Super Easy Newbie Mac DVD->VCD Guide

[tgpo]

Super Easy Newbie Mac DVD->VCD Guide

For the most updated guides visit http://homepage.mac.com/tgpo

Tools Needed:
1. DVD Extractor 0.9
2. mAC3dec 1.3
3. MacMPEG2Decoder 1.0b
4. Quicktime Pro
5. Roxio Toast

Step 1.
Insert DVD in drive. Close DVD Player when it loads. Open DVD Extractor. Make sure there are checks next to the following: Demux Steams, MPEG-2 video, Private, Merge Selected items, Skip Multiangle parts, Disable Macrovision, and Disable region code.

Next click and drag the largest track from DVDExtractor to your desktop. You should see between 1-5 .ac3 files and 1 .m2v files appear. As it goes through the movie .spc files will appear. Once it finishes close DVDExtractor. Delete the .spc files.

Step 2.
Using mAC3dec open the first of the .ac3 files. The best options are to encode to a aiff file. Also it's best if you normalize. Once that finishes listen to the aiff file. If it's in english you can delete the other .ac3 files. Close mAC3dec.

Step 3.
Open MacMPEG2Decoder. Drag your .m2v file to it. Under setting use Motion JPEG A as the compressor. About 80-90% quality and 24 frames per second. Under the options button set Number of Feilds to one. Hit Okay. Now under Transform. Under Set this first make it 1:1. Then under resize set it to. 352 width and 240 height. Close that. Then click Start. Now goto sleep, cause it's gonna take a while.

Step 4.
Once that finishes you should have a working .mov file with no sound and a .aiff file. You can now delete the .ac3 and .m2v files. Now using Quicktime Pro open the .mov file. Then click File, Import and click on your .aiff file. Then in the audio window click Edit, Select All, Copy. Then In The Video Window. Click Edit, Add. Using the small triangles under the scroll bar select about an hours worth of video(or about half the movie). Click edit, then cut. Then click File, New player. Then Edit, Paste. Next click File, Export. Export as a Toast Ready Video CD. Time to sit back again. Once this finishes do the same for the other window containing the other half of the movie. Once this finishes you should have 2 .mpeg files. You can delete the .mov and the .aiff files now.

Step 5.
Open toast. Under the Other button select Video Cd. Click and drag one of the .mpeg files to it and burn to a cd. Next burn the other. Close toast and delete the .mpeg files and Enjoy.

-TGPO

[barth]

I've struggled a long time making vcd's on a mac (not even to mention svcd which is almost impossible) and I find using virtual pc 5 the best solution till now.

[ompah]

It all seems to work great! Can you give more specific instructions regarding syncing the audio and video. Do I need to use Final Cut Pro 3 to sync? I only have Pro 2.

[tgpo]

Neither. I'm going to post a new guide on getting the audio lined up on the the MAC, but I use Quicktime Mutator. Using the other programs to change the speed and duration of the audio causes the pitch of the audio to change. Using QT Mutator the frame-rate and duration of the Movie track is changed. This way the movie can be perfectly lined up with no change to the audio track.

-TGPO

[ompah]

Can't wait to read the new guide! Thanks.

[strpyw]

Can i use the same procedure, say , copy a dvd movie,rip it and use quicktime pro to export to dv, and present in imovie , export to camcorder and record as such?If it works ,it will be codefree .

[ompah]

I tried to sync audio and video using QT mutator but I’m not able to sync the whole movie. I can sync a scene but other scenes remain out of sync. Any advice? Thanks! :(

[frumpy000]

Trying to test the process on my Lord of the Rings (cartoon) DVD...

I'm having some trouble following the steps in this guide and was wondering if anyone had experienced the following:

After successfully completing step one (with all suggested parameters checked), i drag the first of two ac3 files into mAC3dec. After about 10K of data is normalized I get the following error - -mAC3dec had problems buffering a frame. The AC-3 input file may be invalid. Would you like to try to fix it? I choose Yes. It continues to fix a little over 1000 frames then i receive another error - -

mAC3dec encountered the following error: Error reading input file Err# -39.

