Hi All...

First, I guess I should tell you that I consider myself a complete novice to the world of video on computers and burning same, so please bare with my ignorance and what some of you might consider ridicules questions.

I have a IBM Net Vista computer running Windows XP Pro, 40 Gb HD, 128mb's ram and up till now have been trying to use Nero UE 6.0.0 to burn VCD/SVCD to either my Teac CD-W516EC CD R/W, or BTC BCE2410IM CD R/W. At present I do NOT have a DVD R/W burner.

Here we go...

As I am a novice (that has been trying to do his homework by reading, this site and others) I have tried several programs to encode (TMPGENC 2.5, PANASONIC MPEG Encoder Standalone v2.5, vcd Easy 1.1.6.0, Intervideo WinDVD Creator 2.0.14.42 to name a few.) *.avi files that I have downloaded from the net, and a few programs to burn, (VCD Easy, WinDVD, Nero 6.0.0, Nero Express.) and yet to find one that will produce a watchable video on TV. I feel that I am doing something drasticly wrong as not all these programs could possibly produce the same bad
results. (Perhaps it is my hardware, but BOTH burners??)

Also, if it makes any difference, every process running on the computer that can be shut down b4 I start to encode, is, and the computer is not touched until the encoding is done.

In retrospect, the best results that I have had would be by using TMPGENC 2.5. I found a new tutorial last night:

**( https://www.videohelp.com/forum/userguides/84759.php )**

I didn't need to worry about about "fitting" the movie on the cd (it was only 42 minutes long), and except for the intial part of the tutorial (cladDVD XP), I followed the tutorial to the letter, and made sure that I had my settings identical to the ones in the lesson. From there I used VCDEasy to burn it to disc following a tutorial found at "DVDHelp.us". **( (In my case): D:\Video\TMPGEnc Plus-2.5\templates\Readme.html )**. This is a tutorial file included in a template package downloaded from DVDhelp.us. When I added the file in the "Main" window after loading it came back with a warning:

"Warning

This MPEG file requires autopadding... you may be unable to watch it correctly...

Do you want to add this file anyway?"

I clicked yes.

Question 1:
I set this file up exactly the way the tutorial told me to and I am getting this message. Did I miss something? Did I set something I shouldn't have? How do I correct this?

Question 2:
With regards to the above tutorial, can I follow it exactly the way it is written, but instead of VCD format, use SVCD format?

Question 3:
Is this another thing that could constitute a bad end result: I have "G-Spot". When I opened the program, and loaded in my movie, I noticed amoungst other things that in the "Video" section the original movie has a bitrate of 929, a FPS of **25**, and a QF of 0.189 bts/pixel. So, with that in mind, if I am setting up TMPGenc to Canadian standards and default frame rate is 29.97 FPS when selecting an NTSC format, does TMPGenc automaticly recognize the original FPS as 25? Or do I have to encode in a pal format, or do I have to convert from 25 to 29.97 FPS before encoding? If the last is true, how do I do it?

With regards to write speed. I am now at the point where I will burn a small amount of a movie to "test" it on a rewriteable disc. When I do so, using my BTC writer, I am given the choise of the speed to burn it. I initially let the software pick the speed for me (4x) still had my artifacts, then someone suggested that the slower the burn, the better the quality. Depending on who you talk to, this is a positive theory, others say it makes no difference. I have found that the end result is better the slower you go. So with that in mind, when I want to burn to a CD-R, both burners indicate that the slowest speed is 4x.

Question 4:
Save for Nero Express, is there any other software that will allow me to choose my own write speed?

Question 5:
How important a role do codecs play in the vcd making process? I am aware that they are a neccesity for the computer. Are they actually of any concern once I initialize the burn process? I seem to have about 10 gzillion on my system now and to that I added the Nimo codec pack 5, build 8 (?) And yet with ALL of these I always seem to be in need of another one depending on the software I download at that moment.

The end result? Getting better, but I'm not there yet. Still heavy artifacts and some skipping.

In closing, what I am asking here is the very best way based on your knowledge and expertise to remove these artifacts/skipping. I know it
is a very difficult question to answer as there are so many variables However, is there a general rule of thumb that can be followed. If any
one who reads this has had to deal with artifacts and blocking and has overcome it, perhaps you could enlightned me.

Thank You in Advance,

Dave