VCD editing on Mac

[mhar4]

I am using VCDs in classes I teach this semester, and I was hoping to be able to take clips from them. I can extract the .DAT data with VCDGearX which converts it to .mpg, but none of the mpeg cutters I have will read the files. I have tried Gumby, mpgtxwrap and even the cutter in the PixeDV software I use for capture, but all of them report error messages to the effect that the files are not valid mpg. What is it about these files which is invalid, and can it be corrected? I just need basic cutting, and really wanted to avoid transcoding into MPEG4 or another more Quicktime-friendly format.

thanks for anyone's suggestions.

[galactica]

try using VCDTOOLSX to extract .mpeg's from the image of the vcd
you may have to image it with TOAST and rename to .bin if you have them as CD form

my experience has shown that VCDToolsx ripped .mpeg files from the image work where as the .dat process you explain dont always work

its something to try at least
takes but a few seconds to a min to extract a .mpeg from a .bin

[mhar4]

Thanks for the suggestion. Actually, I tried the "VCD Jelly" component of Gumby, which (I discovered) extracts an mpg file from a VCD, but one that seems more compliant than VCDGearX's. mpgtxwrap reads them no problem, so I'll use that to cut out the clips I need.

[chikanakan]

If you have Toast 6, you can get info on the VCD in Toast and then save out the .mpeg.

[galactica]

Thanks for the suggestion. Actually, I tried the "VCD Jelly" component of Gumby, which (I discovered) extracts an mpg file from a VCD, but one that seems more compliant than VCDGearX's. mpgtxwrap reads them no problem, so I'll use that to cut out the clips I need.

excellent. the key seems to be .mpegs ripped from vcd's work best with mpeg cutters.

[mhar4]

Excellent indeed. And another thing these compliant mpegs can do is be joined together using mpptxwrap. Some of the material (i.e. Taiwanese television series) is on four or five VCDs, so I have been extracting the mpegs and joining them into single file and burning them on DVD-Rs for archiving. Makes viewing and choosing material so much easier.