I have no choice but to close this window.

I'm left with two aiff files, a file with extension "(f.aiff" and one with "aiff" file. The original ac3 file now has the extension "ac (fixed)". I've tried renaming the "ac (fixed)" file to ac3 and trying to use mAC3dec on it again but get the same error.

Any recommendations?

[wbaccus]

I'm trying to rip a DVD with music videos on it. Since the source material is 29.97, should I use that instead of 24 out of MacMPEG2Decoder?

[tgpo]

Actually you can rip to any frame rate you want. If you wanna rip directly to 29.97 you can.

[wbaccus]

Actually you can rip to any frame rate you want. If you wanna rip directly to 29.97 you can.

I should have been a bit more specific.. I'm looking to RIP and then make a standard VCD out of it. Still no problem?

(after going back and realizing that this is in a DVD->VCD forum, that may be a stupid question.) :)

[tgpo]

It still shouldn't be a problem. Infact a lot of people rip directly to 29.97. Now that I use YADE instead of DVD extractor I rip directly to 29.97.

[hingyfan]

OK. I got as far as trying to use the MacMPEGdecoder. Unfortunately i was bnot able to find exactly the same app mentioned, at least I dont think so.
what i got was MPEG2Decoder for the Macintosh.
On this, 1:1 was not an option under Transform. It was either 4:3 or something else.
This app has "ask wizard." Is this what i am looking for?
Anyway, the bigger problem is once i get to this screen, i cannot figure out how to close it. It fills the whole screen, and there is no "close." There is no "start." There's only resize and stuff like that.
I tried to run this without opening that part of the application, but it wanted to make the size at last twice as big.
How do i close that screen?
Thanks!

[hingyfan]

Also,
I have a 80G ext. firewire HD. Can i do all of these steps to that? I have little room on my real HD. I jamed a lot of stuff in the ext. to do this.
If i used the ext, exactly how would i procede. Thanks!

[hingyfan]

In the post about the macencoer. i was wrong, this- MM2D 1.0b6 - is what i found. it sill does not allow 1-1. and i cant close the big screen!!!

[hingyfan]

I was able to close that screen. huge thing on my monitor. It still does not offer 1:1.
The guide does not say how much free space you need and how long each step takes, say for a 2hour DVD. It appears i underestimated both by alarming percentages. Such info would help make this more Super.

[jeffyr]

I searched versiontracker and found all the software but DVD Extractor (or YADE mentioned later). Are either still available ?

Thanks for the help.

jeffyr

[jeffyr]

Nevermind........

TGPO,

I just found the link to your site with software.

Thanks.

jeffyr

[crbthree]

Here is the problem I am having:

I followed all the steps exactly with no problem until step 3. I follow the instructions for MacMPEG2Decoder and when I hit start, it decodes a few frames and then stops (creating a useless 250k .mov file). I have fiddled with all the settings and nothing seems to work. Any suggestions?

THANKS
chris

[tgpo]

I never liked mm2d. It always seemed to be buggy and much slower than mm2c. Try finding mm2c and using it for your conversion.

[crbthree]

OK, so I got mm2c, and when I open the app, I get a "fatal/non-fatal error - something bad happened" message. I tried both the 2a22 and 2a23 versions. I am trying to backup a NTSC dvd in OS9.1

any other ideas?

p.s. Thanks for yr help...

[tgpo]

I've never had those types of problems before, so I have no idea of what it could be. IT seems kinda odd that you are having troubles with both programs.....maybe the problem is with your computer then.

Are you on a G4?

[crbthree]

Yep, I'm on a G4 866mhz.

Maybe the download MM2c was bad. Do you know where I could find a version to try again?

[tgpo]

Actually no. The location I gave to people to download it from is now down thus I can no longer tell people where to go for it, but I'll be posting it on my website sometime this week if you can't find it elsewhere.

[crbthree]

Found a new copy of mm2d, and it is working like a charm. Thanks for your help!