HELP! VCD coming out crappy!

[cpgoose]

Hello,

I've been reading so much on here about making VCDs from movie clips and stuff. But, I decided to make a slide show with Ulead DVD Slide Show cause I thought it would be an easy way to start out. Everything came out decent, only when I play them on my home dvd player (JVC XVS40BK), the images have some colorful bars going through them, plus the audio squeaks and cracks every now and then.

I realize this is part of the learning process, but any ideas? I've used cd-r and cd-rw to test, but got the same problems.

THANKS!

[Nil_Einne]

Hello,

This is not relevant to your equiry but read it anyway. I will answer you questions in my next post.

I never use Ulead myself but if I recall, what it does is produce a MPG from your JPGs. This is very stupid (Ulead not you) and doesn't work very well since MPG was not designed to store a bunch of still images. Altho you can do a few tricks to improve things somewhat, it will never be as good. The VCD file format allows you to add still images as STILL IMAGES. It also stores the still images in the normal VCD res and in double the normal VCD res. Even at normal res, the still images are higher quality then the MPGs of jpegs (like those created with Ulead) so you can guess what the quality is if your player supports double res images (and most do).

However, one disadvantage is that you cannot used the CD to full capacity unless you place a movie or other files in it. I won't bother describing why this happens. One thing you can do is to place some still images using Ulead or something similar to create a MPG of your still images. However, maybe when you compare the quality you will never want to do it again

You will lose a bit of control over what you can create. You won't be able to do so many fancy tricks. However as I have said, the quality will astound you. It is well worth it. I personally use Nero to create these VCDs. There are a few other programs but make sure it is storing the still images in the segment dir. If instead it creates a .dat file in the MPEGAV dir then it is doing what Ulead does.

BTW, I believe in Nero you cannot add audio. However I think it is techinically possible to add audio according to the VCD standard. Check this out if you really need audio. If it is true, you will have to find a different program. Of course, you can add audio when you create MPG file from your JPGs (e.g. with Ulead) but don't forget the quality is crap (audio quality is fine though).

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nil_Einne on 2001-12-10 08:48:10 ]</font>

[Nil_Einne]

Hello, it's me again

I think the cause of your problems is that the CDR cannot be read properly. Try using different brands of CDR and especially try using different dye and reflective layers. When I say different brands I mean it is created at a different factory. Many of the CDRs are created at the same factory. Use CDRInfo to find out where it is created. If you are using the cheap and loisy made in Taiwan CDRs try using Kodak (usually made in Mexico) or any of the Made in Japan media. Maybe made in Korea media will also work ok. Also, try recording at a lower speed. If none of this helps, create a CDRW instead of a CDR. Surprisingly, i've read that CDRWs work better then CDRs sometimes.

If it still doesn't help, maybe it's because of you're using the wrong format. If you are using NTSC, try switiching with PAL and vice versa.

BTW, make sure you a creating a stanadard compliant VCD not some kind of (X)VCD [non standard compliant]!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nil_Einne on 2001-12-10 08:45:44 ]</font>

[cpgoose]

Thanks for all the help! I will definitely try your
suggestions! Could you please elaborate a bit when you said "However I think it is techinically possible to add audio according to the VCD standard. " Does that mean if I make a slideshow with Nero (which I'm to understand cannot add audio), there's another way to add it?

Thanks again!

[Nil_Einne]

Not in Nero. However, if I am correct [you'll have to check out the VCD (Whitebook) 2.0 standard to be certain] and the standard allows it, you should be able to find some program to do it. If you can't there is probably some way to do it manually if your desperate (don''t ask me how tho). Either that or pester Ahead into supporting this feature. Of course if the standard doesn't allow audio with still images then you'll either have to go back to converting your still images into a MPG movie or give up on audio. If you decided to go back, you might want to look around to see whether Ulead's product is really the best.

BTW, I forgot to mention last time around that Nero will only make the high resolution stills if it is necessary, i.e. if the original image resolution is high enough to gain a benefit from it. So if your images are very low resolution you won't gain from the support of high resolution still storage.

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On 2001-12-10 11:21:50, cpgoose wrote:
Thanks for all the help! I will definitely try your
suggestions! Could you please elaborate a bit when you said "However I think it is techinically possible to add audio according to the VCD standard. " Does that mean if I make a slideshow with Nero (which I'm to understand cannot add audio), there's another way to add it?

Thanks again!
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

[RoopeT]

I think it's possible to create photo CD with audio using WinOnCD 3.8 PE (seen a tutorial somewhere on the net). I haven't tried this myself, but have made a few "ordinary" photocds with the software. For this purpose, I think WinOnCD is a lot better than Nero.

[spidey]

You can make the actual slideshow, or drag and drop all the jpg's into a video editing program (like Sonic FOundry's Vegas VIdeo or Video Factory) then you can add in some effects, text, music, etc. Both programs are available as demos at their site http://sonicfoundry.com