I have used DVD2SVCD many times over and it is just great!

It is like a 'one step' process. You go setup various menu items(and there are good Guides that can help you thru). Hit the "Go" button and sit back and wait.

The time it takes is system dependent AND the encoding you are choosing.

For my P4(1.2GHz) with 256Meg RAM, with 4pass VBR(Variable Bit Rate) settings(which gives the best output), a typical 1.5hour movies takes 22 hour.

If you pick CBR(Constant Bit Rate) or CQ, you can get it done in 1/2 the above time. But quality may not be cool..

Not sure about KVCD. I have done SVCD.

shuq :P

[punk554]

I use DVD2SVCD as well and am very pleased with it. I use the CBR option as I have only an AMD 750 and don't want to take a whole day and night to do a movie. The only time I've seen any problems with CBR is when you zoom in. Then you get a bit of pixellation. Other than that, I think CBR works just fine in half the time of 4 pass VBR.

This tool is well worth the effort.

[ShorN]

well i have just tried the program but when i add the dvd it starts off with a small window saying ready video info which doesnt leave, I then set the program running and it keeps saying in the log video read error and keeps going with constant errors. I havent let it go any further as i am sure this cant be right, any help anyone????

[gmatov]

ShorN,
I've just started using DVD2SVCD, to make SVCDs. I like it, excellent quality.
It IS slower than some other programs. If you are only making VCDs or XVCDs, I'd suggest you try DVDx 2.2. It IS almost 1 click, and you can set the bit rate, for XVCD, to as high as necessary to fill up a second or a third disk, and not waste space on the CD. I have gone as high as 2300 kbps to fill 2 CDs. Quality is very good. Maybe not as good a DVD2SVCD, but close. A 3 hour and some second movie DVD took me 4 hours to back up to 3 CD-Rs.
Select CD size (800 meg) then type in bitrate on left and look at total size on the right. When it gets to 1600, it's 2 disks, 2400, it's 3 disks, etc. Just make sure you click on "Whole" button, or it defaults to 10000 frames and will say done after 10 minutes or so..
I just had a glitch catch me a couple times on a convert with DVD2SVCD. Hanging with an error message. I finally used Smartripper to rip the DVD and let DVD2SVCD work with the ripped and decrypted files. It's working now, at 2 pass VBR, and my less than 2 hour movie has just over 9 hours to go. At 99% CPU utilization, you better have a spare 'puter, or start your projects at bed time.
As to DVD2SVCD, I am watching HP and Sorcerer's Stone. I had done it, XVCD, with DVDx 2.2, and the result was "good", but redone in DVD2SVCD, it looks every bit as good as the DVD itself. 152 minutes on 3 disks. I don't mind the 3 and don't know if you could get it down to 2.
Try 'em both. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either one.
George

[dbecker]

I started trying dvd2svcd and cce and it definitely was faster than dvd2avi and tmpgenc. The quality I found not to be any better than tmpgenc but it definitely was twice as fast using cce. Now, i use both and it depends on the source of the dvd that makes my decision on which one to use. I do not have a widescreen tv and do not like watching widescreen movies on my tv (too much black screen for me). Well, the only way I can convert a widescreen movie to amaphoric or the amaphoric to full screen without stretching the picture is using tmpgenc(there are other methods, but tmpgenc method is just a selection in the 'other' settings.

[gmatov]

dbecker,
I've been using DVD2SVCD also,after using DVDx almost exclusively, because, 1, DVD2SVCD would not give me a live "convert" button, and because I didn't really know how to use it. You hesitate to ask on this site, as you get too much RTFM from oldtimers from say Jan 2003, or even older, Dec 2002. I'm happy with DVD2SVCD's output, quality-wise, but must admit, it is not SO superior to DVDx to put it head and shoulders above DVDx when you consider it takes 3 or 4 hours to make a viewable disk, compared to DVD2SVCD's rate of 12 hours average for a 2 hour video. Of course, now I get a pumpkin to let me know what I used to do it.
I intend to keep using it merely because it runs on the spare machine. If I count the cost of the electricity to run the other machine for 12 hours, I may quit that, too.
I do think DVDx is the easiest program to use, but the avi option is beyond me. Why would you make them? As something to feed another program? It's beyond me.

[dbecker]

I agree with you that dvdx is very easy to use and for vcd purposes, i find it does a good job. But if I am looking for a good picture quality like high quality svcd, dvdx is not the way to go...as for your avi comment, I couldn't agree more!!