Do I have to merge (s)VCD mpg files for them to work on DVD?

[Manego1]

Ok, I have 6 Episodes of DBZ that i want to put on a CD in sVCD .mpg format, but I dont know if i have to join/merge them in order for them to work on DVD players. Do i have to have One Big file and then burn it, or can i have separate files and then burn that one? Please help me out, thanks.

[regjain]

You don't have to create one big file. The good thing about having multiple files is that in Nero it is very simple to create a menu. You can then use the chapter forward and back functions on your remote to skip from episode to episode.

Have a look here http://www.vcdhelp.com/DVDConversionGuide/index.php and look at the menu creation section on how to do it.

[Manego1]

When I use Nero, it gives me a warning message saying something about the file not being the right format right after it checks the files, saying it may not be a sVCD compliant of some sort. . So would VCDEasy be a better choice to burn these svcd .mpg files?

[Manego1]

Also, for VCDeasy, it says at the bottom : : : :

Approximate Disc Size : 580mb ( how much i have on the cd so far ) and then it says to the right ::::: Available disc space: 263mb... To me thats over 850 mb or so, and i dont remember the last time i fit that much on one cd. . can anybody tell me whats the deal with that?

[regjain]

Nero checks the MPG you are trying to burn. When you get the non compliant message just click on the "Turn off standard compliance and continue" button. This should let you carry on. Be warned though, not all DVD players can play non compliant VCD/SVCD's.

On an 80min CD-R you can fit just over 800MB of MPG video. Not sure how it works but it does. It's something to do with the ISO standard that writes to the disk, it's different to the way normal data is written.

[Manego1]

what is compliant and non-compliant anyway?

[Manego1]

and how do i make it "compliant"

[regjain]

VCD's and SVCD's have specific framerates, sizes and bitrates. Have a look at http://www.vcdhelp.com/vcd.htm and http://www.vcdhelp.com/svcd.htm for exact information, these are what Nero defines as a compliant MPG. Any MPG that does not meet the above criteria is a non-compiant MPG, when burnt to a CD it will be either a XVCD or a SXVCD, see http://www.vcdhelp.com/xvcd.htm.

Check your DVD player against the player compatibility list to determine if your player can play XVCD's or SXVCD's.

If you need to, you can use TMPGEnc to convert your non-compliant MPG's to compliant ones. Follow this guide http://www.vcdhelp.com/tmpgenc.htm

[Manego1]

thanks. Its weird tho, since i merged/joined 6 episodes into one, and then when i put that one file into Nero, it says it might not be .mpg compliant, but when i put each of the 6 files individually into Nero, it doesnt say anything.

[Manego1]

Nero? or VCDEasy..... for burning sVCD's, what is the difference and which is better for DVD playability?

[regjain]

Some people say that Nero is terrible and that you shouldn't use it. However, I have never had a problem with it.

I use both Nero and VCDeasy depending on what I am doing. If I am testing small video clips to see how they are going to look on my DVD player, I use Nero as it is quick and easy. When I come to burn the final movie on to a CD I use VCDEasy, purely so that I can put chapters on to the CD as well.

The choice is up to you, whatever works for you and you feel comfortable with.

[Manego1]

what does Nero's Menu ability do for sVCDs??

[regjain]

When you put your menu burnt SVCD in your DVD player a menu will apear. The menu will display all the MPG's that were used to create your SVCD, you can then use the numeric keypad on your remote to jump to the file you want to play. When you select a file it will play that file and continue on to all the other files until the end of the disk. When you are playing a file you can use your chapter back and forward buttons to skip to the previous/next file. This would be quite handy for your 6 DBZ episodes.

The only downside to this method is that you do not get smooth playback between files, there will always be some delay when one file finishes and the next one starts. Probably not a problem if you are using it for your episode scenario, but definately a no no when you come to movies, hence I use VCDEasy to create chapters for full length movies.

[Manego1]

wow, cool, thank you for the all the info.

[Manego1]

whats the best cut/joining/merging program out there?

[Colonel_Starr]

I did something similar with small episodes. If you have 3x250 Mb Mpegs just drag and drop each one (3 in total as more won't fit) into nero, you dont need a menu, then burn. This way when the first is over it will go to the next one automatically. Or you can use chapter forward on your remote to skip to next one.


Def better idea than joining then and dropping into Nero as you won't be able to skip unless you make chapters which is more unecessary hassle.